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If you’re looking for an easy Instant Pot or slower cooker meal for busy weeknights, or when hosting football watch parties, give these Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos a try!
As we all know, Instant Pot (or slow cooker) recipes are great for busy weekdays. Simply prepare your meal then walk away and let the Instant Pot do the work! Which is what makes these recipes perfect for football watch parties or when hosting in general as well. You can get your recipe started then prepare everything else ahead of your guests’ arrival.
For these Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos, chicken is first perfectly seasoned and then browned. Next, the chicken slowly simmers in a delicious chipotle mixture that is brightened by a bottle of beer. And if you’ve never cooked chicken in beer, you are in for a treat. It adds the perfect flavor to the sauce while also helping to tenderize your chicken. But don’t worry, the alcohol cooks off so this is still great for the whole family — my girls loved this recipe!
While your chicken is cooking, you’ll make a quick avocado crema that only further brightens this dish. Pile up your tortillas with your preferred toppings — I like the full work-up with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, cilantro, and cotija cheese — then top with the avocado crema and all you’ll need are lime wedges + another beer for drinking, and you are set!
To make this even easier when serving your family or guests, you can also set up a build-your-own taco station. Set the chicken out with all of the topping options and let everyone create their own perfect tacos or lettuce cups, making it even easier for you!
LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS TACO-INSPIRED RECIPES? TRY THESE!
Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, plus more as needed
- 2-3 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 (4-ounce) cans mild chopped green chiles
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle Modelo Especial
For the Avocado Crema:
- 1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
- 1/4 cup jarred jalapeno slices
- 2 tablespoons brine from the jarred jalapeno slices
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 1 lime)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Optional For Serving:
- corn tortillas or lettuce cups
- shredded iceberg lettuce
- radishes, thinly sliced and cut into matchsticks
- chopped cilantro leaves
- Cotija cheese
- lime wedges
Instructions
Prepare the Chicken | Instant Pot Method:
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Season both sides of the chicken with this seasoning mix.
- Turn the Instant Pot on the sauté function and heat the oil. When hot, in batches to not overcrowd the Instant Pot, sear the chicken until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Set browned chicken aside and continue cooking until all chicken is browned, adding additional oil if your Instant Pot runs dry.
- Next, add the chipotle pepper and tomato paste. Stir to toast the paste, about 1 minute. Add the green chiles and beer to the Instant Pot and whisk to combine.
- Nestle the chicken back into the Instant Pot and turn the saute function off. Securely fasten the lid on top of the Instant Pot, making sure the vent is sealed. Press the “manual” and then set the time to 15 minutes. Walk away from the Instant Pot and let it do its thing! Note: If your IP doesn’t have a manual button, set it to ‘high pressure.’
- When the cook time is complete, release the pressure manually by carefully turning the valve. When all of the pressure has been released, remove the lid and transfer the chicken to a rimmed baking sheet (do not discard the remaining liquid in the IP). Using two forks, shred the chicken then add back to the Instant Pot.
Prepare the Chicken | Slow Cooker Method:
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Season both sides of the chicken with this seasoning mix.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken until golden on each side, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Set aside.
- In the bottom of a slow cooker, combine the chipotle peppers, tomato paste, green chiles, and beer and whisk until well combined. Nestle the chicken into the sauce, cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6.
- When cook time is complete, shred the chicken with two forks directly in the slow cooker or transfer the chicken to a rimmed baking sheet to shred with two forks (do not discard the remaining liquid in the slow cooker) and add the chicken back to the slow cooker. Serve with avocado crema.
Make the Avocado Crema:
- In a blender or using an immersion blender, combine the avocado, jalapeno slices and brine, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and salt. Set aside.
- Serve as desired and top with the avocado crema.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography and styling by Eat Love Eats.
This is one of my top repeat recipes from, Alex! It’s SO good and so easy. The most time consuming part, for me, is searing the chicken. Everything else is so quick. It’s on the spicy side and I love it. I’ve tried to reduce the spice for my kiddos, but the flavor just isn’t the same. Unfortunately for them (or maybe fortunately from their perspective lol), they just gotta have mac-n-cheese on the nights I make this. Because the flavor and heat is *chefs kiss*!
Can I substitute breasts for thighs? My son does not like chicken thighs.
that will work just fine here.
What could I sub instead of the beer?
A great substitute for beer in these tacos is chicken broth with a splash of acid—like lime juice or apple cider vinegar—to replicate the tang and help tenderize the meat. Alternatively, you can use a non-alcoholic beer if you’d still like that beer flavor without the alcohol.
My favorite chicken tacos!! These are SO good!
These are delicious! My husband said he was not hungry and then ate 3 of them. We used flour tortilla’s instead of corn and they were incredible.
Glad you loved them!