Name: Keto Instant Pot Crack Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 slices bacon (chopped); 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts; 16 oz cream cheese; 1/2 cup water; 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon dried chives; 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder; 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder; 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1 teaspoon dried dill; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 cup shredded cheddar ((2 oz)); 1 scallion (green and white parts, thinly sliced)

Rich, creamy, and full of flavor, this Keto Instant Pot Crack Chicken Recipe is sure to be a favorite family dinner.

This recipe is from our e-book, 20 Low-Carb Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes. In the e-book we call it “Better Than Crack Chicken”, which it really is! We switched up the seasoning a little (omitted the Ranch mix and added our own keto-friendly seasonings), and this takes it over the top in terms of deliciousness. Our e-book is now on sale on for just $4.99!

We’ve also included this ebook in our ULTIMATE KETO EBOOK BUNDLE for only $19.99. It includes all 9 of our ebooks and meal plans! If you love the ebooks, join our affiliate program and earn 40% on each ebook sale you refer!

In This Article

What is Crack Chicken

The wildly popular Crack Chicken is actually pretty simple in its ingredient list: chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, scallion, and Ranch seasoning! The end result is creamy and rich, and packed with flavor. It’s proof that a recipe doesn’t have to be complicated to taste great. Crack Chicken is deliciously addictive, which is where the name comes from.

Using Frozen Chicken to Make Crack Chicken in an Instant Pot

A question we frequently get asked is whether you have to defrost boneless, skinless chicken breasts before making this recipe, or if you can just use them frozen. If you forgot to pull the chicken out of the freezer in the morning, we have good news for you! Crack Chicken can easily be made with frozen chicken. If using an Instant Pot, just add 5 minutes on to the cooking time (for a total of 20 minutes on Manual High Pressure).

Note that the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises against cooking frozen chicken in a slow cooker or crock pot because slow cookers cook at a low temperature and may not heat chicken up to 165F, which is the minimum temperature to destroy any dangerous bacteria and ensure that chicken is fully cooked. So if you’re using a crock pot or slow cooker to make Crack Chicken, make sure to defrost it first!

Crack Chicken Ingredients

bacon
boneless skinless chicken breasts
cream cheese
water
apple cider vinegar
dried chives
garlic powder
onion powder
crushed red pepper flakes
dried dill
salt
black pepper
shredded cheddar cheese
scallion

Using Leftover Chicken to Make Crack Chicken

Sometimes we all have leftover chicken on hand that needs to be used up. Maybe you roasted a couple of chickens on the weekend to prep for the week ahead, maybe you had company over and grilled up too many chicken breasts.

Or maybe rotisserie chicken was on sale at your local grocery store and it was too good a bargain to pass up or you made some Instant Pot shredded chicken breasts. Whatever the reason, we all can use a few ideas on how to use up leftover chicken.

If you have cooked chicken in your fridge just waiting to used, we have good news for you! Leftover chicken works great for making Crack Chicken. If using an Instant Pot, keep the chicken breasts whole if possible (don’t pre-shred them), and decrease the cooking time to 5 minutes (for a total of 5 minutes on Manual High Pressure).

If you have left over crack chicken, it’s perfect to meal prep and take for lunch the next day!

How to Make Crack Chicken in a Slow Cooker or Crock Pot

One of the things we love most about Crack Chicken is that there are so many different ways you can make it! We love our electric pressure cooker, but if you’d rather throw everything together in the slow cooker in the morning and come home to dinner waiting for you, you’ll be happy to know that Crack Chicken can also be made in a crock pot.

To make Crack Chicken in a slow cooker, add the chicken and cream cheese to the slow cooker. Whisk together the water, vinegar, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dill, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl and pour on top. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. Remove the chicken and shred it, and then add it back to the pot and stir in the cheddar. Cook the bacon in a skillet on the stovetop until crispy; cool the bacon and then crumble it on top.

How to make Crack Chicken in the Oven

After so many people have asked we made a keto baked crack chicken recipe! This recipe is just as good as our original keto crack chicken made in the instant pot!

How to Shred Cooked Chicken Breasts

There are a number of methods for shredding cooked chicken breasts, most of which take less than a minute! Choose the one that works best for you. Note that all of these methods work best when the chicken is still warm, so be sure to shred it before it cools, but not when it’s still too hot to safely handle.

Stand Mixer Method to Shred Chicken

Add the chicken to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Put on the splatter guard. Turn the mixer on until the chicken is shredded, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Hand Mixer Method to Shred Chicken

Add the chicken to a large bowl. Beat the chicken on low speed with a handheld electric mixer until the chicken is shredded, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Food Processor Method to Shred Chicken

Add the chicken to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade (this dough blade is for this Cuisinart food processor).

High Speed Blender Method to Shred Chicken

Add the chicken to a high speed blender (such as a Vitamix or Blendtec) and pulse a few times until the chicken is shredded.

Two Forks Method to Shred Chicken

Place the cooked chicken breasts onto a cutting board. Pierce the center of a piece of chicken with one fork and use the other fork to pull the chicken into shreds.

What Makes This Crack Chicken Keto/Low-Carb

The main ingredients in this recipe (chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and bacon) are all part of a low-carb, ketogenic diet. We skipped the store-bought Ranch seasoning mix because it usually contains sugar, quite a bit of salt, and preservatives that we try to avoid if possible. Instead we used a keto-friendly mix of dried chives, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dried dill, salt, and black pepper to season our Crack Chicken.

To keep this meal keto, an important thing to keep in mind is what you serve with this Crack Chicken; we share a few keto-friendly serving suggestions below.

In the photo above, our Crack Chicken is served “sandwich style” on Paleo Low Carb Sandwich Bread Rolls (Keto Buns)!

How to Serve Keto Crack Chicken (And Keep it Keto-Friendly)

Here are a few of our favorite keto-friendly ways to serve Crack Chicken:

On top of zucchini noodles
On a bed of baby spinach
With a side of homemade guacamole
Along with herbed cauliflower rice or cilantro lime cauliflower rice
As sliders, using our favorite keto cheddar biscuits (the biscuit recipe is in our Freezer-Friendly Family Dinner Recipes e-book)

Other Low Carb Instant Pot Recipes you will love!

Juicy Beef Brisket Recipe – Fall apart tender brisket made in the instant pot!
Creamy Garlic Broccoli Mash – A delicious way to eat more vegetables on a keto diet.
Low Carb Roasted Red Bell Pepper Chicken – Juicy dark meat in a rich creamy sauce.
Low Carb Pot Roast – Made with radishes instead of potatoes (you won’t be able to tell the difference!).
Instant Pot Beef Ribs – Perfect for summer barbecues.
Cauliflower Soup with bacon and Cheddar cheese – You won’t be able to taste the cauliflower I swear!
Keto Cheesecake – Great dessert to bring for friends and family gatherings!
Instant Pot Cauliflower Pav Bhaji (Low Carb Indian Food) – To satisfy your craving for Indian food!
Low Carb Instant Pot Pot Roast – We use radishes instead of potatoes!
Instant Pot Keto Cinnamon Rolls – Perfect for lazy Sunday Mornings!
Instant Pot low Carb Chili – great to warm you up on those cold winter nights!

Also, here is a round up post we created sharing other bloggers favorite low carb instant pot recipes.

If you’re new to the Instant Pot, check out this post we wrote on our favorite Instant Pot Accessories!

5 Day Keto Meal Plan On a Budget

This crack chicken recipe can be made super cheap! And if you’re looking for other budget friendly keto recipes, check out our 5 Day Keto Meal Plan. This keto meal plan is great for people looking to do keto on a budget. With our keto budget meal plan you can eat for less than $5 per day!

Easy Chicken Recipes you need to try!

If you’re big into meal prepping, we have something for you! We wrote a post about keto chicken meal prep that you may enjoy!

If you loved this post or any of our recipes, please leave a comment below. We love hearing from you! You can also tag #theketoqueens on social media. To stay up-to-date, FOLLOW US on Instagram @theketoqueens, Twitter, and Facebook.

Comments

Julee Garrett says

My husband and I just love this! Do you have a chili version?

- Faith Gorsky says
  
  Julee, Thank you so much! We don’t, but we’re thinking about making one! 🙂
  
Sherry says

You can decrease cook time for the Instant Pot Keto Cracked Chicken by using rotisserie chicken instead of raw boneless skinless chicken breasts. You’ll only need to cook on high pressure for about 8 minutes.
Bon Appétit!

Catherine says

This is my go to recipe for Keto crack chicken, it’s the best out of all the recipes I’ve tried. The only thing I do different is I use chicken bone broth instead of water. I am going to try cutting the chicken before adding it, as someone suggested, in hopes that makes the shredding process a little quicker. Thanks so much for this fantastic recipe!

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