Instant Pot Chicken Al Pastor Tacos marinated in pineapple juices, vinegar, and chipotles in adobo. Served with avocado, red onion, pineapple tidbits, and Cojia cheese.
Traditionally, Al Pastor is cooked on a spit but this Instant Pot version is just as flavorful and much quicker. Once marinated, this meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and it is packed full of flavor.
Ingredients in Instant Pot Chicken Al Pastor
This flavorful dish uses pretty basic ingredients that can be found in any grocery store. The ingredients come together to create sweet and spicy flavors and the garnish for the tacos elevates this delicious meal furthermore.
It looks like a lot of ingredients but you most likely have some of these on hand already! The process to make this recipe is easy and quick so don't let the long ingredient list intimidate you! There is no sauteeing and the food processor does most of the work.
- Chicken breasts - skinless and boneless
- Chipotle peppers in adobo - chopped
- Tomato paste
- Garlic cloves
- Orange juice
- Honey
- White vinegar
- Salt
- Chicken broth
- Cilantro
- Pineapple tidbits
- Red onion - halved and divided
- Cornstarch & water - to thicken the sauce
- Cojita cheese
- Corn tortillas
- Avocado - for garnish
RELATED: Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Al Pastor
Making Chicken Al Pastor in the Instant Pot is very easy and this meal is on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Prepare and marinate the chicken: Combine the orange juice, chipotle peppers in abodo, tomato paste, minced garlic, honey, salt, and white vinegar together in a large container or Ziploc bag and mix well.
Add the boneless skinless chicken breasts into the marinade and shake to combine well.
Tip: A garlic press is a great tool to use when using fresh garlic.
Blend the other ingredients: Blend the cilantro, half of the red onion, lime juice, and 1 cup of pineapple tidbits using a food processor until smooth.
Pressure Cook the Instant Pot Chicken Al Pastor: Add the marinated chicken to the inner liner of the Instant Pot. Pour ¼ cup of chicken broth into the pot. This is necessary to prevent any burn notices.
Top the chicken with the blended ingredients and close the lid. Set the Instant Pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK for 12 minutes.
Prepare the corn tortillas: Prepare the corn tortillas by heating a skillet over medium heat and spritzing the skillet with oil. Add the corn tortillas one at a time and fry on each side. You want the corn tortillas to have some bend in them and not too crispy.
TIP: An oil spritzer is a great tool to use when spraying skillets and food with oils.
Alternately, you can skip this step and use flour tortillas if desired. Heat the flour tortillas as you normally would before serving.
Naturally release pressure: Once the time is up, allow the pot to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before removing the lid. Do not do a quick release as it will dry out the chicken and suck out all of the moisture.
Refer to your pressure cooker's manual for how to safely perform its functions.
Shred the chicken: Using two forks, shred the chicken into chunks. Or, if you have meat claws, you can use them to shred the chicken as well.
Thicken the sauce: Because this recipe is cooked in a pressure cooker, it will be necessary to thicken the sauce so that it is not soupy. To do this, combine cornstarch and water together before mixing it into the pot. Allow the sauce to thicken before serving.
Assemble the tacos: Scoop the chicken mixture into the corn tortillas and top with chopped additional cilantro, Cojita cheese, pineapple tidbits, and chopped avocado.
RELATED: Chicken Fajita Quesadillas
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Al Pastor
Equipment
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce - chopped
- 4 garlic cloves - minced
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
Blended Ingredients
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 cup pineapple tidbits
- Half of red onion
- ¼ cup chicken broth - low sodium (added to the inner liner)
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch + 2 teaspoon water - - mixed together for a slurry and added after pressure cooking
Taco Ingredients
- 10 corn tortillas
- Cojita cheese
- Half of red onion - diced
- Pineapple tidbits
- Avocado - diced
Instructions
- In a large Ziploc bag or container, combine the chipotle peppers in adobo, tomato paste, minced garlic, honey, orange juice, salt, and white vinegar together.
- Add in the chicken breasts and shake to combine.
- In a food processor, combine half of the red onion, the ¼ cup of cilantro, lime juice, and the pineapple tidbits and blend until smooth.
- Add the marinated chicken to the inner liner and top with the chicken broth.
- Close the lid and the vent and set to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK for 12 minutes.
- Allow a 10-minute natural release before opening the lid.
- Remove the lid of the Instant Pot and shred the chicken with two forks.
- Create the slurry by mixing together the cornstarch and water.
- Stir the mixture into the pot and allow it to thicken.
Corn Tortillas
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and spritz the skillet with oil.
- Add the corn tortillas one at a time and cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side.
- This can be done while pressure cooking to save time.
- You don't want the tortillas to be crispy, you want them to have some bend in them.
- Alternately, you can use flour tortillas in place of corn tortillas.
Serve the tacos will Cojita cheese, chopped cilantro, diced avocado, and diced red onion.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Mama Needs Cake
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
Liz says
I'm getting my mom an Instant Pot and I've been trying to come up with recipes to share with her and this is going to be her new favorite!
Li says
How long do you marinate the chicken?
Dana says
I marinate the chicken while I am preparing the other ingredients in the food processor. Just a little bit of time gives it a lot of flavor. Hope that helps!
Tatian says
When you mention the "inner liner" of the Instant Pot, do you just mean the pot itself? I assume that's the case but I was confused for a moment.
Tatian says
Am I correct in assuming that you include the marinade itself with the chicken breasts when adding them to the Instant Pot? I would think it would need that liquid as there isn't much other liquid in the recipe.
And in step 3, what do you do with that mixture? Does it get added to the Instant Pot? Does it get reserved as a sauce for the tacos?
Tatian says
Sorry for all of the comments! I see that the description of the steps above the recipe includes the detail of topping the chicken with the blended mixture. When printing the recipe, it leaves out that detail. All good now! Just waiting for the pressure cooker to pressurize. Excited to taste this!
The recipe called for "pineapple tidbits." I went with drained canned crushed pineapple. I hope I was right to not include the juices.
Tatian says
This was very, very good! Quite spicy and a little sweet with lots of flavor. It made 8 tacos with enough left over for another 4 maybe. My wife and kids enjoyed this, too. It takes a little prep but it's definitely doable on a weekday night.
Dana says
Hey Tatian! I'm so glad to hear that your family enjoyed this recipe 🙂 I appreciate the feedback and I'm so glad you all liked it.
Anne H. says
Can you please let us know if the marinade goes in the pot too?
Dana says
Yes, you add the marinade into the pot as well. 🙂