Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Burritos

Hungry Hubby and I absolutely love Mexican food, especially a made to order steaming hot burrito. Even though a lot of marketing seems to be trying to convince us it they are “dude food”, this untraditionally girly-girl who wore a dress of the palest pink on her wedding day after sending her best friend and maid of honour out for a burrito to calm her nerves before the late afternoon ceremony without hesitation!

Yep, there we were, with our hair and make up done, wedding gown hanging next to us as me and my bridesmaids tucked into a burrito each. That big fat burrito plus the sheer, overwhelming bliss that follows marrying the one seemingly made for you, may be why I didn’t manage to eat much of our stunning wedding breakfast and evening buffet!

I think of that day and our Mexican honeymoon pretty much every time I tuck into a burrito and my Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken for Burritos is lipsmackingly delicious and worth every bit of effort to make.

I say that this chicken is for burritos but you could absolutely use it for fajitas, on top of a jacket potato or even serve with my IP Cajun Vegetable Rice. Have it however you wish. Chipotle chillies used to be devilishly hard to get in the UK, especially if your wanted chipotles in adobo sauce so I used to make my own.

Luckily, it seems pretty much every supermarket carries at least one brand now and I really like the Santa Maria one which has very few unnecessary ingredients in it, unlike others I’ve seen. I do, however, prefer to make my own spice blends as I would rather it be 100% spice, not diluted with fillers plus if you can get the spices whole, toasting and grinding yourself always delivers a better flavour. So here is a bonus recipe for you – my Cajun Seasoning (you can use about a tsp of this in my Cajun Rice instead of measuring out small amounts of the individual spices):

When Hungry Hubby and I go to one of the really top quality and super fresh Mexican burrito places local to us, we always get all the fixin’s. I think it should be illegal not to serve them without guacamole but I really do love the salsa (hot for me, mild for Hubby), grated cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce and sprinkle of sweetcorn on mine, por favor.

I do do things slightly differently when I make burritos at home – instead of making refried beans as well as rice, I combine the two. All you have to do is substitute the frozen veg for a can of well rinsed and drained black beans in this recipe and boom, you get your rice and bean hits in one!

Burritos may take a fair old bit of prep so can’t truly be called fast food made at home, but the smile on Hungry Hubby’s face when he knows it’s burrito night together with the smokey, spicy, zingy and fresh flavour of my Chipotle Chicken makes the effort so very well spent.

And psst, if you have made my Instant Pot Greek Yogurt and strained it very well, you can use the super thick and luscious yogurt in place of sour cream.

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Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken for Burritos

A deliciously smokey pulled chicken made in a jiffy in the Instant Pot. Tender and juicy plus super flavourful, this chicken is wonderful in a burrito but it would be great in fajitas, on a jacket potato or even with savoury waffles!

Servings: 4

: 396 kcal

Author: Just Jo

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tsp chipotle paste
• Juice of one lime
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning see post for recipe to make your own
• 180 ml water
• 4-5 chicken thighs skinless and boneless
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander stirred into the chicken when cooked

To serve (optional, as preferred)

• 4 large flour tortillas
• A half batch of my IP Cajun Rice link above, subbing the veg for a can of rinsed and drained black beans
• Guacamole
• Salsa
• Shredded lettuce
• Grated cheese
• Sour cream or sub for well strained Greek yogurt
• Half a small can of sweetcorn drained

Instructions

1. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and add the oil and onion, cooking until softened and browning around the edges. Stir in the garlic and cook briefly.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients for the chicken apart from the thighs themselves and stir very well before tucking the chicken thighs into this sauce, laying them flat as possible.
3. Cancel Sauté mode, put the lid on, set to 15 minutes on Manual (High) and when done, do a QPR.
4. Remove the chicken from the sauce and pull with two forks - this should be very easy as it will be very tender. Meanwhile, put the IP back onto Sauté and reduce the remaining sauce to a third when it will be much thicker and richer.
5. At this point, I mix the chicken, coriander and sauce together and transfer to an ovenproof dish covered loosely with foil and pop in the oven on about 120˚C to keep warm as I make my rice, which shouldn't take more than 15 mins if you prep it whilst the chicken was cooking.
6. To serve, warm your tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds then spoon on 2-3 tbsp of the rice, about a quarter of the chicken and whichever toppings you like from the list above in a sausage shape along the centre of the tortilla. Fold two of the sides in over the short sides of the filling then tuck one of the free sides over them and roll tightly. It helps to do this on a piece of foil so you can wrap the burrito up with that to help keep its shape and make serving easier whilst you finish making the rest.

Recipe Notes

You only need about half of the rice recipe for these burritos but if you spread the leftovers out on a clean tray to cool rapidly and pop into a freezer bag once cold, you can freeze it for another day. To reheat, remove any ties from the freezer bag (if used) and microwave on high for 2 mins, turn the bag over and microwave for a further 2 mins, checking that it is thawed and piping hot before serving. Never reheat for a second time.

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