Learn how to cook chicken tenders in an Instant Pot, the quick and easy way! You'll love this easy method for cooking Instant Pot frozen chicken tenders to be used in other recipes like casseroles, chicken salads, sandwiches, and more. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!
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Instant Pot Chicken Tenders Recipe
I recently accidentally ended up with a bag of frozen chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts when I was planning to use them for a chicken green chili casserole.
At first, I was a little disappointed for grabbing the wrong bag, but since I regularly make frozen chicken breasts in the Instant Pot, I knew I could easily make Instant Pot frozen chicken tenders too.
I realized that not only do I love cooking with frozen chicken tenders, I actually prefer cooking with them when I needed shredded or chopped chicken for a recipe.
Use the cooked chicken in other chicken tender recipes like shredding the chicken for chicken salad, making our popular BBQ chicken bowl, or in an easy chicken bacon ranch casserole.
Here’s why using instant pot frozen chicken tenders for recipes is so amazing:
- Frozen chicken costs less than fresh
- Frozen chicken tenders cost less than frozen chicken breasts
- They're terrific for assembling meal prep recipes and freezer meals for later.
- Chicken breasts are often irregular sizes whereas chicken tenders are a uniform size
- Using your Instant Pot or a pressure cooker to cook frozen chicken tenders makes them really moist and ideal whether you need them sliced in a recipe or shredded.
While we cook chicken tenders in the Instant Pot more than any other method, they're fantastic in the air fryer, pan fried, baked in the oven, boiled, and cooked other methods from frozen too!
Chicken Tenders Instant Pot Ingredients
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
- 2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken tenders (we used Trader Joe’s frozen chicken tenderloin)
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Supplies
- An Instant Pot
- Tongs
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Tenderloins
Instant pot frozen chicken tenders cook up lickety-split and I know will become a recipe you use time and time again for salads, casseroles, soups, and other meal favorites.
Step 1: Pour 1 cup of water or chicken broth into the bottom of the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. You won't need to insert your rack for this recipe.
Step 2: Add the frozen chicken tenders to your Instant Pot or pressure cooker, we recommend using long-handled rubber tip tongs for the job.
Step 3: Turn your Instant Pot to Manual or Pressure Cook (depending on your IP model). Close and tighten the pressure cooker lid and cook the chicken for 6 minutes on high.
Step 4: Once the cooking time is done, do a natural release for 5 minutes and then remove the lid. Remove the chicken tenders from the Instant Pot and let it cool slightly before slicing or shredding the chicken. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- You might also hear these called chicken tenderloin and those terms (chicken tenders or chicken tenderloin) can be used interchangeably.
- This recipe works best if you're cooking 2 lb-2 ½ lb individual frozen chicken tenders at one time. The cooking time will change if you're perhaps cooking just 4 chicken tenders or a block of frozen solid chicken tenderloins.
- It's easy to change up the flavor of the chicken depending on how you're using them after cooking! Feel free to add Italian seasoning, taco seasoning, or your favorite spice rub mix.
Shredding Instant Pot Chicken Tenders
While you can definitely shred the chicken tenders with a fork or even something like these nifty meat claws, if you have either a stand mixer or a hand mixer, you can quickly and perfectly shred the chicken in under 30 seconds.
Who knew shredding chicken could be so fast and easy?
How to Serve Instant Pot Chicken Tenders
- Chicken Tacos: Shred the cooked chicken tenders and use them as the primary filling for soft or crunchy tacos. Garnish with lettuce, salsa, cheese, and a squeeze of lime.
- Chicken Salad: Dice the chicken tenders, add a dressing and your favorite mix-ins like celery, cranberries, grapes, or nuts, and serve them over salad greens.
- Chicken Wraps: Use large lettuce leaves or tortilla wraps to bundle the chicken tenders with other ingredients like avocado, tomato, cucumber, and a drizzle of sauce or dressing.
- Pasta with Chicken: Slice the chicken tenders and mix them into your preferred pasta recipe. They work well in both cream and tomato-based sauces.
- Chicken and Rice: Serve the chicken tenders over a bed of steamed rice. Complement with a side of stir-fried vegetables or a light salad.
- Chicken Tenders Sandwich: Place a couple of chicken tenders between two pieces of bread or a bun. Add lettuce, tomatoes, and your favorite sauce or mayo for a quick and tasty sandwich.
Chicken Tenders Instant Pot Storage
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Storage: While you might not need an entire bag of frozen chicken tenders for the recipe you’re making, it’s so easy to get them cooked all at once and then store the remaining cooked chicken in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for later use.
Freezing shredded chicken is super easy and a great way to keep extra on hand when you need it for a last-minute recipe.
To freeze shredded chicken :
Put the chicken in quart size freezer bags and squeeze the air out of the bag to help it last as long as possible. Frozen shredded chicken should keep for about 2 months.
We also LOVE to use our Seal-a-Meal to store pre-cooked frozen chicken! Vacuum sealed chicken pieces will last in the freezer for about 9 months.
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Cooking instant pot chicken tenders from frozen is such an easy and economical way to have extra chicken on hand whenever you need it for a recipe. Let us know how things work for you and your pressure cooker!
Frozen Chicken Tenders Instant Pot FAQs
How do you keep chicken from getting chewy in Instant Pot?
- Correct Cooking Time: Overcooking chicken can result in tough, chewy meat. Make sure you're cooking your chicken just until 165 F or even a few degrees less since they keep cooking during rest time.
- Natural Release: Instead of quickly releasing the pressure, which can toughen the chicken, let the pressure release naturally for at least minutes before opening the vent.
- Avoid Overcrowding: Don't pack too many chicken tenders into the pot at once. Cooking too few chicken tenders will also overcook the meat! That’s why our recipe is ideal for a 2-2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken tenderloins.
- Resting: Once the chicken is cooked, allow it to rest before cutting into it. This helps the juices redistribute throughout the meat, making it tender and juicy.
More Ways to Cook Chicken Tenderloin
We have a TON of chicken tenderloin recipes on our website! They're easy, quick cooking, healthy, and cheap.
- Air fryer chicken tenderloin
- Pan fried chicken tenders
- How to cook chicken tenders
- Air fryer BBQ chicken tenders
- Healthy baked chicken tenders
- Blackened chicken tenders
- Air fryer chicken tenders (no flour)
- Air fryer chicken tenders (keto)
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Frozen Chicken Tenders (Instant Pot Recipe)
Simple Instant Pot chicken tenders you can make from frozen. What an easy way to have extra chicken on hand for recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
- 2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken tenders
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pour the chicken broth into the bottom of the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Place the chicken on top of the broth and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Put the lid on the pot.
- Turn Instant Pot to Manual/Pressure Cook (depending on model) and Pressure Cook the chicken for 6 minutes.
- After it's done cooking, do a Natural Release for 5 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure in the pot.
- Remove the chicken with tongs and use in your favorite recipe! This especially works well for shredding chicken for casseroles, salads, and soups.
Notes
- This recipe works best when you're cooking at least 1 ½ lb- 2 ½ lb of chicken tenders, if you're reducing the number of chicken tenders in the recipe, it would also reduce the cooking time.
- This recipe is meant for individually quick frozen chicken tenderloins, not a block of frozen chicken tenders.
- It's ok to substitute water or juice (like apple or pineapple) for the chicken broth and to skip the salt and pepper depending on what recipe you need the chicken tenders for.
- Cooked chicken tenders can easily be shredded for recipes by using two forks, meat claws, or shredding them in a hand mixer or stand mixer.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 139Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 21mgSodium 572mgCarbohydrates 1gNet Carbohydrates 1gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 9g
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Shani Maybruck says
Can you cook already breaded frozen chicken tenders in a Instapot?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Shani, this recipe is just for raw chicken tenders. I wouldn't cook precooked breaded frozen tenders in an instant pot. They'll be very soft and mushy. I'd bake them or air fry them. Jen
Danielle Witzigman says
Tip for 8 quart Instant pot. Did 2 cups of the chicken broth, eight chicken tenderloins 1/2 inch thick seasoned with lemon pepper from frozen, cooked on high for six minutes, did natural release for 15 minutes turned out perfect
Mike says
I did 4 tenderloins and they were over cooked. Their temperature all were over 200 degrees. Yes they were frozen. I used a rack.
WholeLottaYum says
It's possible 4 tenders weren't enough in the pot. We used a bag of chicken tenders for recipe testing which was 2+ lb. Or it's possible your chicken tenders were smaller than the ones I'd used.
Cendy Knight says
Recommendation on time if you double the amount of tenders? I have a 4.8lbs package.
Sharlette R Madison-Gress says
I don't see where you say to use the salt and pepper. Are you adding it to the pot or using it after cooking?
Marianne says
Does the salt and pepper just get added to the frozen chicken in the pot before cooking?
SR says
I followed the recipe exactly as described and the chicken tenders were only partially cooked when I opened the instapot. Any variances on timing that should be considered?
WholeLottaYum says
It's possible they were a little larger than the brand used in the recipe, or it could be a difference in pressure cooker model? Or did it not natural release and a quick release was done instead? I would suggest putting the chicken tenders back in the instant pot for one more minute. if they're still a little raw on the inside.
DT says
Would the recipe change for the instant pot duo mini (3 qts)?
WholeLottaYum says
I don't believe so! I'm pretty sure it would still be the same cooking time.