Recipe: Instant pot pressure cooker fajitas, by Amanda Long

Technically fajitas are made with “grilled” meat. But this recipe works well for February in Nevada when it’s cold, wet, snowy/rainy and windy. Indoor cooking tends to be the way to go right now.

You could adapt this recipe for the grill by marinating the chicken and vegetables (or use steak) in the spice mix with the lemonade, vinegar and soy sauce.

Yes, I just said lemonade, not lemon juice. The lemon tenderizes the meat and the sweetness lends to toning down the acidic mix of vinegar and lemon nicely. Try marinating a skirt steak in pineapple juice, red wine and soy sauce; it’s amazing.

You could use chicken breasts or boneless skinless thighs if you like dark meat. While I love my instant pot, I’m just not a huge fan of putting a skirt steak in it for the sake of fajitas. Now any larger beef roast would work if you want to make beef fajitas. However, it’s just not the same as skirt or flank grilled to medium rare (or however you like it).

Mexican food is one of my favorites. I think fajitas might be considered Tex-Mex, but I still love them. The spices and flavors are robust, and I can eat avocados as guacamole every day. This is another way I get my family to eat more vegetables, by cooking them with meat and spices. This makes it hard for them to pick out all the vegetables, but then they also realize the vegetables taste pretty good together. So, win-win for me. I hope your kids feel the same.

Visit my Facebook group, modernpressurecookingrecipes.com, for more recipes and to join the community!

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Fajitas

4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless.

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Onion powder or flakes

seasoning salt

1/2 cup lemonade

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Mix the spices together, then rub the chicken with the spices. Add the chicken into the pressure cooker along with all the lemonade and toss again. Make sure you have used up all the spice mixture.

Cook on manual high pressure eight minutes. Natural pressure release or quick pressure release (whatever your time allows I’m inpatient, so I do a quick pressure release).

Remove the chicken, then strain or skim the liquid that’s left so you don’t have bits of chicken in it, then add the liquid back to the Instant Pot and add the red wine vinegar and soy sauce.

I like to cut the breasts into quarters at this point, we’ll be chopping/shredded it more later, add the chicken back to the pot topping with sliced onions, bell peppers, and chopped cilantro.

Cook on manual high-pressure for 3 minutes. Quick pressure release and remove everything from the pot and chop up or shred the chicken.

Serve with warmed flour or corn tortillas, and your favorite sides. Jalapenos, sour cream, shredded lettuce, cheese, guacamole and definitely cotija cheese (my favorite).

Amanda Long is passionate about cooking and runs a pressure cooking group on Facebook at modernpressurecookingrecipes.com. You can find recipes and connect with her and the community there.