Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas are perfect for busy weeknights! Make these in under 30 minutes with just a few ingredients, and you’ve got an easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love!
When you’re craving Tex-Mex but it’s a busy weeknight, it’s the Instant Pot to the rescue!
This Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas recipe is so quick and easy, you can have a hearty, satisfying, flavorful meal on the table in less than 30 minutes.
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❤️ Why you’ll love this family-friendly recipe
There are so many reasons to love this Instant Pot Chicken Fajita recipe!
- You only need less than 10 ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand.
- You can use any combination of bell peppers you prefer.
- It only takes a few minutes of prep work, some of which you can do the night before.
- The Instant Pot pressure cooks this recipe in just 6 minutes, plus what we call “come to pressure time,” which can take 6 to 10 minutes.
- It’s an awesome Meal Plan recipe because you can serve this in SO many ways!
🧄 Ingredients for chicken fajitas
Chicken – You’ll want to start by thinly slicing chicken breast.
Bell Peppers – You can use any combination of colored bell peppers you like. I like to use a combo of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers. Or, I use red, yellow, and green bell peppers. Whichever bell peppers you use, be sure to slice them in even sized slices so they cook evenly. And use a combo of colors versus all the same color, to add more depth of flavor.
Onions and Garlic- These aromatics help build a yummy flavor base to these fajitas!
Fajita Seasoning – You can use my Homemade Fajita Seasoning recipe, or use store-bought fajita seasoning. You can also use taco seasoning instead.
Olive oil – You’ll need some olive oil to sauté the chicken.
Broth or water – Chicken broth will add more flavor to the fajitas, but you can use water instead.
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS – Top the chicken fajitas with pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, sliced avocados, diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Exact measurements of ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this post. Here are some helpful tips to guide you as you make this recipe.
First: make sure you slice the chicken breasts into even, thin slices. And make sure your peppers are all sliced evenly. Slice the onions and mince the garlic.
Get your fajita seasoning ready, whether you use a homemade fajita seasoning recipe or use store-bought.
Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE.
Add the olive oil and once the oil is heated up a bit, add the chicken slices and sauté the chicken just until it’s brown on all sides.
Add the onions and garlic, sauté for one minute, just until they are soft, translucent and fragrant. If there are brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, pour in a little chicken broth or water and use a wooden spoon to gently deglaze the pot by scraping up any brown bits. Hit CANCEL to stop the sauté mode.
Add all of the sliced bell peppers on top of the chicken. Add the fajita seasoning, and pour in the chicken broth or water. Then, without stirring the ingredients, secure the Instant Pot lid. Make sure the pressure release valve is set to SEALING.
Press PRESSURE COOK (or MANUAL) and cook on high for 6 minutes.
Once cooking is complete, do a Quick Release. Wait until all of the pressure has been released and the pressure release valve is all the way down. Then, carefully open the lid.
You may have some excess broth or water. Simply drain out excess liquid if necessary. Then serve the chicken fajitas in tortilla shells, over rice or a salad.
What are good toppings for fajitas?
- sour cream
- sliced jalapeños
- cilantro
- avocados
- pico de gallo
- guacamole
- grilled corn
How to serve chicken fajitas
These Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas are delicious served in many different ways
- You can either leave the chicken in strips, or use two forks to shred the chicken (as pictured above).
- Serve the chicken fajitas in soft tortilla wraps.
- Enjoy the chicken fajitas over rice.
- Make a chicken fajita salad by serving the chicken and peppers over a bed of salad greens. Add some corn, black beans, and quacamole!
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs and tips
Fajitas are generally considered Tex-Mex food, which is a blending of Texas “cowboy food” and Mexican panchero foods. Fajitas traditionally have grilled skirt steak, and the Mexican term for grilled skirt steak is “arracheras,” and its American counterpart is fajitas.
While they are similar, taco seasoning usually has more chili powder and more oregano than fajita seasoning. Taco seasoning is generally a bit spicier than fajita seasoning. You can definitely substitute one for the other in taco and fajita recipes, if you like.
Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
🥂 Best wine pairings
Like most Tex-Mex food, these Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas are delicious when paired with crisp white wine.
Try serving this dish with a Sauvignon Blanc or an Unoaked Chardonnay.
⏲ Kitchen tools and equipment
For this recipe, you just need a few basic kitchen tools:
Cutting board and knife – You’ll need a sturdy cutting board and sharp knife.
Electric pressure cooker – I use either my Instant Pot Duo or my Ninja Foodi Deluxe XL multicooker to make these chicken fajitas. You can use any 6 or 8 quart electric pressure cooker that you have. However, do NOT attempt to make this in a 3-quart Instant Pot.
Tongs- You’ll need some sturdy kitchen tongs to move the chicken around while sautéing. You may also use a wooden spoon.
➡️ More Tex-Mex recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced into strips
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup sliced yellow onion
- 2 red bell peppers,sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1 orange or green bell pepper, sliced
- 3 Tablespoons fajita seasoning, homemade or storebought
- ¾ cup chicken broth or water
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE. Add the olive oil and once the oil is heated up a bit, add the chicken slices and sauté the chicken just until it's brown on all sides.
- Add the onions and garlic, sauté for one minute, just until they are soft, translucent and fragrant. If there are brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, pour in a little chicken broth or water and use a wooden spoon to gently deglaze the pot by scraping up any brown bits. Hit CANCEL to stop the sauté mode.
- Add all of the sliced bell peppers on top of the chicken. Add the fajita seasoning, and pour in the chicken broth or water. Then, without stirring the ingredients, secure the Instant Pot lid. Make sure the pressure release valve is set to SEALING.
- Press PRESSURE COOK (or MANUAL) and cook on high for 6 minutes. Once cooking is complete, do a Quick Release. Once all of the pressure has been released and the pressure release valve is all the way down, carefully open the lid.
- You may have some excess broth or water. Simply drain out excess liquid if necessary. Then serve the chicken fajitas in tortilla shells, over rice or a salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I never realized how quick and easy it is to make fajitas in the instant pot!! This is my new go to for busy weeknights!
I just got my first instant pot this past week! I am definitely going to try out this recipe in it soon. :)
Great recipe. The flavor was great and this was such an easy instant pot recipe to put together.
Made these for dinner last night and wow, not only were they quick and easy, but the flavors were amazing! I like my chicken shredded so loved your idea of shredding it, kept it whole for the rest of the family!