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I’m making Thursday Night Tacos a thing, with these Instant Pot Spicy Pineapple Chicken Tacos.
Watch the How to Video Here:
On Tuesday I shared my favorite Tamale Chili, which I plan to serve up this New Year’s Eve, but it would not be a Mexican New Year’s Eve feast without some tacos. Enter these sweet and spicy pineapple chicken tacos.
Oh my gosh, they’re my favorite.
With pomegranate pineapple salsa…of course. Because I am obsessed with all the in season winter fruits (as you will soon find out in all the upcoming healthy January recipes).
Oh these tacos, they are easy, healthy, and delicious. Throw everything in the crockpot, go out and do something fun, and come home to dinner!
YES. PLEASE.
I know I’ve said this over and over, but we always do a ton of Mexican over the holidays. Knowing that I would be in need of some super easy and quick dinners while all my family is in town, I turned to slow cooker and instant pot recipes.
Tacos are probably one of the most loved foods among the crew, so again, Mexican was also an obvious choice. These are kind of a knock off of an al paster style taco. I swapped the pork for chicken, and cooked everything in the instant pot (also have made in the slow cooker) and added a pomegranate pineapple salsa, which, if I’m being completely honest, is my favorite part of the whole meal. All I really need are tortillas and salsa and I’m good.
I love using chicken in place of pork because it’s a little leaner and my family usually prefers it over pork. I also incorporated some poblano peppers for a little smoky flavor and extra vegetables.
I haven’t shared these tacos with the family yet, but I’m hoping to make them for New Year’s Eve on Sunday. Feeling pretty confident they’re going to love them, seeing as they contain all of their favorites.
Speaking of the family, I feel like I need to catch you guys up on our family Christmas. Winter finally arrived, just in time for Christmas, and we spent most of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day outside playing in the backyard. Well, let me rephrase that, all of the boys spent most of Christmas outside, while the girls and I cooked and made more cocktails than I could ever count. Christmas Eve was actually pretty mellow as we headed to a friend’s house for a party that night. I was still in the kitchen all day, but just ended up making a giant pot of my brother’s favorite gumbo, beer bread from the cookbook, this blue cheese appetizer, these brie rolls, and a GIANT batch of chex mix.
Christmas morning we woke up to a very white Christmas with about three feet or so of snow. It was pretty much what you see in the movies, and it was perfect. We spent the morning opening gifts, unpacking our stockings, and eating monkey bread. Even though most of us kids are all grown adults, my mom continues to make Christmas the BEST every single year. Giving her a HUGE shout out for not only making all seven of her kids Christmas amazing, but also my three cousins who spend Christmas with us every single year. She also shopped for four girlfriends and one boyfriend, making her grand total of people to gift for at fifteen. And that does not include my dad, because he’s literally the Grinch and hates Christmas…wish I was joking, but it’s the honest truth, at least he goes along with it though.
Once gifts had been opened most everyone made their way outside and then eventually back to my house for a lunch of grilled cheese, leftover gumbo, leftover tamale chili, and um yes, more cocktails. For dinner, I unexpectedly found out (at like 5 o’Clock) that I’d be cooking for not only my family, but also my brother’s girlfriend’s family, and my brother’s friend’s family, making a grand total of twenty-seven people. The more the merrier, right? Yup, my mom has ingrained this into me.
I ended up making the simplest dinner of beef tenderloin, cheesy potatoes, pasta dish from the cookbook, a giant lasagna, and a giant salad. And then, I made my brother Red homemade sushi, because one, he’s been requesting it for over a month, and two, this was the only day I actually had time to make sushi. It’s turned out OK, but my sushi skills could definitely use some sharpening.
SIDE NOTE: I made the sushi before I knew about all the extra people coming for dinner, so Red’s lucky it actually happened.
And that’s our Gerard family Christmas! The family has been spending these days after Christmas, and leading up to New Years, playing outside. They’ve been hiking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and just playing in the backyard. I’ve been mixing in work with a little chill family time too, so it’s been nice. Still cooking a ton, but what’s new there?
And now that I’ve written a story book about our family Christmas, I think we should all head to the kitchen and start cooking dinner, because Taco Thursday is sounding pretty delicious right about now.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
PS. don’t forget a side of guacamole, chips, and margaritas. DUH.
I’ve come back to this recipe time and time again for dinner parties and it’s always a hit. We love the smokiness of the chicken and adore the fresh salsa on top. We found the original recipe to not be very spicy so we always add extra 😉
Hey Rebekah,
Happy Monday!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe always turns out well for you, thanks so much for making it so often! xT
It was total soup, not at all like the photos. And four hours in the crock? I took it out at 2:30 and it was beyond dry. If everyone’s comments reflect that this recipe needs to be adjusted, why is it still posted at is? Readers beware!
Hi Kristi,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed. I’m confused how it could be soupy yet dry at the same time? Was there anything you may have adjusted? Please let me know how I can help! xx