Instant Pot Cajun Chicken Recipe

Instant Pot Cajun Chicken is one of the BEST, most flavorful recipes that you will ever make in the Instant Pot.

The chicken is cooked with a variety of seasonings that gives it that authentic Cajun flavor. You can adjust the heat level based on your preference by adding more or less of cayenne ground pepper.

We like it hot, so when we make it at our house, we use the full 2 teaspoons, if not more!

The spices are made more vibrant in this recipe by heating them up prior to the pressure cooking process. Add a little oil to the liner and stir in the spices when it becomes hot.

You will be able to smell the aroma of the Cajun spices being released in just one short minute. And best of all, the pot is nice and hot and will come to pressure much quicker!

For an additional layer of flavor, the chicken is cooked directly in a mixture of chicken broth and beer.

You can use whatever type of beer that you have on hand. I have used both a very light beer and a double IPA variety and each time it turns out perfectly!

For those that don’t like to cook with alcohol you could use non-alcoholic beer, chicken broth or even ginger ale instead.

There is one crucial step when making this recipe. Be sure to add the cans of tomatoes on top of the chicken and DO NOT STIR!

I repeat, DO NOT STIR!!!

If you have tomatoes that are sitting directly on the bottom of the liner, you are much more likely to get the dreaded BURN message.

Once the cooking process is complete you will remove the chicken to shred and then can stir the tomatoes into the rest of the liquid.

Although the chicken is super easy to shred, I love using my KitchenAid hand mixer to shred all of the meat in seconds!

Just place the meat in a large bowl and watch the magic happen!

Our standard way to serve Instant Pot Cajun Chicken is over a bed of rice. However, we have also ate the leftovers on top of a baked or sweet potato.

We even heat it up in the morning with some scrambled eggs for breakfast!

The options are endless with this flavorful dish! But if you are looking for an easy to make Cajun chicken dish using whole chicken breasts, try our Cajun Butter Chicken Breast recipe. It’s ready to eat in just 15 minutes!

We made this recipe using our Instant Pot 6 quart duo.

For another fantastic Instant Pot Chicken recipe try our Honey Bourbon Chicken recipe (spoiler alert – there is no Bourbon in the recipe).

Check out the printable recipe below and all of our recipes and let me know what you think!

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Yield: 8

Instant Pot Cajun Chicken

Cajun spiced shredded chicken – great to serve over rice, with a baked potato or even with eggs for breakfast!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on desired heat level
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 oz beer
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp molasses
4 bay leaves
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs/breasts
2 15 oz cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes

Instructions

In a small bowl mix together garlic powder, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, paprika, and salt. Set aside.
Place your Instant Pot on the sauté setting. Once hot add the olive oil.
Add the dry seasoning mix, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Turn Instant Pot off.
Add the beer, chicken stock, molasses and bay leaves to the instant pot and stir. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to release any spices that may have adhered to the surface.
Place the chicken in the liquid.
Add the 2 cans of tomatoes on top of the chicken. Do not stir.
Place the lid on and in the sealed position. Pressure Cook/Manual on High pressure for 15 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release.
Remove bay leaves and chicken. Discard bay leaves. Shred chicken with forks.
Place chicken back into pot and stir. Let sit 10 minutes with the lid removed before serving.

Notes

If desired, you can thicken with corn starch. Mixture will thicken as it cools/stands. Serve over rice. Recipe provided by Make Your Meals

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g