Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Quinoa Bowls are the healthy dinner your whole family will love or are perfect meal prep. Let the Instant Pot do the work cooking the chicken thighs while you prepare the easy cilantro lime quinoa. Using pantry staple ingredients makes this super easy to make.
Ingredients for the Salsa Chicken Thighs:
Making salsa chicken in the Instant Pot is easy and flavorful! You can also make the chicken and the rice together with this Instant Pot Salsa Chicken & Rice recipe.
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Salsa - use your favorite!
- Ground Cumin
- Salt
- Can of Corn Kernels
- Can of Black Beans
First, add the chicken thighs, salt, cumin, and salsa to your Instant Pot. Stir together and cook on Manual High Pressure for 20 minutes. Allow to Natural Release for 5 minutes before Quick Releasing the pressure.
Next, shred the chicken thighs and add the corn and beans. If using canned, you'll want to rinse and drain before adding.
That's it! Serve the shredded salsa chicken with cilantro lime quinoa and any other toppings of choice.
Ingredients for the Cilantro Lime Quinoa:
- Quinoa
- Lime - Zested and Juiced
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Salt
All you have to do is cook the quinoa according to package directions then mix in the lime juice, zest, cilantro, and salt. That's it!
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Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Quinoa Bowls
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Quinoa Bowls are a healthy weeknight dinner or an easy meal prep. Let the Instant Pot do the work cooking the chicken thighs while you prepare the easy cilantro lime quinoa. Using pantry staple ingredients makes this super easy to make.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Instant Pot, Main Dish
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
Salsa Chicken
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1.5 cups salsa
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 14oz can corn kernels (rinsed and drained)
- 1 14oz can black beans (rinsed and drained)
- additional toppings (Avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, etc.)
Cilantro Lime Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 lime (zested and juiced)
Instructions
Instant Pot Salsa Chicken
- To your Instant Pot, add the chicken thighs, salsa, cumin and salt. Mix together, add lid, and set to sealing. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 18 minutes. Natural Release for 5 minutes then Quick Release.
- Shred the chicken thighs with two forks and stir in the corn and beans.
Cilantro Lime Quinoa
- While the chicken is cooking, cook the quinoa according to package directions.
- When quinoa is done cooking, pour into a bowl and stir in the lime zest, juice, cilantro, and salt. Taste and adjust salt if needed.
- Assemble the chicken and quinoa into bowls. Top with any desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Store leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you are new to using the Instant Pot, I recommend first doing the "Water Test" to learn how your pot works. This helps clear up the confusion with Natural vs Quick Release, how the pot comes to pressure, etc.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ of recipe
- Calories: 577
- Sugar: 9.8 g
- Sodium: 1251.2 mg
- Fat: 12.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 69.2 g
- Fiber: 13.6 g
- Protein: 49.8 g
- Cholesterol: 159.8 mg
Angie says
This was so good! I used what I had on hand - chicken breasts, zucchini and sweet potato. I added broth and seasoned salt to the quinoa for more flavor, and a little hot sauce to the chicken. Also diced green onion at the end. It was such a hearty and delicious dinner - husband and I ate it up. Pardon all the alterations - covid times means using what we’ve got. Thank you for an easy and healthy recipe!!
Kathleen says
I'm glad you loved it! I'm a big fan of using what is on hand too 🙂
Angela says
I've made this recipe so many times! The kids loved it and so do we.
Kathleen says
Yay! So glad to hear that 🙂 Thank you, Angela!
AMANDA LAFKY says
I followed the Chicken part to a T, but it still turned out dry, how do I fix this for next time?
Kathleen says
Hi Amanda! I’m sorry that the recipe didn’t work for you, but I appreciate your comment to troubleshoot. Part of the reason I love this recipe is my chicken always comes out super juicy due to using chicken thighs (vs breasts) and from all the salsa liquid. But I have 2 theories for why yours was a little dry.
1. If your thighs were overcooked. This could’ve been due to the thighs being smaller or perhaps your Instant Pot runs a little warmer (I use the 8qt Duo). If your chicken seemed more than cooked through, I’d reduce the cook time. Maybe 15 minutes on high pressure? You could also reduce the natural release time down. I like to do 5 minutes to reduce the risk of liquid spraying everywhere :). I’d use your best judgement and just check the temp of the thighs to make sure they get cooked through.
2. If the thighs didn’t seem too overcooked but still were a little dry, perhaps your salsa didn’t have as much liquid. Some jarred salsa are much thinner in consistency vs say a pico de gallo. If you think this was the case, you could add some more salsa or even add a splash of water (a few tablespoons to 1/4 cup) to up the liquid content.
I hope one of these (or maybe a combo) helps! Instant Pots can be a little finicky and sometimes take a little trial and error. Let me know if you need any other help! Kathleen
Shelby says
So easy, and so delicious! I love that most of the cooking is hands-off—really just chopping cilantro and zesting a lime. And the chicken thighs fall apart so easily, the shredding takes no time! This one will be a new staple for sure 🙂
Kathleen says
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it. It's definitely a great, easy recipe to have in your repertoire. Thank you for your comment 🙂