Easy Instant Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Instant Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken is cooked to tender in the Instant Pot in just 10 minutes, then mixed with your favorite buffalo hot sauce and butter to make a flavorful shredded chicken.

The Instant Pot does all the heavy lifting for this perfectly tender shredded chicken. All you really need to do is put the chicken in the pot with some water and sauce and let it cook, then shred it and you’re ready to go.

We make this shredded chicken nearly every week and use it to make sandwiches, like the buffalo chicken sandwich pictured above, and buffalo chicken wraps or buffalo chicken stuffed peppers. It’s one of the easiest things to make, and since it can be made in large quantities it’s possible to make multiple meals from one pot.

So many great meals can be made with this Instant Pot Shredded Buffalo Chicken recipe. I’m telling you, it’s incredibly versatile.

» You can also make Pulled Pork in the Instant Pot and Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This recipe comes down to just three main ingredients. I always keep Frank’s Red Hot Sauce on hand for just this reason.

• Chicken – I use medium sized chicken breasts for this recipe. If you’re using large, it will need a few more minutes to cook through. It’s best to use boneless skinless chicken breast for this recipe because it shreds so easily. You can use chicken thighs if you want a juicier chicken, but it doesn’t shred quite as well.
• Buffalo sauce – I use Frank’s Red Hot Original sauce. There’s extra hot and Wings sauce too, but the original is where it’s at. You can use any brand you want though, or even make your own.
• Butter – Use salted butter for this, as it will add an extra bit of flavor to the chicken.
• Water – You will need at least 1 cup of water in a 6-quart and 1 1/2 cups of water in an 8-quart Instant Pot in order to build pressure.

Helpful Tips

• The chicken needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Check the meat after cooking to make sure it’s reached that point.
• Frozen chicken breasts will need 3-5 minutes longer cook time, as will larger pieces of chicken.

How To Make Buffalo Chicken in the Instant Pot

Pour the water into the inner pot and set the chicken breasts in the water. Remember that you’ll need 1 cup of water for a 6-quart and 1 1/2 cups of water for an 8-quart Instant Pot.

Pour 1/4 cup of the buffalo sauce onto the chicken. It will impart some flavor as the chicken cooks.

Close the Instant Pot lid and set it to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. It will take about 5-10 minutes to come up to pressure.

After the time is up, so a quick pressure release. Drain the water from the pot.

Shred It and Serve It

Shred the chicken either with two forks or with a hand mixer, which makes it quicker. Once fully shredded, add the butter and the remaining sauce and stir it all to combine. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to really soak up the sauce.

Now you can use it to make whatever you want!

Ways to Use Buffalo Chicken

This shredded chicken is incredibly versatile, so you can use it in so many ways. I like to make sandwiches or wraps or just add it on top of things, like peppers, pizza, or on top of roasted cauliflower steaks. Anything goes!

• Buffalo chicken sandwiches
• Buffalo chicken wraps
• Buffalo chicken dip
• Buffalo chicken stuffed peppers
• Buffalo chicken pizza

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