Instant Pot Fiesta Lime Chicken—shredded chicken with a creamy, flavorful sauce that’s made quickly in your Instant Pot. And you can make rice at the same time in the same pot to serve with the chicken. An easy dinner for any night of the week.
Get the SLOW COOKER fiesta lime chicken recipe here

Instant Pot Fiesta Lime Chicken
I’ve been making the sauce that goes on this chicken for many years. I like to spoon it over grilled chicken in the summer. I also like to eat it as a chip dip. It is seriously so scrumptious. This time I stirred the sauce into shredded chicken so the chicken would be coated completely with flavor. It worked perfect. My family was mad that there weren’t any leftovers.
We chose to make the pot in pot rice to go with this chicken. This Instant Pot fiesta lime chicken could be good served in many ways. You could eat in on a toasted bun. And if you’re trying to eat low carb you could wrap it up in lettuce or serve it over salad.

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Instant Pot Southwest Shredded Chicken Bowls
Instant Pot Chicken Rice Bowls
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Fiesta Lime Chicken 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.
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Instant Pot Fiesta Lime Chicken
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Shredded chicken with a creamy, flavorful sauce that’s made quickly in your Instant Pot. And you can make rice at the same time in the same pot to serve with the chicken. An easy dinner for any night of the week.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
- (Optional) 1 cup uncooked white rice or jasmine rice
- (Optional) 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup picante sauce or salsa
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/8 tsp dried dill weed
- 1/8 tsp cumin
- 1 fresh lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Chicken: Pour the broth into your Instant Pot. Add your chicken to the pot in an even layer.
- Optional Rice: If making rice use the pot in pot method. Use a pan that fits inside your Instant Pot*. Pour 1 cup uncooked rice in the pan and then pour in 1 ½ cups water. You can make more rice than this if you’d like. Just use a 1 to 1 ½ ratio of rice to water. Place a trivet (I used this trivet sling*) on top of the chicken and place the rice pan on top of the chicken. You’ll want it as even as possible so the rice cooks evenly.
- Pressure Cook: Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes for thawed chicken or 15 minutes for frozen chicken. When the time is up let the pot sit for another 5 minutes (display will read L0:05). Then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid. Remove the rice pan and set aside. Use tongs to place chicken on a cutting board. Discard the broth. Shred or cut the chicken up. Then add it back into the pot.
- Make the Sauce: In a bowl stir together the mayo, sour cream, picante sauce, cajun seasoning, parsley, dill and cumin. Stir the sauce into the chicken.
- Serve: Serve the chicken over rice. Squeeze one lime wedge over each serving of chicken. You can also serve this chicken on buns or in lettuce wraps.
Notes
To make gluten free: Make sure your chicken broth has no gluten in it. Check the label. I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also use a 3 quart or 8 quart Instant Pot for this recipe. The 3 quart won’t be able to make the pot in pot rice.
- 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.
How would I do this with shredded chick that is in my freezer, thank you for all the great resipes
It always confuses me because I shredded my chicken already
If you already have cooked, shredded chicken I would just move to step 4 of the recipe
I have the 3 quart instant pot and you state you can’t do the pot on pot rice with this. Why is that?
There won’t be enough room?? Unless you have a tiny pot in pot and you are cutting the recipe down.
Hello.
I tried making this but had some problems—maybe you can help. I put the chicken broth in bottom of pot and then layered three boneless chicken breasts on top. I set my 6 quart IP for 12 minutes of pressure cooking on the high setting. After 12 minutes and five minutes of letting it sit before opening lid, the chicken did not seem all the way cooked. Is there something I am missing? Thanks so much.
★★★
How thick and how many ounces were your chicken breasts? https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts-in-the-instant-pot-frozen-or-fresh/
Thank you Karen. I had three boneless chicken breasts and all total they were about 1.5 pounds.
Hi Karen,
Could you please respond to my thread above when you have time? I want to make this again with better results.
I would try 15 minutes next time. Use a digital thermometer to check for doneness. Chicken if it is thick/frozen can vary greatly with cooking times. Did you read that article I linked to? That might help.
★★★★★
When making rice in the pot in pot method do i put a lid over the pot for the rice or leave it uncovered?
I always leave it uncovered.
Will this be good heated up? Planning on making it for dinner this week
Yes I think it will!
Btw this was amazing
Glad you liked it Brittany!
Can you taste the sour cream?
Yes a bit.
Hi! I just got my IP and I’m ready to try all your recipes (I’m doing the turkey chili one tonight!) I was wondering, can I substitute the sour cream for greek yogurt?
yes you can!
This one is just fantastic! I layered some quick-saute’ed fresh spinach (EVOO, garlic and green onions) and some white corn in between the rice and chicken to serve, and sprinkled a little cheese on top. It was a hit!
Sounds amazing Denise!!
This is really good! For two pounds of chicken i doubled the sauce, and used it over riced cauliflower, and it easily became a low-carb dinner. Will definitely make again!
★★★★★
oooooohhhhh good idea Meredith!
Does salsa or picante go in the sauce? It’s not listed in the “Make the Sauce” Step.
oopsie!! Fixed it! It goes into the sauce.
Good I guessed right! Lol It was very good. Thank you!