Pressure Cooker Chipotle-Honey Chicken Tacos

By Sarah DiGregorio

Updated February 21, 2019

  • A tight overhead image of two flour tortillas topped with shredded chicken and black beans in a red sauce, topped with sliced avocado and red onion.
    Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
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Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(6,804)
Comments
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If you have an electric pressure cooker, you can throw together a big batch of spicy chicken and black bean tacos in about 30 minutes. Smoky canned chipotles in adobo and honey do most of the heavy lifting here, combining to create a glossy, spicy-sweet sauce. Chipotles can pack varying levels of heat, so if you want your tacos on the milder side, use only one or two peppers. You can always drizzle with hot sauce at the table. The pickled onions are not absolutely necessary, but they add acidity and crunch that contrast nicely with the spicy shredded chicken. (Get the slow cooker version of this recipe here.)

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

  • 1 to 4 canned chipotles in adobo, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce

  • 3 tablespoons honey

  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional as needed

  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin

  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

  • 1 lime, juiced

  • Warmed tortillas, for serving

  • Pickled onion, for serving (see Tip)

  • Sliced or cubed avocado, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

46 grams carbs; 160 milligrams cholesterol; 477 calories; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 15 grams fat; 13 grams fiber; 1032 milligrams sodium; 42 grams protein; 17 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine the chicken, chipotles and adobo sauce, honey, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and cumin in an electric pressure cooker. Stir well. Cover and set steam valve to sealed position. Cook on high pressure for 13 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes; then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid.

  2. Step 2

    Remove the chicken to a bowl or cutting board using tongs. Shred the chicken with two forks. If you’d like to reduce the sauce, set to sauté and simmer, 5 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pot.

  3. Step 3

    Stir in the black beans and a squeeze of lime juice, set to sauté and let the beans warm through, 2 to 3 minutes. Taste and add more salt or lime juice if necessary. Serve in tortillas with pickled onions and avocado.

Tip

  • To make quick-pickled onions, thinly slice a red onion and put the slices in a lidded heat-proof container. Bring about 1½ cups cider or white vinegar to a boil. Add about 3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a big pinch of salt and whisk to dissolve. (You can also add a pinch of red-pepper flakes, a bay leaf or some dried oregano, if you like.) Pour the hot vinegar over the onions and let them cool. They’re ready to use right away, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
6,804 user ratings
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Comments

Jesse

How long would I cook breasts rather than thighs? My wife hates thighs and relenting on this is cheaper than getting a divorce.

Thaisa Lemos

- 3lbs chicken thighs, 15min - 1.5-3lbs chicken breast, 15-17min - 1 can chipotle for every 3lbs + 2-4 tbsp sauce - No need to add water for thighs, 1tbsp/1.5lb for breast

Molly

Added some chicken stock because i thought a pressure cookers needed a minimum of a cup Of liquid. Turned out well.

Mike O.

I always add a cup of chicken stock in here. I’ve made it a bunch of times, and a couple of times that I did it without the additional liquid, I got the burn warning on the insta pot, which is no fun. It adds some flavor, and the excess liquid is easily reduced at the end with the sauté feature. I often make this without the beans because I like to pair the chicken with quinoa and black beans and corn. Make sure to hit the chicken with lime at the end. I just made the quick pickles with apple cider vinegar, and they were great with zero fuss to make. Don’t worry so much about how many peppers or Adobe sauce you use initially. Most of the heat stays in the sauce so you can dial down the heat at the very end by just not using all of the sauce.

Better than you can imagine!

This dish is incredibly good. Looking at the recipe it’s hard to imagine the depth of flavor you can achieve in less that 20 minutes but it’s there. I added half an onion, cut back a third on the honey and added a tablespoon of water to help the Instant Pot have enough liquid to pressurize. It was terrific - I consumed about half the batch by myself. Do add the avocado and red onion and use corn tortillas if possible - unbeatable combination.

Julia

Can you make this in a slow cooker instead? How long and on what setting?

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