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If you’re looking for an easy Instant Pot or slow cooker meal for busy weeknights or game day, give these Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos a try!
Whether you’re a fan of the Instant Pot or slow cooker (or both!), you know how great they are for busy weekdays and entertaining alike. All you need to do is throw everything in the pot, walk away, and let the appliance do the work.
For these Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos, the chicken is seasoned in a combination of cumin, dried oregano, paprika, and garlic powder and then browned. Next, the chicken slowly simmers in a delicious chipotle mixture that is brightened up with a bottle of beer. 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, make a quick avocado crema that only further brightens this dish. Pile up your tortillas with your preferred toppings — I like to go all out with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced radishes, cilantro, and cotija cheese — then top with the avocado crema. Serve with some lime wedges and another beer for drinking and you are set!
To make this recipe even easier when serving your family or guests, 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!
ingredients:
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Ground Cumin
- Dried Oregano
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Avocado Oil
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
- Tomato Paste
- Canned Mild Chopped Green Chiles
- Modelo Especial
- Ripe Avocado
- Jarred Jalapeño Slices
- Fresh Cilantro
- Garlic Cloves
- Limes
- Corn Tortillas or Lettuce Cups, For Serving
- Shredded Iceberg Lettuce, For Serving
- Radishes, For Serving
- Cotija Cheese, For Serving
step-by-step:
step one: season the chicken
In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder. Season both sides of the chicken with this seasoning mix.
step two: brown the chicken
Turn the Instant Pot on the sauté function and heat the oil. Working in batches, 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.
step three: build the sauce
Add the chipotle peppers and tomato paste. Stir to toast the paste, about 1 minute. Add the green chiles and beer and whisk to combine.
step four: cook the chicken
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. Select the “manual” or high pressure setting and set the time to 15 minutes.
step five: shred the chicken
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 Instant Pot). Using two forks, shred the chicken, then add back to the Instant Pot.
step six: make the avocado crema
In a small high-powered blender or using an immersion blender, combine the avocado, jalapeño slices and brine, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and salt. Set aside.
step seven: assemble and serve
Serve with tortillas, lettuce, radishes, cilantro, cotija cheese, and lime wedges, as desired. Top with the avocado crema.
recipe faqs:
Season the chicken as stated in step 1. Next, 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.
Follow the rest of the recipe as written!
You can try it but you may need to reduce the cook time since chicken breasts tend to cook more quickly than thighs and I wouldn’t want them to be dry!
If you’re looking for an easy and flavorful dinner that will feed a group, you need to try these Instant Pot Beer-Braised Chicken Tacos! Leave a comment below once you’ve tried them!
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 jalapeño slices
- 2 tablespoons brine from the jarred jalapeño 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
Cook the Chicken:
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder. Season both sides of the chicken with this seasoning mix.
- Turn the Instant Pot on the sauté function and heat the oil. Working in batches, 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.
- Add the chipotle peppers and tomato paste. Stir to toast the paste, about 1 minute. Add the green chiles and beer and whisk to combine.
- Nestle the chicken back into the Instant Pot and turn the sauté function off. Securely fasten the lid on top of the Instant Pot, making sure the vent is sealed. Select the “manual” or high pressure setting and set the time to 15 minutes.
- 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 Instant Pot). Using two forks, shred the chicken, then add back to the Instant Pot.
Make the Avocado Crema:
- In a small high-powered blender or using an immersion blender, combine the avocado, jalapeño slices and brine, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and salt. Set aside.
- Serve with tortillas, lettuce, radishes, cilantro, cotija cheese, and lime wedges, as desired. 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 was a hit for dinner! The family asked to add it to the rotation, and they still talked about it the day after. It took a lot longer to make than I anticipated – with this amount of chicken to brown, it took about 5 batches, which added on significant time. Though the leftover liquid was flavorful, I found it didn’t penetrate into the chicken as much. So next time, I think I’ll experiment with more seasoning, or maybe half/half beer and chicken broth. I used Dos Equis since that was what I had, so I might see the difference with Modelo Especial.
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.
How do I use a crock pot for this recipe
I left instructions in the FAQ section of the post!
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!