Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken is a frozen-to-ready in 30 minutes dinner recipe. It’s a quick and easy budget-friendly dinner recipe that’s a healthy option and full of spice! The shredded buffalo chicken will be ready in just 30 minutes for your weekend meal prep session or your weeknight dinner.
This dinner costs $8.07 and makes 8 servings
Frozen to ready to 30 minutes
Yes, you read that correctly, this Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken is part of my new series ‘Frozen to Ready in 30 Minutes’ is truly ready for serving in just 30 minutes. We’ve all been there, we get busy with our long list of things to accomplish every day and we forget to pull dinner from the freezer. If you’re like me, I forget to pull the chicken from the freezer often and I don’t remember until I’m ready to make dinner. This shredded buffalo chicken recipe is a great one to keep handy for those moments. Pull the frozen chicken from the freezer, pop it into your Instant Pot, and 20 minutes later it’s cooked through and ready for shredding!
A healthy dinner that’s can be served many different ways
Having this one Instant Pot shredded buffalo chicken recipe is a lifesaver when dinner needs to be on the table fast. And there are many different ways to serve it!
- Stuffed in a baked sweet potato and topped with dairy-free sour cream (or canned coconut milk cream), dairy-free cheese, or cilantro.
- In a lettuce wrap with dairy-free sour cream, cilantro, broccoli slaw, or jalapeno slices for more heat.
- In a tortilla wrap with lettuce, dairy-free cheese, and diced tomatoes.
- Served next to your favorite steamed veggies and mashed potatoes.
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Ingredients
Chicken Breasts – frozen chicken breasts work best for this recipe, but if you have chicken thighs that will work too.
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce – classic buffalo sauce is made with my personal favorite hot sauce, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, plus it’s Whole30 friendly.
Coconut oil – just two teaspoons of melted oil for the buffalo sauce
Apple cider vinegar – a dash of ACV, this one is my favorite.
Onion powder – adds a little flavor to the sauce. This one is great!
Garlic powder – just a small amount for that classic garlic flavor.
How to make shredded buffalo chicken
Take the frozen chicken breasts from the freezer and separate them if they were frozen together.
Place the trivet (small tray) in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the frozen chicken on top of the trivet and add one cup of water. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the valve to ‘seal’. Press ‘Pressure Cook’ and manually adjust the time to 18 minutes. Let cook.
While the chicken is cooking, make the buffalo sauce. In a small bowl, add the hot sauce, melted coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk together.
Once the chicken is done cooking, release the pressure valve (caution, will be very hot!) and remove the lid. Remove the trivet. Using two forks shred the chicken into small pieces.
Pour in the buffalo sauce and stir into the chicken. Ready for serving.
The best way to store this shredded chicken?
To keep the buffalo chicken, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Makes for a great meal prep recipe!
Can the buffalo chicken be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze this buffalo chicken! Once the chicken has cooled completely, place it in a freezer-friendly container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Is this recipe really budget-friendly?
Absolutely this dinner recipe is budget-friendly. The cost of this dinner recipe is $8.07 I have the breakdown of each item below and where I have purchased mine. Keep in mind your total cost may differ slightly depending on the price of chicken where you buy and what you have on hand already!
Chicken breast (Sam’s Club) Boneless and skinless chicken breasts. No antibiotics used. $2.53/per lb = ($7.59/3lbs)
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (Hy-vee) $3.69/12 oz = $0.31/oz = ($0.62/2 oz)
Coconut oil (Sam’s Club) Unrefined. $7.84/56oz = $0.14/oz = ($0.07/0.5oz)
Apple cider vinegar Bragg’s (Hy-vee) $3.99/16 oz = $0.25/oz = ($0.04/0.166oz)
Onion powder $1.19/2.75oz $0.43/oz = ($0.07/0.166oz) divide in half for ½ tsp = ($0.04)
Garlic powder $1.19/2.5oz $0.48/oz = ($0.08/0.166oz) divide by 4 for ¼ tsp = ($0.02)
- 4 chicken breasts, frozen
- 1/4-1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce, or hot sauce of choice
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
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Separate the frozen chicken breasts. Place the trivet (small tray) in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Place the frozen chicken on top of the trivet and add one cup of water. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and turn the valve to 'seal'. Press 'Pressure Cook' and manually adjust the time to 18 minutes. Let cook.
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In a small bowl, add the hot sauce, melted coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, and garlic powder. Whisk together.
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Once the chicken is done cooking, release the pressure valve (caution, will be very hot!) and remove the lid. Remove the trivet. Using two forks, shred the chicken into small pieces. Pour in the buffalo sauce and stir into the chicken. Serve. (See post for serving ideas)
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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