This Shredded Salsa Lime Chicken makes it onto my family’s meal plan at least once a week. Add it to tacos, burritos, or even serve on a salad. It’s sure to be a new staple in your home. The best part is, dinner can be on the table in under 30 minutes.
The winning combination of Verde (green) salsa and lime essential oil is savory and flavorful. Spanish Paprika gives it just the right amount of smoke and spice. Serve with Lemon-Lime Guacamole [1] for an added dose of yumminess. This recipe is mild but has just the right amount of kick without being too spicy. Perfect for the whole family!
During the summer months, the last thing I want to do on a hot day is turn on my oven. With this recipe, you don’t have to! The secret to this recipe is the Instant Pot [2] pressure cooker.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, believe me, you need one. This amazing kitchen appliance has literally changed my life.
You can make a delicious dinner in record time, using only one pot. That means fewer dishes to wash and less cleaning up. Yes, please! I am not sure how I ever lived without an Instant Pot. Shredded Salsa Lime Chicken is just one of the many amazing recipes in my Instant Pot rotation.
Cooking with Essential Oils
We use only therapeutic-grade essential oils in cooking and baking. If I can replace a flavoring [3] or a spice in a recipe with a Vitality essential oil, I will. I use the citrus oils most frequently since I don’t always have a supply of fresh lemons or limes on hand for cooking.
1-3 drops of citrus essential oil can be substituted for 1 tsp. of citrus zest in a recipe. A little goes a long way, so don’t overdo it. A toothpick swirl is a good place to start and add more essential oils if needed.
Make sure to use only pure essential oils in your cooking that are safe for internal use and cleared by the FDA for ingestion. Find out more here [4].
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless chicken breast or chicken tenders
- 16 oz jar of salsa verde
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika [8]
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons real salt [9]
- 1-2 drops Lime essential oil
Instructions
- Add chicken to the Instant Pot.
- Combine paprika, cumin and real salt. Coat chicken with spice mixture.
- Cover with salsa verde and close the lid.
- Set to Manual for 20 minutes.
- Do a quick pressure release. Add lime essential oil and stir to combine.
- Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Shred chicken with remaining liquid.
Nutrition
Recipe and Substitution Tips
- Be sure you use smoked paprika, not traditional paprika in this recipe. It has a rich, smokey flavor that works well with the cumin, without being too spicy.
- A pressure cooker requires liquid to come to pressure. The liquid in this recipe is salsa. There is no need to add water. You can add 1/2 cup of chicken stock to increase the flavor.
- To shred chicken and pork, I use my KitchenAid Mixer [10] with a flat beater attachment. This method is so much faster than hand-shredding, and the results are amazing.
If you are new to Instant Pot cooking, we highly recommend this cookbook [11] as a resource. It is full of quick and easy recipes that are made with minimally processed ingredients.
More delicious essential oil cooking recipes you might enjoy:
- Tamale Pie [12]
- Spinach Pesto [13]
- Grilling Marinades [14]