Instant Pot Smoky Honey Cilantro Chicken
This Instant Pot smoky honey chicken is tender, flavorful, and perfect for salads, enchiladas, tacos – you name it! {Slow cooker instructions included as well!}
This smoky honey chicken is the best thing to ever come out of my Instant Pot.
Ingredients for Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
This recipe could not be easier! Here’s a lineup of the flavor-packed ingredients:
- salsa verde
- honey
- chili powder
- salt + pepper
- dried oregano
- cumin
- garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
- smoked paprika
If you don’t have smoked paprika, you can skip it and use regular sweet paprika, but if you’re reading this, I implore you to consider keeping smoked paprika in your pantry. It is a hot shot ingredient that is worth keeping around.
Here are 20+ other fantastic recipes that call for smoked paprika in case you need more justification for buying it.
Cooking Chicken in the Instant Pot
- Whisk together all the sauce ingredients.
- Nestle the chicken into the flavorful sauce.
- Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
- Release the pressure and shred the chicken.
- Stir in fresh cilantro.
This Instant Pot smoky honey chicken can also easily be made in a slow cooker. Simply add all the ingredients (except the cilantro) to a 6- or 8-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. If the mixture starts to look dry during cooking, add 1/2 cup or so chicken broth to the slow cooker and continue cooking.
How to Serve Instant Pot Smoky Honey Chicken
This deliciously tender and flavorful chicken can be used in so many ways!
- Tacos
- Quesadillas
- Enchiladas
- Burritos
- Salads
Serve it with cilantro lime rice, black beans, tortillas, cilantro lime dressing, and tons of toppings for a build-your-own style meal where everyone can make their own plate according to the desires of their heart.
A Tried-and-True Favorite
We eat this meal often as a family, and it is also one of my go-to take-in meals for family and friends or for when I’m feeding company at my house. It is always a hit!
With over 300 5-star reviews, this one is a keeper! Here are a few rave reviews from the comments:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This recipe is the one that finally convinced me to get an Instant pot. It did not disappoint! Seriously amazing! So,so good. This will be going into our regular meal rotation. -Cyndi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So easy, so good and so fast! I am making it for the third time this month. Thanks Mel for another tried and true recipe. -Reenie
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I never leave reviews, but this was SO good. I was in search of a recipe for dinner with what I had on hand, so I used red salsa (didn’t have liquid smoke or cilantro). Holy moly .. it was SO DELICIOUS! -Christine
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I made this recipe tonight. SUPER easy and is by far the VERY best thing I’ve ever made in the crockpot! It was AMAZING. I’m going to cook more and freeze portions! -Val
What to Serve With This
- Taco toppings (tortillas, cheese, avocados, sour cream, tomatoes, etc.)
- The Best Cornbread
- Honey Lime Fruit Salad
Instant Pot Smoky Honey Cilantro Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup salsa verde or tomatillo salsa
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke (optional, but delicious)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2-3 cloves, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
Instructions
- Whisk together the salsa verde, honey, liquid smoke, chili powder, salt, dried oregano, cumin, garlic powder (or fresh garlic), smoked paprika, and black pepper.
- For the Instant Pot: Add the salsa verde mixture to the insert of the Instant Pot. Nestle the chicken into the sauce.
- Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before manually releasing the rest of the pressure.
- Shred the chicken with two forks (right in the Instant Pot). Stir in the fresh cilantro and add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- For the Slow Cooker: Add the salsa verde mixture to the insert of a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker. Nestle the chicken into the sauce.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours. If the mixture starts to look dry during cooking, add 1/2 cup or so chicken broth to the slow cooker and continue cooking.
- Shred the chicken with two forks (right in the slow cooker). Stir in the fresh cilantro and add additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed.
- For serving: serve the chicken as desired in tacos, enchiladas, burritos, on salad, etc.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally published Sept 2017; updated April 2025 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Made this tonight for guests as part of a salad bar. Excellent! A perfect chicken for many recipes. Thank you for another great recipe!
Mel, I don’t know how you do it. You deliver every time! My whole family is raving about this chicken. I used the instant pot tonight, but can’t wait to try it in the slow cooker next time, as I find my chicken comes out even more tender that way. I have tried several of your chicken recipes over the past couple weeks and we’ve honestly loved them all, but this one takes the cake by a landslide. Thank you!
What in the… this is the best recipe ever!!! I can’t believe how good this is! So easy too. I served it as burritos last night and today over rice. This would be amazing in salads with cafe rio type dressing. So good!
I cooked this in my dutch oven on 270F for about 3 hours and it was just great. Used Herdez roasted salsa verde and smoked salt. Served rice bowl style for a super easy meal my family loved, and tonight I’m planning to use the leftover chicken and rice to make your delicious crunch wraps. Thanks so much for another winner!
I have been making your recipe for years (and shared it with others who love it too), but have to share what I did with it tonight that was so good! I made the chicken as usual. We normally serve it over white rice. I stopped by Cafe Rio today and bought their catering size (16oz I think) creamy cilantro dressing. I also shredded some romaine lettuce. We each made our own salad by layering the rice, chicken, lettuce, and dressing. Oh my gosh, so good! If I had more time I would’ve made the cilantro lime rice but it really didn’t matter. Dinner was on the table from start to finish in about 45 minutes. Thank you for such a great recipe!
No foolin, this is best thing to ever come out of my instapot too. Incredibly tender flavorful chicken done in half an hour. I will make this over and over again.
People you have to make this chicken. Such an easy recipe that is FULL of flavor….and so many uses!
Love all your recipes!!! For this recipe, how do I adjust for frozen chicken breasts?
You should be able to use frozen chicken and add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time. Frozen chicken produces a lot more liquid while cooking, so you might need to drain some off after.
Just wanted to say this is our #1 staple meal in our house! We always have a couple jars of salsa verde & frozen chicken. I couldn’t count the amount of times we’ve made this in a pinch, to feed a crowd, or just for an easy week night meal! It always turns out well, goes great with anything, and whenever we serve it for others they ask for the recipe. We always take the chicken out of the instant pot and use the kitchen aid to shred it, so quick and easy, and worth the extra dish.
Love the flavor in the chicken. So easy to make in the Insta pot. Next time I will kick it up with extra green chilies. The recipe will be my new go to easy Mexican dish. Thank you for sharing.
This recipe was really delicious! Going on my keeper list for sure!
This is a common meal for us to throw together in a jiffy, Instead of using the salsa verde, I use a “Diablo Verde” Creamy cilantro sauce available at HEB. I use the whole jar…This is a staple meal that I give to new mom’s, sick friends, etc. I usually serve it over some pad thai rice noodles.
Add this recipe to her Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps. You will NOT regret it!!!
Couldn’t be easier or tastier. I served it over rice. Nice bite. Going into the rotation. Thanks, Mel!
PS – Don’t omit liquid smoke – it adds a lot.
Because I used frozen chicken thighs, there was quite a lot of liquid after cooking. I removed the chicken to a bowl and set my IP to sauté to cook down the liquid while I was shredding the chicken. I cooked it down to a yummy thick sauce then returned the shredded chicken to the pot and stirred it into the sauce. So good.
One of our absolute favorite IP recipes! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
We now use any type of salsa as well as add a 7oz can of chipotle salsa.
Pair this with black beans and lime rice.
Soooooo good!!
Hi, long time blog follower, first time asking a question here! This is a family favorite recipe. I have always used chicken breasts, but today my grocery store only had chicken cutlets. Any thoughts on how much to decrease the cooking time? Thank you!
Hi Rachel, how thick/thin are the cutlets?
Hi! I had a friend use your smoky honey cilantro chicken in a Mexican spaghetti squash casserole. I’m not sure where she got the recipe. Do you happen to have the recipe for the spaghetti squash casserole using this chicken? Thank you!! Allison
Hi Allison, I don’t think that spaghetti squash casserole is a recipe on my blog?
I’ve looked at this recipe for years now and haven’t fully followed the recipe and made this until tonight. It. Is. So. Good!!! I love the flavor! I added the frozen minced garlic from TJ’s, used the Heinz salsa, and shortened the time like I read in a couple comments. Mel, I love coming to your blog and finding recipes time and time again that my family loves. Thank you for your time and dedication!