Instant Pot Queso Rotel Chicken with mashed potatoes is an easy dump and go recipe with flavorful chicken, rotel, cheese sauce and creamy mashed potatoes. You’re going to love how this dish reminds you of your favorite dip!
Instant Pot Queso Rotel Chicken
Early on in our marriage Greg showed me how to make his favorite Rotel dip. You know the one, right? It’s the Velveeta dip with Rotel in it. Greg always puts ground beef or ground sausage in it too. It’s a favorite around here during the holidays. Well this chicken dish is a take on that dip. It has chicken, queso dip, taco seasoning and Rotel. It’s a saucy chicken that tastes amazing served over mashed potatoes. You’re going to love how you can cook the potatoes at the same time in the same pot! If you have leftover sauce (there was a lot at our house) you can dip tortilla chips in it!
Ingredient/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs–or breasts, or a combination. Fresh or frozen both work.
- Taco seasoning–I used McCormicks brand. You can also make your own.
- Rotel–I used mild
- Yukon gold potatoes–or red or Russet potatoes
- Queso dip–I used Tostitos brand. You can also use Velveeta.
- Cornstarch–or arrowroot
- Milk, butter, salt and pepper–for the mashed potatoes
Steps
- Add ingredients: Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the taco seasoning. Dump the Rotel on top.
- Strategically add in potatoes: If making the potatoes: Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Place the potato quarters/halves on top of the trivet.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Make mashed potatoes: Use tongs to place potatoes into a bowl. Mash the potatoes well. Add in milk, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside mashed potatoes. Move trivet out of Instant Pot.
- Thicken the sauce: Stir queso dip into Instant Pot. Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together the cornstarch and water. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. Stir in the slurry to thicken the sauce. Once thickened turn off the Instant Pot.
- Serve chicken and sauce over the mashed potatoes.
Notes/Tips
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot. You can also make this in your 8 quart pot.
- You can make the chicken in the slow cooker. Add chicken, broth, rotel, taco seasoning and queso into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stir well. If needed, thicken with a cornstarch slurry.
- Try using Velveeta or American white cheddar cheese instead of queso dip. Either will work well!
- Rotel is canned, diced tomatoes and diced chili peppers. It is an ingredient often used in soups, sauces, queso, and casseroles. It’s a convenient way to add extra flavor to recipes that require diced tomatoes. You can usually find it by other diced tomatoes or in the aisle next to Mexican foods. I buy the mild version since we don’t love too much spice.
- If you don’t want to make the mashed potatoes just leave them out. Keep the same cooking time.
- Try serving the chicken and sauce over rice or cauliflower rice instead of potatoes.
- Broccoli florets taste really good with this meal. Kind of like broccoli cheddar soup! You can even stir cooked broccoli florets in with the sauce after it has pressure cooked
- To lower the carbs in this recipe don’t make the potatoes and skip the cornstarch.
More Cheesy Instant Pot Recipes…
- Texas King Ranch Chicken Casserole Recipe
- Instant Pot Southern Chicken Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Lazy Girl’s Enchilada Casserole
- Instant Pot Farmhouse Potatoes
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Instant Pot Queso Rotel Chicken
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
An easy dump and go recipe with flavorful chicken, rotel cheese sauce and creamy mashed potatoes. You’re going to love how this dish reminds you of your favorite dip!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (or a combination, frozen is okay)
- 3 Tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 (10 oz) can Rotel (I used mild)
- 1 1/2 pounds to 2 pounds of yukon gold potatoes, washed and cut into quarters for large potatoes or halves for medium to small potatoes
- 1 cup queso dip (I used Tostitos brand)
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
- Milk, butter, salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the taco seasoning. Dump the Rotel on top.
- If making the potatoes: Place a tall trivet* into the pot. Place the potato quarters/halves on top of the trivet.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes for fresh chicken or 12 minutes for frozen chicken. When time is up let the pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Use tongs to place potatoes into a bowl. Mash the potatoes well. Add in milk, butter and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside mashed potatoes. Move trivet out of Instant Pot.
- Stir queso dip into Instant Pot. Make a cornstarch slurry by stirring together the cornstarch and water. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. Stir in the slurry to thicken the sauce. Once thickened turn off the Instant Pot.
- Serve chicken and sauce over the mashed potatoes.
Notes
To make the chicken in the slow cooker: Add chicken, broth, rotel, taco seasoning and queso into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stir well. If needed, thicken with a cornstarch slurry.
- 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.
Hey Karen, I loved the recipe but my instant pot kept telling me it was burning. Any insight to make that not happen?
I think it must have been the taco seasoning. Sometimes they cause the burn message. I would add the taco seasoning in later with the queso. That should help!
It was good. I only used 3/4 cup of broth, and used Velveeta cheese (about 5 oz.) in place of the queso dip. Real time saver making the potatoes at the same time.
★★★★★
Good idea to use the Velveeta!
Hey, Karen! I don’t usually get crazy messing around with your recipes on my first try BUT, my hubby wants me to make this using sausage. I’m going to just break up a lb of Jimmy Dean ground sausage & saute it like I would hamburger meat & then follow the rest of the recipe & see what happens.
Do you think that will work? (I will be sure to strain out grease). Thanks. Will let you know. I will tell you this, he knows how much I hate to waste $$$, so he will either eat it or WEAR IT!
He will eat it! It will be soooo good.
Another 5 star winner . It was delicious. I thought it would be easier to eat if I shredded the chicken. After it finished cooking I took it out of the pot and shredded it. I added the queso, then the cornstarch. Once it thickened up I added the shredded chicken. I ignore most of the other recipes I get, but I always check yours out and I try the majority of them.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Chris I really appreciate it!
You left out the amount of butter and milk for the mashed potatoes. Can you share what you used?
I honestly eyeballed it…probably about 3 Tbsp butter and a quarter cup of milk
Thanks Karen! You’re the BEST!!!
★★★★★
Making tonight! Can’t wait! Also don’t buy queso dips but made an exception today! Kids will be thrilled I’m sure!
I hope they liked it!
5 stars! My mom is still talking about how good it was! I told her I can’t go wrong with Karen’s recipes! ❤️
★★★★★
you’re so nice 🙂
I have a bunch of skin on bone in chicken thights. What would I have to do to use them?
I would use a 12 minute pressure cook time with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
Hi Karen! This looks like another winner! We have never been big fans of commercial queso dips so I was wondering if you could substitute velveta cheese for the queso dip? If so, how much and when to add it in? Thanks!
Yes I would use velveeta. I would stir it in after the pressure cooking time is up. Should melt quickly. You could use 4-8 ounces…eyeball it