Instant Pot Salsa Chicken

Sofia had an idea. Sofia always has an idea. This one: pandemic meal kits. Pre-packaged bags of ingredients with instructions for making our recipes at home — the enchilada kit (tortillas, sauce, cheese, protein), the tamale kit (masa, husks, filling, instructions), the chilaquiles kit (tortilla chips, salsa, toppings). She designed the packaging, priced the kits (twelve to eighteen dollars each), photographed them, and posted them on Instagram. She sold fourteen kits in the first week. Fourteen families making Panadería Rosa enchiladas in their own kitchens, with Rosa's sauce in their own pots, following instructions that Sofia wrote and I proofread and that say things like "simmer until the sauce feels right" because some instructions are untranslatable and "until it feels right" is the most honest instruction in any recipe.

The meal kits are a lifeline. Not just financially — emotionally. The idea that our recipes are being made in other people's kitchens, by other people's hands, spreading Rosa's chile colorado across the Lower Valley and beyond — the spreading is the mission. The bakery has always been about the spreading. And the pandemic, for all its cruelty, has given us a new way to spread: not through tables and chairs but through kits and instructions and the trust that a stranger's hands can make what our hands make if we give them the right ingredients and the right words.

Diego built a UV sanitizer for the bakery door handle. From a UV bulb, a timer, and a 3D-printed housing (he used the library's 3D printer — ordered the print online, because the library is closed but the 3D printing service is still running). The sanitizer activates every thirty minutes and UV-irradiates the door handle for sixty seconds. He installed it without asking me. I discovered it when I touched the door handle and it was warm. He said: "That's the UV. It's killing the virus on the handle." He is eleven. He is killing viruses with homemade UV devices. I am raising a pandemic-era superhero who wears cargo shorts and carries a soldering iron.

I made enchiladas suizas for the family — the green enchiladas, the tomatillo cream sauce, the Mother's Day tradition brought forward because every day in a pandemic feels like it could be Mother's Day, because every day I am mothering five children across four schools and a military base and the mothering never stops and the stopping is not an option and the enchiladas are the fuel that the mothering runs on.

The enchiladas suizas I made that week reminded me of something I already knew but needed to feel again: that the right sauce, poured over the right ingredients, has a way of making everything hold together. When I don’t have time to build the full enchilada kit from scratch—the tortillas, the tomatillo cream, the careful assembly—this Instant Pot Salsa Chicken gives me the same soul in a fraction of the time. It’s the kind of recipe Sofia would have included in a kit with a note that says “simmer until it feels right,” because it always does.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3—4 pieces)
1 1/2 cups salsa verde (tomatillo salsa) or red salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
Juice of 1 lime
Optional for serving: warm tortillas, shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh cilantro, sliced avocado

Instructions

Season the chicken. Pat the chicken breasts dry. In a small bowl, combine cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over both sides of each chicken breast.
Add to the Instant Pot. Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the Instant Pot insert. Place the seasoned chicken breasts in a single layer. Pour the salsa verde evenly over the chicken. Squeeze the lime juice over the top.
Pressure cook. Secure the lid and set the vent to the sealing position. Cook on High Pressure for 15 minutes. Once the cook time is complete, allow a natural pressure release for 5 minutes, then carefully quick-release any remaining pressure.
Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return the shredded chicken to the Instant Pot and stir to coat thoroughly in the salsa cooking liquid. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
Simmer to finish. Switch the Instant Pot to the Sauté function and let the chicken and sauce simmer together for 3—5 minutes, until the liquid reduces slightly and the chicken absorbs more of the flavor. It’s ready when it feels right.
Serve. Pile the salsa chicken into warm tortillas for tacos or enchiladas, spoon over rice, or serve alongside black beans. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, and avocado as desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken — The Sauce That Spreads Itself