• Home
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets
  • Sponsor Me

365 Days of Slow Cooking and Pressure Cooking

Easy slow cooker and Instant Pot recipes for each day of the year

  • Filter Recipes
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • healthy
  • Soups

October 26, 2018

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils is an easy dump and go recipe. Lentils and chicken are pressure cooked with mild salsa verde and black beans to make a creamy one pot dinner. Top it with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and crunched up tortilla chips for the ultimate Mexican meal.

Pin this recipe for later!

Get the SLOW COOKER cheesy chicken and lentils recipe here

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils--lentils and chicken are pressure cooked with green salsa and black beans to make a creamy one pot dinner. Top it with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and crunched up tortilla chips for the ultimate Mexican meal.

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils

Love the flavors of salsa verde? Me too! I wanted to mix things up a bit and try lentils in a Mexican-style meal instead of Indian food or other traditional ways of cooking lentils. And it was a super awesome choice! I loved the way the lentils came out almost creamy-like. The chicken was so tender and moist.

I added in some black beans, cumin and chili powder to give it that Mexican flare. You could serve this in so many different ways. You could eat it plain, serve in tortillas, use it as a dip with tortilla chips, or put it over rice or even quinoa. We just served it in a bowl, like stew, with chips and sour cream on top.

My husband said, “this tastes so much better than it looks!” Ha ha! And my kids ate it happily agreeing with their dad that they weren’t exactly sure at first if they were going to like it. My son said, “it has great flavor!” We all agreed that I should have doubled the recipe so we could have the leftovers for lunch.

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils--lentils and chicken are pressure cooked with green salsa and black beans to make a creamy one pot dinner. Top it with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and crunched up tortilla chips for the ultimate Mexican meal.

More recipes you’ll love…

Instant Pot Rice Pilaf with Chicken Sausage

Instant Pot Lentil Stew

Instant Pot Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Pin this recipe for later!

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils--lentils and chicken are pressure cooked with green salsa and black beans to make a creamy one pot dinner. Top it with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and crunched up tortilla chips for the ultimate Mexican meal.

What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?

To make Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly.  It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils


★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

  • Author: Karen Petersen
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 13 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
  • Total Time: 23 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe

Description

Lentils and chicken are pressure cooked with green salsa and black beans to make a creamy one pot dinner. Top it with cheddar, sour cream, cilantro and crunched up tortilla chips for the ultimate Mexican meal.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup dry green lentils
  • 1 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (can use frozen)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 (16 oz) jar salsa verde (I used mild)
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • Tortilla chips, cilantro and sour cream, for serving

Instructions

  1. Add lentils, broth, chicken, cumin, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, salsa verde and beans into the Instant Pot.
  2. Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 13 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit there for 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Open the pot.
  3. Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Shred the chicken*. Stir it back into the pot.
  4. Stir the cheese into the pot.
  5. Serve lentils and chicken plain, in tortillas, as a dip with tortilla chips, or put it over rice or even quinoa. Top with tortilla chips, cilantro and sour cream.

Notes

I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. This recipe is GLUTEN-FREE! Just check your broth to be sure it does not contain gluten

  • Category: Chicken
  • Method: Instant Pot
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: dump and go, instant pot

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @365dayscrockpot on Instagram

Send Me Free Recipes

Like this recipe for Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken and Lentils? Get all my new recipes delivered to your email inbox by signing up below.

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

30 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Chicken, Gluten Free, Instant Pot, Mexican

Recommendations

Comments

  1. Kelly says

    February 7, 2022 at 9:57 am

    Would red lentils work for this recipe?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 7, 2022 at 6:08 pm

      I think red lentil cook very quickly so if you put in cooked rotisserie chicken in the pot instead of uncooked that would work. They only need to cook for 2 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release. Or you could cut the raw chicken into small bite size pieces and it will cook in the 2 minutes.

      Reply
  2. Katherine says

    September 15, 2021 at 9:22 am

    Karen, thanks for the recipe. We’ve made this at least 3 times. It’s now in the regular meal rotation. My family also enjoys it with plain ol’ red salsa. This is a nice combination of protein that also tastes great!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      September 15, 2021 at 12:43 pm

      Thanks Katherine! I love this one too! Thanks for the 5 stars 🙂

      Reply
  3. Amanda W says

    August 5, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    I’m dying to try this recipe but don’t own an instant pot. How would you recommend altering it for a slow cooker? Thank you!!

    Reply
    • Amanda W says

      August 5, 2021 at 10:04 pm

      Oh my goodness, sorry! I just saw the link now!

      Reply
  4. Carmella says

    February 6, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    This recipe says 6 servings but what is the serving size? My hubby made this for dinner tonight and I absolutely loved it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      February 8, 2021 at 12:41 pm

      It’s just 1/6 of the recipe. I am sorry it’s not more precise.

      Reply
  5. Meghan says

    January 27, 2021 at 7:12 pm

    Another winner with the kids! We all loved it

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 28, 2021 at 10:07 am

      Yay! I love this recipe. I love lentils!

      Reply
  6. Jennifer Stewart says

    December 23, 2020 at 10:18 am

    I am new to using a pressure cooker. This sounds delicious, but won’t the canned beans get smooshy? Would dry beans work?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      December 28, 2020 at 9:18 pm

      They worked just fine for me. Dry beans would be fine if they are pre-cooked separately.

      Reply
  7. Shari says

    June 19, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    Made this tonight and loved it!! Used regular salsa as I didn’t have any green. Thank you! I will be making this again!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 24, 2020 at 10:13 pm

      Glad you enjoyed it Shari!

      Reply
  8. Shannon says

    March 17, 2020 at 2:08 pm

    Do you have the nutritional information on this? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      March 18, 2020 at 2:28 pm

      just added it in!

      Reply
  9. Amy says

    January 3, 2020 at 5:53 am

    This is so good. I’m skeptical of anything with lentils, but I didn’t even notice them with all the great flavor. If you leave out the cheese, sour cream, and chips, it’s zero WW points! I’m a cheese lover but I l left it out and it was still sooooo good! Even picky meat and potatoes husband liked it (I didn’t tell him about the lentils and he didn’t ask…)

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 3, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Wow how awesome Amy!! I can’t believe it’s 0 points and still so much flavor 🙂

      Reply
  10. Diane says

    October 23, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    This is a fabulous, almost one-pot meal if you like healthy Mexican! I used regular salsa and it was delicious and so QUICK and EASY! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 25, 2019 at 5:04 pm

      I love this one too Diane! Lentils are underrated in my opinion.

      Reply
  11. Audrey says

    June 8, 2019 at 12:54 pm

    Does cooking time increase if chicken is frozen?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 10, 2019 at 8:06 pm

      I usually add 3 minutes if it’s frozen.

      Reply
  12. Songbird121 says

    April 14, 2019 at 1:50 pm

    This was soooo good. And so filling from the lentils. I had a half a can of beans left over from something else and 3/4 a cup of red lentils, so this was an excellent way to use up those odds and ends from the pantry and fridge. I also added a small onion just because it was there before cooking, and some grape tomatoes cut in half on top. Thanks so much for the idea!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Karen says

      April 15, 2019 at 11:08 am

      Yum your version sounds great.

      Reply
  13. Kalena says

    November 9, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    If I double the recipe how much time should I cook it for then? I am new to the multi-cooker!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      November 12, 2018 at 9:32 pm

      Just keep the cooking time the same 🙂

      Reply
  14. Linda says

    October 29, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    I just made this for supper. I had to laugh because I agree with your husband that it tastes much better than it looks!! It is delicious and will be a regular in my house. Thanks for another great recipe!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 30, 2018 at 11:07 am

      I can’t wait to make it again. I’m craving it 🙂

      Reply
  15. Mary says

    October 27, 2018 at 11:15 am

    Hi Karen,

    The title of the email I received from you yesterday indicated a recipe for Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken, but the link goes to a recipe for Cheesy Chicken and Lentils. Are they the same recipe?

    Thank you for all the recipes you share! I have passed many of them on to friends and family members!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 29, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Hi Mary, yes it is the same recipe 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Welcome!

Karen photo

Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

Stay In Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

365 Days of Slow Cooking © 2023 · Privacy Policy

MENU
  • Home
  • Filter
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Pork
  • Meatless
  • Healthy
  • Soups
  • Email List
  • Cookbooks
  • FAQs
  • Instant Pot Secrets