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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.
Instant Pot Spicy Pineapple Chicken Tacos
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 354 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-2 chipotle chile peppers in adobo, chopped
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 poblano pepper, sliced
- corn or flour tortillas, queso fresco, and sliced avocado, for serving
Pineapple-Pomegranate salsa
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
- arils from 1 pomegranate
- 1 jalapeño, seeded, if desired, and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice from 1 lime
Instructions
- 1. In the bowl of your instant pot, combine the chicken, onion, garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, chipotle chile peppers, pineapple juice, pineapple, and poblano pepper. Cover and cook on high pressure/manual for 15 minutes. Once done cooking, use the natural or quick release function and release the steam. Shred the chicken using two forks. 2. To make the salsa, in a bowl, combine the pineapple, pomegranate arils, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and a pinch of salt. 3. Stuff the chicken into the warmed taco shells and top with pineapple salsa, cheese, and avocado. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Directions
- 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, combine the chicken, onion, garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, chipotle chile peppers, pineapple juice, pineapple, and poblano pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours. Once the chicken is done cooking, shred with two forks. Finish as directed above.
PS. don’t forget a side of guacamole, chips, and margaritas. DUH.
I use this as a base recipe; like others, the chicken doesn’t come out with the dark coloring. I add significantly more cumin/chili powder/paprika and thicken the sauce at the end to get better color. Boneless chicken thighs are forgiving, but 8 fresh boneless thighs do not need 15 minutes! I go 10 minutes tops. I use a whole sliced red onion, several poblanos, more pineapple, and like I said, more spices to darken the sauce. The salsa is perfect as is.
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for making this recipe and sharing the adjustments you make:) Have a great Friday! xx
Followed the recipe exactly and it came out soupy, just like how the previous comments mentioned.
Hi Katherine,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. Sorry to hear this was not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT
Can’t wait to try these recipes!!!
Thanks Diana!! I hope you love the recipe! xx
Delicious and easy to make! Quick question: how many tacos is considered 1 serving?
Hey Danielle,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for trying it out:) 2 tacos are in a serving.
This is five stars by adding an additional step. I prepared mine in the Instant Pot and had a lot of liquid at the end of the cook time. The chicken looked nothing like the picture and was dry after shredding. I went ahead and put the remining liquid in the pot on Saute and cooked it down until there was very little excess liquid. Then I added the chicken back to the pot. This took a bit of extra time, but it was definitely worth it. The addition of the cooked down sauce made all of the difference. I highly recommend this. The chicken was not as dark as pictured but looked a lot closer than it originally did. I appreciate the healthy and fresh ingredients of this recipe. This is definitely a no-guilt version of tacos!
Hey Djienne,
Amazing! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for making it! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! Have a great Monday! xTieghan
Mine looked nothing like this 🙁 it was so watery and disappointing
Hi Alyssa,
So sorry to hear this. Was there anything you may have adjusted? What cooking method did you use? Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
I’ve made and loved your slow cooker recipe but I am short on time tomorrow. Can i adapt this for pork tenderloin?
Hey Michele,
Pork tenderloin would not be your best option for something like this. A pork should would be a better option. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Loved this recipe! Preparing for baby #2 to arrive in next few weeks and trying to make food to freeze ahead of time so we don’t eat takeout for months. Can you freeze the chicken filling? And if so for how long do you think?
Hey Ellen,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so delighted that it was enjoyed! Have a great week:) Sure I would freeze for no more than 3 months. xTieghan
Hi, I’m about to try this recipe with the instant pot. The video shows 15 minutes while the instructions say 20-25minutes. Which do you recommend? Also, do you dump the Adobe sauce in the pot? Thanks!
Hey Win,
You can do 15 minutes. I hope you love the recipe. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with! Happy New Year! xTieghan
first time using my instant pot and I didn’t see the water on the instructions! ugh! a burnt pot!
Oh no! I am really sorry to hear that, Jean! Please let me know if there is anything I can help with! xTieghan
Would love to try this recipe – do you think it would work with ground chicken/turkey also?
Thanks!
HI! Yes, that will be great! I would skip the slow cooker and just cook on the stove-top. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I’m new to the instant pot. The few recipes I’ve made I have almost always gotten a burn notice. I follow the recipes as listed. I notice if there isn’t at least a cup of liquid it happens. I would love to try your recipe. Any suggestions? Thank you so much!
Hi Michelle, I have never received the burn message with this recipe, so I think you should be good to give it a try as I direct. If you are worried there is not enough liquid, add 1/3 cup water. That said, I think there will be plenty of liquid. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I can’t figure out what I did wrong. I followed the recipe exactly but it was a soup. It tasted good but nowhere near the right consistency.
HI! How much liquid are you using? How soupy is it? Any info will be helpful to help me problem solve and figure out what might be happening for you. It’s hard to know without knowing any details. Hope I can help you! xTieghan
Question: 1-2 chipotle chile peppers in adobo
Do you mean the canned Chile peppers I adobo sauce?
HI! Yes! Canned chili peppers in adobo. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
Im making this for tea tonight because looks so beautiful – however my chicken i did in the slow cooker looks just like normal pale shredded chicken and yours looks a lovely caramel color – i added everything but the pepper. the juice it was sitting in was very watery – not a nice thick sauce how i envisaged
That is so odd! Could it be something you did not add? Please let me know! xTieghan