Covered in a flavorful marinade, these instant pot chicken fajitas are tender and juicy and perfect for family fajita night. Made with chicken breasts (or thighs) and savory onions, garlic and bell peppers, you’ll want to put these fajitas on repeat!
If you like this recipe, check out all of our healthy instant pot recipes! Two of our most popular recipes are instant pot honey garlic chicken and instant pot pork carnitas.
How to make instant pot chicken fajitas
It’s really easy to make fajitas in the instant pot! Here’s how:
- Prepare the flavorful fajita marinade.
- Cut the chicken into small strips and toss it in the instant pot with the marinade.
- Chop the remaining ingredients and add them to the instant pot and mix everything together.
- Cook for 5 minutes with a quick release.
- While the fajitas cook, prep your fajita shells and toppings and get ready to dig in!
For an oven-baked, sheet pan version of chicken fajitas, check out our chicken fajita bake recipe.
Tips for instant pot fajitas
- It’s great for meal prep – Make a batch of fajitas and use them all week! They’re great as leftovers for salads or over rice and you can eat them warm or cold.
- Make a larger batch – The recipe scales well, so go ahead and double it up if you want!
- Use up the juice – Don’t discard the juice at the bottom of the instant pot, it’s so very tasty! Spoon it over your fajitas for extra juicy flavor. Or, you can use it to make rice in the instant pot later (just add water to it if you need more liquid to make rice).
Common questions about this recipe
Don’t I need 1 full cup of liquid in the instant pot? I know that this is what the manufacturer recommends, but this recipe works fine with the amount of liquid from the fajita marinade (about 1/2 cup).
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breasts? Yes, absolutely!
If I double the recipe, do I need to adjust the cooking time? No. Because everything is cut up, it will cook in the same amount of time in the instant pot. It may just take longer to pressurize.
Can you freeze this recipe? Yes! You can freeze the cooked fajitas and let them thaw out completely before reheating. Or, you can prep all of the raw ingredients and freeze them together. Just allow the raw ingredients to completely thaw before cooking and you can follow the cooking instructions as noted.
More fajita love
We have a variety of fajita recipes, you might want to try them all 🙂
Your turn to make chicken fajitas in the instant pot
Break out your instant pot and whip up a batch of easy chicken fajitas! You’ll love this family friendly recipe that’s guaranteed to please everyone.
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The Best Juicy Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
For the fajita marinade:
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos, (see recipe notes)
- 2 limes, juice of
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
For the fajitas:
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, (about 4 breasts)
- 1 onion, sliced into thin strips
- 2 bell peppers, sliced into thin strips
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
For serving:
- avocado slices
- chopped cilantro
- corn tortillas, or your choice of fajita shell
Equipment
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade by mixing all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
- Slice up your chicken into 1/2 by 1 inch strips. Place the chicken in the instant pot and pour the marinade over the chicken. Mix well so that all of the strips are covered with the marinade. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. NOTE: You can prepare the marinade and chicken in advance and marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours. This is optional and not required.
- Chop the onion, bell peppers and garlic as noted and place them in the instant pot. Mix everything together to get the marinade to coat all of the ingredients.
- Secure the lid on the instant pot and close the pressure valve. Press the “manual” button (or “pressure cook” button) and set the time to cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- While the fajitas are cooking, prepare your desired toppings.
- Once the cook time is up, quick release the pressure on the Instant Pot and open the lid.
- To serve, spoon fajita mixture into tortillas and serve with desired toppings.
Notes
- If you don’t have any coconut aminos on hand, you can make your own using our DIY coconut aminos substitute recipe.
