This pressure cooker Chicken Tinga recipe is a sweet, spicy and utterly delicious authentic Mexican dish. Use is as a filling for tacos, or eat it plain with some guacamole. It’s delicious either way!
Why Your Whole Family Will Love These Chicken Tinga Tacos
- Fast. Less than 30 minutes of cook time in your Instant Pot .
- Easy. Saute aromatics in your Instant Pot , add chicken, and cook under pressure.
- Low Carb . Only 3 net carbs per serving in this tasty main course .
- Authentic. Loaded with all of the traditional Mexican flavors you expect in Chicken Tinga.
What IsInstant PotChicken Tinga?
Tinga chicken is basically a shredded chicken dish that has green and red tomatoes and chipotle chiles. You usually use the resultant chicken in tortillas as a grown-up version of a taco recipe .
Nice when you want something other than the typical Tex-Mex ground beef taco mix.
Another fantastic thing about this Chicken Tinga recipe is how quick and easy it is to make! The Instant Pot makes this recipe so incredibly simple to make and it does a fantastic job of infusing the meat with tons of flavor. It’s so much better than your typical ground beef with taco seasoning tacos and it’s just as simple to make.
Looking for more great taco filling recipes? Check out my Mexican Pulled Pork recipe ! You can use the pulled pork to make tacos, burritos or just about anything else your heart desires!
What Does Tinga Mean?
Tinga is a Mexican dish made with shredded meat in a red chili sauce. Basically, all of your comfort food dreams made a reality.
Is Chicken TingaGluten-Free?
Chicken Tinga is a healthy gluten-free , dairy-free , and low carb recipe! Make this for your ketogenic, allergy sensitive friends, and family for a great dinner option.
A tinga de pollo is typically made with vegetables that are broiled, but I wanted to skip that step. So what I did instead, was I charred the vegetables in the pot on sauté mode to get them slightly burned and smoky.
I added a few different things like fish sauce and cider vinegar for flavor, and the end result was something that was slightly smoky, a little spicy, a little sweet, and just perfect on a corn tortilla.
So next time you’re cooking up some chicken tacos for taco Tuesday, give this Chicken Tinga recipe a try! It’s so very easy to make and the end result is so delicious you’ll never want to go back to making standard taco seasoning ground beef tacos again.
How To Make Chicken Tinga
- Char the vegetables
- Add all ingredients except chicken and let spices bloom
- Cook with chicken in your Instant Pot 15 mins HP, NPR
- Shred chicken
- Puré using an immersion blender and thicken the sauce
- Mix sauce and chicken and serve
How To Make Slow Cooker Chicken Tinga
Adapting this recipe is SO SIMPLE. All you need to do is insert all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours.
If you’re in a rush, simply adjust the temperature to HIGH and cook for 4 hours and add to a tortilla of your choice when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches at least 165F.
Absolutely perfect tinga tacos made while you enjoy life outside of the kitchen.
Want To Try Chicken de Pollo Tostadas?
The best thing about tostadas is the deliciously crispy crunch in each bite. If you add my Chicken Tinga recipe to a tostada shell (or an air fried low carb shell) you’ll get amazing chicken tostadas every time.
More Of OurBest Taco Recipes
- Tacos de Alambre
- Baked Chicken Tacos
- Buffalo Chicken Tacos
- Chicken Street Tacos
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos
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Chicken Tinga | Tinga de Pollo Recipe
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 1 tablespoon ) Oil
- ▢ 2 ( 2 ) Tomatillos , sliced thin
- ▢ 1/2 ( 0.5 ) Onion , sliced thin
- ▢ 4 cloves ( 4 cloves ) Garlic , minced
- ▢ 1/3 cup ( 78.33 g ) Chicken Broth
- ▢ 7 ounces ( 198.45 g ) Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes , canned
- ▢ 1 ( 1 ) Chipotle Chile in Adobo Sauce , from can. ONE chile, not one can
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoons ( 0.5 teaspoons ) Ground Cumin
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoons ( 0.25 teaspoons ) Ground Cinnamon
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoons ( 0.5 teaspoons ) Dried Oregano
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 1 teaspoon ) Sugar Or Other Sweetener Equivalent
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 1 tablespoon ) Fish Sauce
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 1 Tbs ) Apple Cider Vinegar
- ▢ 1.5 pounds ( 680.39 g ) Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs , , skinless, boneless
Instructions
- Heat the Instant Pot on Sauté, and once it’s hot, add oil.
- Put down tomatillo slices in a single layer on one side, add onions in as flat a layer as possible on the other, and nestle in the garlic cloves. You’re going to let these char, so do not move these for a while.
- Once the thinner slices start to look a little burned, flip the vegetables. The bottom of your pot will have large black spots where the vegetables have burned, but this is a good thing.
- Once the vegetables seemed well charred, add in the tomatoes and broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the lovely brown bits.
- Add all the other ingredients except chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes to allow the spices to bloom.
- Add in chicken, close and seal the lid, and set your Instant Pot to 15 mins HP or use the Poultry setting. Let is release pressure naturally when done.
- Open and remove chicken pieces and shred.
- Using an immersion blender emulsify the sauce in the pot until the mixture is smooth. You may have to tilt the pot to get all the sauce to one side.
- Turn the pot on sauté and start to thicken the sauce for 10 minutes. You want a thick sauce coating the chicken so it won’t drip out thinly as it is added to the tortilla. Once it’s thickened a bit, add in the chicken and heat through.
- Serve with corn tortillas as a taco filling, or over rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
- Top with chopped cilantro, crema, finely chopped red onions, shredded cabbage or avocado slices.
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Nutrition
Originally published May 2017
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Chicken Tinga | Tinga de Pollo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 Tomatillos sliced thin
- 1/2 Onion sliced thin
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1/3 cup Chicken Broth
- 7 ounces Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes canned
- 1 Chipotle Chile in Adobo Sauce from can. ONE chile, not one can
- 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
- 1/4 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons Dried Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Sugar Or Other Sweetener Equivalent
- 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1.5 pounds Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs , skinless, boneless
Instructions
- Heat the Instant Pot on Sauté, and once it’s hot, add oil.
- Put down tomatillo slices in a single layer on one side, add onions in as flat a layer as possible on the other, and nestle in the garlic cloves. You’re going to let these char, so do not move these for a while.
- Once the thinner slices start to look a little burned, flip the vegetables. The bottom of your pot will have large black spots where the vegetables have burned, but this is a good thing.
- Once the vegetables seemed well charred, add in the tomatoes and broth and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the lovely brown bits.
- Add all the other ingredients except chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes to allow the spices to bloom.
- Add in chicken, close and seal the lid, and set your Instant Pot to 15 mins HP or use the Poultry setting. Let is release pressure naturally when done.
- Open and remove chicken pieces and shred.
- Using an immersion blender emulsify the sauce in the pot until the mixture is smooth. You may have to tilt the pot to get all the sauce to one side.
- Turn the pot on sauté and start to thicken the sauce for 10 minutes. You want a thick sauce coating the chicken so it won’t drip out thinly as it is added to the tortilla. Once it’s thickened a bit, add in the chicken and heat through.
- Serve with corn tortillas as a taco filling, or over rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
- Top with chopped cilantro, crema, finely chopped red onions, shredded cabbage or avocado slices.
Chicken Tinga | Tinga de Pollo Recipe https://twosleevers.com/chicken-tinga/
This Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce is a quick recipe that tastes far better than canned enchilada sauce! It’s gluten-free, vegan, and best of all, it’s really easy to make in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker .
I’ve tried canned enchilada sauces and I’m not that impressed with them. They’re okay, not great. They tend to be a little thin and lack flavor.
Since an Instant Pot allows me to make sauces quickly, yet have them taste like they cooked all day, I figured it was time to give an enchilada sauce a whirl in the Instant Pot, and I’m really glad I did. After you make this Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce once, you won’t ever want to buy canned again.
How to Make Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce
- Throw everything in the pot, putting tomatoes in last to prevent them from scorching
- Cook at HP for 10, NPR
- Blend using an immersion blender, and you’re done.
This Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce is a definitely a dump and run recipe. Throw all ingredients in the Instant Pot, blend once done and freeze some. Once all done, it made about 3.5 to 4 cups of sauce for me.
How spicy is this sauce?
It definitely had a kick of spice with the proportions below, so reduce the chili powder and the chipotle chile if you need to. I think it will be good this way because, by the time you’ve cooked it with tortillas, meat, cheese, etc., you don’t want the sauce to be completely washed out. But try it with less and you can always add more.
Why use fire-roasted tomatoes?
They have a slightly smoky flavor that I love and look at the little flecks of black in the sauce below. That’s from those canned tomatoes. Very easy to get a little smoky flavor by using those. But if you can’t find it, just use regular tomatoes for this Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce. There’s enough flavor in the rest of the sauce to compensate.
What recipes can I use this Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce in?
I use about two cups to make my chicken enchilada casserole and you can always use it instead of the jarred sauce in this Lazy Person Chicken Enchilada recipe too.
Can you freeze this sauce?
Yes! Tomato-based sauces tend to freeze very well. This Instant Pot Enchilada Sauce is no exception and works great from frozen. In fact, I usually make a big batch of this, use what I need, and freeze the rest.
Why do I have to put the tomatoes in last?
Putting the tomatoes in last reduces your chances of getting a burn notice on your Instant Pot when making this sauce. It’s also important not to mix the ingredients after putting the tomatoes in, or you could get a burn notice then too.
Other Recipes to Try
Lazy Enchilada Casserole
- Here’s an easy, Lazy Enchilada Casserole recipe for your Instant Pot.
- Check out this fabulous list of Instant Pot Mexican Recipes | 35 Best Pressure Cooker Mexican Recipes
- This easy Black Bean soup recipe is also a popular favorite. https://twosleevers.com/pressure-cooker-black-bean-soup/
Fire-Roasted Enchilada Sauce
Equipment
- INSTANT POT DUO 6 QUART
- KITCHENAID IMMERSION BLENDER
Ingredients
- ▢ 1/2 ( 0.5 ) Red Onion. chopped , chopped
- ▢ 1/2 ( 0.5 ) Bell Peppers , chopped
- ▢ 1/2 ( 0.5 ) Jalapeño Peppers , sliced
- ▢ 4 cloves ( 4 cloves ) Garlic
- ▢ 2 ( 2 ) Chipotle Chile in Adobo Sauce , (use 1 for less spice)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 1 teaspoon ) Ground Cumin
- ▢ 1-2 teaspoons ( 1 teaspoons ) Mexican Red Chili Powder
- ▢ 1-2 teaspoons ( 1 teaspoons ) Kosher Salt
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 125 g ) Water
- ▢ 14 ounces ( 396.89 g ) Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes
Instructions
Put all ingredients into the Instant Pot, except the tomatoes and stir well.
Pour the tomatoes on top and do not mix. This is to prevent any chance of them burning and sticking to the bottom.
Cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes, allowing it to release pressure naturally.
Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce carefully. You may have to tilt your liner to blend all of it. If you don’t have an immersion blender, wait for the sauce to cool a little, and use your blender. Be sure to remove the little inside piece on the blender lid to allow steam to escape.
Use half the sauce right away and freeze the rest. You’ll probably need about 1 cup of this sauce for 6-8 enchiladas.
This sauce is freezer-friendly! Make one batch and freeze the rest.
This stores in the fridge for up to a week.
If you can’t find fire-roasted tomatoes, you can use regular canned tomatoes.
