This Instant Pot salsa verde chicken dish is quick and easy to make using fresh or frozen breasts or thighs. The chicken is cooked in the Instant Pot with salsa verde, making it tender and juicy. Serve this over rice or tortillas for a delicious meal.

Instant pot salsa verde is an incredibly flavorful and tender chicken dish. Make this salsa chicken with a few simple ingredients, like Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde, boneless breasts and thighs, and spices. Turn it into creamy chile Verde just by adding sour cream at the end. The pressure cooker makes this an easy weeknight favorite recipe.
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Uses for Salsa Verde
Salsa verde is an amazing sauce that can be used in so many dishes. Home cooks can make salsa right homemade or buy it premade. Trader Joe’s salsa verde is my favorite!
Look for the jar that says Trader Joe’s Hatch Valley Valley Salsa – it’s made from green chile peppers. Another reliable brand, and a close second favorite, is the Heredez Salsa Verde.
Salsa is an important ingredient in this chile Verde instant pot dish. The flavors of the onions, garlic, tomatillos, and lime juice all come together with the breasts and thighs to create culinary magic.
What’s the difference between Chicken Salsa Verde and Chile Verde
These are two similar-sounding dishes that taste quite different. They are both amazing in their own right, but it’s worth clearing up how they’re different.
Salsa Verde is a lighter dish made with tomatillos, onions, garlic, spices, and chicken.
Chile Verde has more of a deep Chile flavor. Most recipes use poblano peppers, jalapeños, Anaheim chiles, tomatillos, onions, and garlic.
Traditionally Chile Verde is made with diced pork, but you’ll see recipes with thighs instead of pork. It’s a heartier dish that’s akin to a stew with shredded chicken.
Both Chicken Salsa Verde and Chile Verde can be made in the Instant Pot, slow cooker, or on the stove.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
What do you need to make this instant pot salsa verde? Here are the ingredient notes and some substitutions.
- Cooking oil – This can be canola or olive oil.
- Chicken – We used boneless breasts and thighs. Or feel free to use other cuts of chicken. However, thighs tend to be the most flavorful and juicy.
- Jarred Salsa Verde – I like Trader Joe’s Hatch Valley Salsa. You can also use Herdez Salsa Verde.
- Spices – We used ground cumin, dried, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You can also add some smoked paprika, chili powder, or red pepper flakes for added heat.
- (Optional) Sour cream – If you’d like to make this a creamy salsa verde chicken, you can add a little sour cream to the sauce.
Recipe Variation
If you want to make this into a creamy version of salsa verde chicken, add a 1/2 cup of sour cream or softened cream cheese after cooking. Then use an immersion blender or pour the sauce into a blender and mix.
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How to Make This Instant Pot Chicken
Here are the instructions on how to make this chicken Chile Verde instant pot meal. It’s only 10 minutes of cook time and 10 minutes to release the steam.
- Add a little oil to your pressure cooker pan to prevent sticking or getting a burn notice. It also cuts down on the amount of time for the pot to come to pressure, and pressure cooks faster. Add meat to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Pour the Trader Joe’s green salsa and spices over.
- Close the lid and turn the sealing lever to seal if needed. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes cook time (12 minutes for frozen). Then allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before performing a quick release to release the pressure.
- Remove the meat from the pot and shred it with two forks. Stir in sour cream for creamy salsa verde chicken, and use an immersion blender to create a creamy salsa verde sauce.

If you pour it into a blender, use caution when removing the lid because of the hot liquid.
How to Shred Chicken in a Mixer or by Hand
- Shredding in a mixer
Did you know you can shred your chicken using a mixer? Here’s how:
Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to shred chicken quickly and easily. Place the chicken in the mixing bowl. Mix at low speed for up to 1 minute until the chicken is all shredded. - Shredding chicken by hand
Another great way to shred chicken (and the most classic way) is to use two forks and a mixing bowl.
Before shredding the chicken by hand, place them in a large bowl and cut the chicken breasts in half.
Hand shred with two forks by placing them in the middle of the chicken pieces and pull each fork in opposite directions.
Serving Suggestions
Now that you have this super yummy salsa verde, how are you going to eat it? One of the best ways is right out of the pot and in a bowl.
Sprinkle the top with some crunchy pepitas, fresh cilantro, minced green onion, or a dollop of sour cream.
Shredding the chicken gives you even more options! You can use it as a dip for chips, in creamy cheesy chicken enchiladas, in a casserole with pinto beans or black beans, rice a roni recipe, corn, and cheese, flour tortilla, or to make nachos.
One of my favorite ways is to add shredded chicken to corn tortillas and make tacos. Or make burrito bowls with the shredded chicken, beans, cilantro lime rice, cheese, and top with salsa or pico de gallo, sour cream, and tortilla chips.
Craving for Another Chicken Recipes?
If you are craving some chicken recipes, Instant Pot chicken tenders recipe are another perfect meal for you. Want creamy and melt-in-your-mouth goodness? Instant Pot chicken thighs and potatoes are also a great recipe to try.
For Mexican stew that is hearty and zesty, try our Mexican hominy soup. For a quick, easy, tangy, and comforting dish, ranch chicken and potatoes ranch chicken and potatoes is a must-try!
Recipe FAQs
Salsa verde is tangy from the tomatillos, and since they are cooked with onions and garlic, the flavors all come together to make a delicious sauce.
No, salsa verde is made by cooking tomatillos, onions, and garlic while chimichurri is made by blending fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, and oregano with vinegar, oil, and other spices.
Regular red salsa is made with tomatoes and is not cooked. Salsa verde is made with green tomatillos and chiles and is cooked.
After you make the salsa chicken, you may have some leftovers. There are a couple of things you can do to keep it fresh and serve it later.
Store it in an air-tight container and in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat from the fridge, remove the container’s lid and place it sideways on the bowl so it lets a little air escape. Then heat it in 30-second increments until the temperature reaches 165º F.
To freeze the instant pot salsa verde chicken, put it in a freezer bag or air-tight container, and label it with its name and date. Freeze it for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to eat it, let it completely thaw in the fridge or use the defrost function on your microwave to thaw.
When you’re ready to serve it, heat it in the microwave the same as above.

More Prep Ahead Recipes To Try…
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Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons cooking oil
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen chicken)
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs (fresh or frozen chicken)
- 1 jar (12 ounce) Salsa Verde (I like Trader Joe's or Hatch Valley brands)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and black pepper
Creamy Salsa Verde Chicken (optional)
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Add a little oil to your Instant Pot pan to prevent sticking or getting a burn notice. Add chicken to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Pour salsa and spices over the chicken.
- Close the lid and turn the sealing lever to seal, if needed. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes (12 minutes for frozen), then allow pressure to naturally release for at 10 minutes before performing a quick release.
- Remove chicken from pot and shred (see notes below) or serve as boneless chicken breasts and thighs. Stir in sour cream for Creamy Salsa Verde chicken, and use an imersion blender to create a creamy salsa verde sauce. Serve over rice with tortillas, over tortilla chips and top with cheese to make nachos, make chicken tacos or burritos.Keep leftovers to use in another recipe like Chicken Enchiladas or green goddess salad with chicken.
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Kris says
I love this recipe!! It has become a favorite for me and my husband. If I double it would I cook for the same amount of time? Thank you so much!
Karen Froehlich says
I used frozen chicken thighs and did get a burn notice, which made me stop the cooking. I will use fresh or thawed chicken pieces when I make this again. It was delicious and surprisingly not too spicy.
Renae says
I’ve made this countless times without getting a burn notice. When using frozen chicken, it helps if 1) your Instant Pot liner is shiny clean like it’s new, and 2) that you wipe the bottom of the pot with a little oil to keep it from sticking. If your Instant Pot liner is stainless steel, it’s just like cooking on stainless steel pans and they need a little oil (or deglazing) to keep them from sticking (burning). I hope this helps.