Instant Pot Chicken Sliders with Cucumber Slaw—Tender shredded chicken with a scrumptious sauce and then a little crispness from cucumbers. An easy recipe with a lot of flavor and freshness. A perfect meal for a summer evening.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of this recipe here

Instant Pot Chicken Sliders with Cucumber Slaw
One of the cool things about these pulled chicken sliders is that they taste incredibly fresh. I love the bright cucumber, carrot and pepper slaw that’s served on top of the chicken. I love using the slightly sweet Hawaiian rolls for this recipe. They are soft and fluffy and actually quite addicting. I love the slight sweetness in these rolls to pair with the chicken and slaw. If you’re trying to cut down on carbs you could eat this chicken on lettuce wraps or even in a low-carb tortilla.
This is a great recipe to feed a crowd. You can easily double or even triple this recipe. For all those family reunions and get-togethers you can make these chicken sliders. I would recommend only using the 1/2 cup of broth even when doubling the recipe so that it doesn’t get soupy. Basically the broth is in this recipe just so that the pot can reach pressure. If you’re new or old to pressure cooking read my article on How To Double Instant Pot Recipes. It will really help you understand a lot about Instant Pot cooking!
More Instant Pot Summer Recipes…
Instant Pot Chicken and Asparagus
Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken Sliders
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Sliders with Cucumber Slaw 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.


Instant Pot Chicken Sliders with Cucumber Slaw
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Tender shredded chicken with a scrumptious sauce and then a little crispness from cucumbers. An easy recipe with a lot of flavor and freshness. A perfect meal for a summer evening.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, trimmed of excess fat
- Salt and pepper
- 4 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 12 Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
For the slaw:
- 1 medium crisp cucumber (it will be about 3 cups of shredded cucumber)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Saute onion. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil. Swirl it around. Add in the onion and saute for about 4-5 minutes. Add in the broth and deglaze the pot. Turn off the saute setting.
- Add ingredients. Add in the chicken. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken. Dump the tomato paste, chili powder, paprika, red pepper flakes, ketchup, vinegar and dijon mustard on top of the chicken.
- Pressure cook. Place lid on the Instant Pot and secure it in place. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for smaller thinner chicken breasts, 15 minutes for larger breasts or thighs and 18 minutes for frozen breasts and thighs. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting.
- Prepare the slaw. While the chicken is cooking you can prepare the slaw. Grate the cucumber into nice, long shreds. Place grated cucumber into a colander and stir in the 1 tsp of salt. Let it drain of liquids for about 30 minutes (I was surprised at how much liquid drained out). Grate the carrot. Dice the red pepper. Add the cucumber into a bowl with the carrot and red pepper and toss in the olive oil.
- Shred chicken. Remove the chicken from the Instant Pot and place it on a cutting board. Shred the chicken and then add it back into the pot. Stir the chicken to coat it in the juices and seasonings. Add extra seasoning to taste, if needed.
- Serve. Portion out the chicken onto each of the rolls. Then portion out the slaw onto each of the rolls. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
You can easily double this recipe. Double ingredients (except broth) and keep the cooking time the same. It is a great recipe to feed a crowd.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*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.
These were great. I only used about 1 T. of molasses (BTW this ingredient is not listed in the “add ingredients” paragraph).😉 Used a combination of breasts and thighs. Hubby thought it was good.
★★★★★
Lol! Molasses? Interesting.
I don’t have molasses on hand, what I could I use instead of molasses?
honey or brown sugar should work well.
Hi Karen,
Thanks for providing great recipes. My wife and I both work full-time so we both appreciate your instant pot inspirations!
Thanks Drake! I appreciate that.