Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken

Name: Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts (boneless skinless); 1 cup buffalo sauce (or more); salt and pepper (to taste); ¼ cup water (or chicken stock)

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Shredded Buffalo chicken is such a versatile recipe. You can put shredded Buffalo chicken into tacos, burritos, rice bowl, sandwiches, salads, and more! Quick and easy, here’s how you can make shredded Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken.

This buffalo chicken does not take a lot of effort to make. All you need are chicken breasts, buffalo sauce, salt, and pepper. That’s it! I use a homemade version but you can use store-bought sauce for ease.

Shredded Buffalo chicken in an Instant Pot.

It’s shockingly easy to make. Even if you are making the buffalo sauce from scratch like I am, it doesn’t take longer than 20 minutes to make this recipe! You can also adjust this recipe however you’d like. Buffalo chicken can be on the spicier side and you can easily make it less spicy with the addition of brown sugar.

What You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make buffalo chicken.

chicken breasts — I use boneless skinless breasts.
buffalo sauce — I recommend my homemade buffalo sauce! However, store-bought is perfectly fine.
salt and pepper
water — or chicken stock.

How to Make Shredded Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken

Chicken breasts added to an Instant Pot.

Add 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Add in the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper.

Coating chicken with more Buffalo sauce and a splash of liquid.

Cooked buffalo chicken in a pressure cooker.

Drizzle a couple more tablespoons of sauce on top of the chicken breasts and add 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth.
Pressure cook for 10 minutes and then quick release when done.

Remove the cooked chicken breasts and shred them.
At the same time, press the sauté button on the Instant Pot and let the liquid inside simmer and cook down as you shred the chicken breasts.

Shredded chicken added back to the pressure cooker.

More buffalo sauce added to the shredded chicken.

Add the shredded chicken back into the Instant Pot and add in the rest of the buffalo sauce.
Toss to coat and then enjoy!

Shredded buffalo chicken in the instant pot.

Close up of shredded chicken with buffalo sauce.

Tips and Notes

This shredded chicken recipe was only tested in the Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1.
The general rule of thumb is 6 minutes per pound for chicken breasts. You’ll have to adjust the timing if you have larger chicken breasts than I do.
If you have time you can Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes. I’ve walked away from the IP before and forgot about my chicken breasts and I didn’t find there to be much of a difference.
Don’t wait too long between the chicken breasts being cooked and shredding – chicken breasts shred easiest when they’re warm.
You can use a KitchenAid mixer to shred your breasts quickly and easily.

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: store the cooked shredded chicken in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Freezer: allow the chicken to cool before transferring it into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer.

What is Buffalo sauce made of?

Buffalo sauce is made by whisking together hot sauce with melted unsalted butter.

Is this spicy?

It really depends on your buffalo sauce. You can add some brown sugar to the Instant Pot while the liquid is simmering to make the shredded buffalo chicken less spicy.

How do I shred chicken?

You can shred your chicken with two forks, pulling the breasts apart. You can also use these shredding claws, or the whisk attachment in a mixer.

What if I want a thicker sauce?

If you want the buffalo sauce coating the chicken to be thicker, you can add a cornstarch slurry to the liner when you simmer the liquid. To make the slurry, combine 1 tbsp cornstarch to 1 tbsp cold water, mix until combined, add to the simmering liner.

How to use shredded buffalo chicken?

Add the buffalo chicken to tacos, burritos, rice bowl, sandwiches, salads, a baked potato, or just as is! This goes with everything.