Keto Pulled Chicken is a must-have recipe for all occasions. You only need 4 ingredients to make keto shredded chicken, and it can easily be made in your Instant Pot. You’ll get juicy chicken that can be eaten as is or added to your favorite recipes. It’s a wonderful gluten-free, grain-free, and low carb diet dish too!
Have a few keto recipes that require cooked chicken but aren’t sure how you want to cook the chicken? You aren’t alone, so I wanted to share how I prepare keto shredded chicken for those types of dishes. You can seriously add this chicken to so many low carb keto diet meals; it’s one I would keep nearby because you are going to want to make it again and again.
Cooking the chicken in the pressure cooker is a real treat too. Cleanup is a breeze, and you only dirty a couple of dishes. Plus, it’s FAST and leaves the meat juicy and flavorful too. Another great thing is it’s next to impossible to overcook it in the Instant Pot following these directions.
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Ingredients Needed
Making this Keto Pulled Chicken is so simple, and you only need these ingredients.
- Chicken Thighs - For best results, you will need to use boneless skinless thighs. Otherwise, you are going to have to worry about digging bones out before shredding the meat.
- Garlic Powder - To add a little bit of flavor, I like to use garlic powder. You could swap it for any other seasoning that you like too.
- Salt & Pepper - A little bit of salt and pepper enhances the flavor of the meat and can easily be adjusted to fit your taste.
How To Make Keto Pulled Chicken
This is probably the easiest pulled chicken recipe ever. I love that I barely have to put in any effort, and it turns out perfectly every time I make it.
Step One: Place the chicken thighs in the instant pot. Then turn it to manual high pressure and cook for 15 minutes. Once the timer goes off, allow it to complete a natural release for 15 minutes, then finish with a quick release.
Step Two: Take the chicken out of the pressure cooker and shred it with two forks. Add to all your recipes that need shredded chicken and enjoy!
Could I Use Chicken Breasts?
Yes, but I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Typically, cooking chicken breasts in the pressure cooker can lead to rubbery or dry chicken unless it’s part of a casserole or something like that. But to just cook the breasts and shred them, it’s not going to end in moist juicy chicken the way the thighs do. Because breasts are so lean, they don’t have as much fat or moisture in them when cooked this way.
What’s The Best Way To Shred Chicken?
There are several methods that work for shredding chicken. I like to take meat shredding claws or a couple of forks and pull them apart. It tends to work really well and pressure-cooked chicken thighs are so tender they fall apart with little effort.
However, you could also toss the cooked meat in your stand mixer and use a paddle attachment. It will shred FAST, so you need to keep a close watch on it, so it doesn’t turn to mush. If you ever accidentally overshred chicken it works great in my gluten free keto chicken nuggets.
All of these methods work well, so it’s just a matter of what you prefer and how much effort you want to put into making keto shredded chicken.
Can I Use Frozen Chicken?
Yep! You actually can use frozen chicken. You don’t even need to thaw it before starting. This is fantastic for those nights when you don’t know what to make, and you pull the meat out of the freezer at the last minute. You will need to add 4 minutes to the cooking time to ensure that it cooks entirely. Other than that, I think you will be very impressed with the results.
Can I Make Keto Pulled Chicken in a Crockpot?
Yes, you can make this in a crock pot or slow cooker. Just add the chicken and seasonings and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
What Do I Do If The Chicken Isn’t Fully Cooked?
Cooking times can vary a little bit based on the amount of meat you are cooking and your actual device. If you find that you take the lid off and it’s still not done, you will need to cook it for an additional 3-4 minutes. Be sure to check the temperature with a digital thermometer, and it needs to be 165 degrees.
How Can I Use Shredded Chicken?
There are tons of ways you can serve this keto pulled chicken. Here are some ideas for low carb recipes that I think you will enjoy.
- BBQ Pulled Chicken - Add some sugar free bbq sauce on top and dig into delicious bbq chicken!
- Mexican - Mix it into chicken enchiladas, tacos, or any other Mexican-style dish.
- Salad - Toss some in your salad for some extra protein.
- Breakfast - Add it to some scrambled eggs for flavor and to help fill you up.
- Lettuce Wraps - Adding some shredded chicken to lettuce wraps is one of my favorite lunches. I add a few extra veggies, some cheese, and sauce or dressing.
- Chicken Nuggets - I shred this extra fine using my KitchenAid and then make these kid-friendly low carb chicken nuggets!
Ingredients
- 3 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Add the chicken to the stainless steel liner of the Instant Pot.
- Cook the chicken on the manual at high pressure for 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the Instant Pot. Shred in a large bowl using two forks or barbecue claws. Slowly add in some of the cooking liquid until the chicken is moist. You don't want it swimming like soup, you just want to add enough to moisten all the chicken thoroughly.
- Season with additional salt and pepper or add sauce as desired.
Paula says
Good advice on the chicken breasts, I never realized that!
Judie says
I’d like to use thighs with bones..how much longer does it need to cook?
Taryn says
I'd add 2 minutes to the cooking time.
Rehoboth says
Great post!
Michelle says
I love this so easy and quick so tasty too so versatile ! Ive made ariund 6 times now and use it wuth your other chicken recipes ! So good as bbq or byself wrap with fixings / use this prep so can use in your chicken recipe cookbook casserole! Love how easy ans tasty is ! Every time if use or made it tag it on Instagram this is definitely winner !
Kate Queen says
This recipe sounds fantastic, but NO WATER? I didn't know you could get pressure without having some water. I went on a Google search for cooking chicken without water in the instant pot. The search results were all over the place. I want to try this recipe. Can you tell me how it works without water? Does the pot get to full pressure? Does it take a little longer to come to pressure? Does the chicken stick to the bottom of the pot?
Taryn says
No water. I promise it works. The chicken releases natural juice and cooks in its own juice without that being watered down with actual water. I have not tested if it takes longer to come to pressure with this method but I guess that is possible. I cook chicken with this method about once a week. Including time to come to pressure and then natural release it takes about an hour.
Kat Woods says
Do you get a "burn" notification?
Taryn says
Never
Kate Queen says
Great! Thanks for the tips 🙂
I will give this one a try!