Hi Patti – so fun to hear you’re loving my recipes and sharing them with your son. No, the chicken breasts don’t have to be in a single layer, just try and arrange them so they’re not pressed together like a thicker cut of meat because that will increase the cook time needed. Enjoy!

I love your website, and most days I send the recipes to my son who has an InstantPot. He likes them too.
Thank you! 

It’s one of my favorite ways to shred chicken! (Although, once I was distracted by my kid and my chicken for chicken soup was totally pulverized!) Still, SO much quicker and easier than hand shredding!

Hi Julia – I’d try a cook time of 6 minutes with thin cut boneless skinless chicken breast (frozen or thawed). Maybe use 12 thin breasts in this recipe. Enjoy!

Thanks! I’ll have to try it with a variety of meats too.

I mentioned on Barbara Bakes that this recipe, while a hit with everyone else, didn’t make my mouth sing. I’m writing now to follow up and tell you how well the leftover sauce worked (with a little more chili powder and some cumin) for ground beef tacos. It adds a brightness that’s usually missing in ground beef tacos and was a welcome change from my usual homemade taco seasoning mix. So I’m calling this recipe a success!  

I’m planning to replicate it very soon with a chuck steak instead of the chicken. But I’ve got to say that your Chili Colorado is a tough act to follow. That one still blows me away every time.  And I’ve yet to find a carnitas recipe to rival the one you posted almost 4 years ago. I’ve tried a few others (why do I even bother?), but yours is still the best.

Hi Joann – generally if the chicken was dry and tough it was overcooked. If the chicken is in a liquid I generally haven’t found any detrimental effects from a quick release. But if you prefer to do a natural release, just reduce the cook time. How long the chicken breast takes to cook depends on the thickness of the breast. If your breast aren’t very thick, you’ll want to reduce the cook time for sure.