Cheesy Chicken Tacos (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

Cheesy Chicken Tacos made in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker have shredded chicken combined with cream cheese and cheese! These are chicken tacos you’ll love, and you can use low-carb tortillas or eat the cheesy chicken mixture in lettuce wraps if you prefer!

PIN the Cheesy Chicken Tacos to try them later!

These Cheesy Chicken Tacos made in the Instant Pot or the Slow Cooker are one of my favorite taco recipes! I’m reminding you about this recipe for today’s Friday Favorites pick, and I think everyone who likes a lot of cheese on their tacos is going to love this recipe for chicken tacos that are extra cheesy!

The Chicken is quickly cooked in the Instant Pot with salsa, onion powder, and garlic powder, and then removed to reduce the cooking liquid. Then add Green Tabasco Sauce, lime juice, diced green chiles, and cubes of cream cheese. Those ingredients make an amazing cheesy sauce that’s mixed with the shredded chicken and some cheese. I promise, these are NOT just ordinary chicken tacos, these are chicken tacos for people who like extra cheesy Mexican food!

Serve the chicken tacos with even more cheese if you like! I serve with olives to add at the table (and any other toppings you’d like) for a taco dinner that the family will love! And of course cheesy tacos will be a hit with kids if you use mild salsa, but you might want to leave out the hot sauce and let people add that at the table if you’re serving to kids.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• chicken breasts
• Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link) or other low-sugar salsa
• Onion Powder (affiliate link)
• Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
• Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link) or other hot sauce
• fresh-squeezed lime juice, I used my fresh-frozen lime juice
• cream cheese,
• diced green chiles (affiliate link)
• Mexican Blend cheese
• Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas (affiliate link)
• olives
• green onions

What tortillas did we use for Cheesy Chicken Tacos?

I used Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas (affiliate link) for this recipe, but you can use any low-carb tortillas or tortillas you prefer. Two other brands I have enjoyed are Mr. Tortilla 2 Net Carb Multigrain Tortillas (affiliate link) and La Banderita Low-Carb Tortillas (affiliate link).

What size Instant Pot did I use?

I use a 6 Quart Instant Pot for all my Instant Pot Recipes. Check out Instant Pot to see all the Instant Pot recipes on this site.

How low in carbs are the Chicken Tacos?

These extra cheesy tacos have only 7.4 net carbs with 27 grams of protein!

Want Chicken Tacos with fewer carbs?

You can definitely eat the cheesy chicken taco meat in lettuce wraps or over a salad instead of using low-carb tortillas if you’d like a version that’s gluten-free and even lower in carbs.

How to make Cheesy Chicken Tacos (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker):

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.

1. I always use Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link) for recipes that need salsa, because it doesn’t have added sugar.
2. Trim the chicken breasts and cut into lengthwise strips.
3. Add to the Instant Pot with salsa, onion powder, and garlic powder.
4. Lock lid and set Instant Pot to HIGH PRESSURE for 8 minutes. When time is up, let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, then do quick release until all the pressure is released.
5. While chicken cooks, get the Green Tabasco Sauce, fresh lime juice, cubes of cream cheese, and diced green chiles ready to go.
6. When pressure is all released, remove chicken to the cutting board.
7. Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE/LOW HEAT and simmer to reduce the liquid left in the pressure cooker to about 1/2 cup. Shred the chicken apart with two forks.
8. When the sauce has cooked down to about 1/2 cup, turn off Instant Pot and let the liquid cool for a few minutes. Then stir in Green Tabasco Sauce, Lime Juice, diced green chiles with juice, and cubes of cream cheese.
9. Whisk until the cream cheese has melted and mixed with the liquid to make a creamy sauce. Then add chicken back into the Instant Pot with the 3/4 cup grated cheese and stir to combine.
10. To serve, heat tortillas in a hot dry pan for a minute or so, top with some of the cheesy chicken mixture, olives, green onions, and other toppings as desired.
11. We loved the Cheesy Chicken Tacos with more Green Tabasco Sauce added at the table. You could also serve with salsa, pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado, or guacamole.
12. Look in the complete recipe below for Slow Cooker instructions.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

If you’d like a low-carb side dish to serve with the chicken tacos, here are some ideas that would taste great:

• Jicama Carrot Radish Slaw
• Tomato Salad with Cucumbers, Avocado, and Cilantro
• Spicy Lime Coleslaw
• Avocado Tomato Salad
• Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro

Continue to Content

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Yield: 8 small tacos.

Cheesy Chicken Tacos (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Additional Time 20 minutes

Total Time 38 minutes

Instant Pot Cheesy Chicken Tacos can also be made in the slow cooker and this is a perfect dinner idea where family members can use the taco shells they prefer. I used low-carb tortillas, and you can eat the cheesy chicken mixture inside lettuce wraps or over a salad for a version that's Keto and gluten-free!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into lengthwise strips
• 1/2 cup Pace Picante Sauce (see notes)
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 T Green Tabasco Sauce, plus more to add at the table if desired
• 2 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (see notes)
• 4 oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles with juice
• 3/4 cup grated Mexican Blend cheese, plus about 3/4 cup more for serving tacos
• 8 Mission Carb Balance Low-Carb Tortillas (see notes)
• Sliced olives for serving (optional)
• Sliced green onions for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Trim visible fat and any undesirable parts from chicken breasts and cut each into 3-4 lengthwise strips. Put chicken strips into the Instant Pot with the salsa, onion powder, and garlic powder.
2. Lock the lid, set the Instant Pot to HIGH PRESSURE, 8 minutes.
3. While the Instant Pot comes to pressure and cooks for 8 minutes, get the green tabasco sauce, fresh lime juice, cubes of cream cheese, and diced green chiles (affiliate link).
4. When the 8 minutes cooking time has finished, let the Instant Pot NATURAL RELEASE for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to quick release the rest of the pressure.
5. Remove the chicken strips to a cutting board to cool. Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE/LOW HEAT and let the liquid simmer until it's cooked down to about 1/2 cup. (This took about 5 minutes.) While the liquid reduces, use two forks to shred chicken apart.
6. When the liquid has cooked down, turn off the Instant Pot and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the Green Tabasco Sauce (affiliate link), lime juice, diced green chiles with juice, and cubes of cream  cheese. Whisk the sauce until the cream cheese is all melted and mixed with the liquid to make a creamy sauce. Add the shredded chicken back into the Instant Pot (you can turn it on low for a couple of minutes if you feel the chicken has cooled down too much) and add the grated cheese, stirring so it mixes with the chicken and melts slightly.
7. To serve, heat tortillas in a hot, dry pan for about a minute. Fill each tortilla with some of the creamy chicken mixture, more grated cheese, and other toppings as desired such as olives, green onions, salsa, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, avocado, or guacamole.

Slow Cooker Directions:

1. To cook in a slow cooker, trim and cut chicken as above and put into a 3.5 Quart Slow Cooker (affiliate link) with the salsa, onion powder, and garlic powder.
2. Cook on LOW for about 5 hours, or until the chicken is tender and shreds apart easily.
3. Remove chicken to a cutting board to cool.
4. Transfer the liquid to a saucepan that's large enough to hold all the chicken. Cook the liquid over low heat until it's reduced to about 1/2 cup (about 5 minutes.)
5. Turn off heat and let the liquid cool for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the Green Tabasco Sauce, lime juice, and cubes of cream cheese and use a whisk to stir until cream cheese has melted into the liquid to form a creamy sauce. Add the chicken into the pot with the grated cheese and stir to combine and melt the cheese slightly.
6. To serve, heat tortillas in a hot, dry pan for about a minute. Fill each tortilla with some of the creamy chicken mixture, more grated cheese, and other toppings as desired such as olives, green onions, salsa, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, avocado, or guacamole.

Notes

We used Pace Picante Sauce (affiliate link), Medium for the salsa. 

I used my fresh-frozen lime juice for the lime juice.

I used my favorite whole wheat low-carb tortillas (affiliate link) for the tortillas.

This recipe adapted from Slow Cooker Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 270Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 6.3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5.2gCholesterol 75mgSodium 272mgCarbohydrates 23.3gFiber 15.9gSugar 2.5gProtein 27g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
With low-carb tortillas these cheesy chicken tacos would be suitable for most low-carb diets. The tortillas I prefer have 3 net carbs per tortilla. For Keto or gluten-free, you can also eat the cheesy chicken mixture in lettuce wraps or over salad. This recipe could be made suitable for the original South Beach Diet with reduced-fat cream cheese and cheese and would be Phase Two with low-carb tortillas or Phase One with lettuce wraps or eaten over salad.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Check out Instant Pot Recipes for more ideas like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
The Cheesy Chicken Tacos were first posted in October 2017. The recipe was last updated with more information in April 2026.