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!
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!
- Low Carb Indian Butter Chicken
- Low Carb Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Keto BBQ Chicken Salad Bowls
- Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Leftover Chicken Bone Broth Soup
- Copycat Alice Springs Chicken
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.
Keto Instant Pot Crack Chicken Recipe
What You'll Need
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
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker on, press “Sauté”, and wait 2 minutes for the pot to heat up. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crispy. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Press “Cancel” to stop sautéing. (See Note.)
- Add the chicken, cream cheese, water, vinegar, chives, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dill, salt, and black pepper to the pot. Turn the pot on Manual, High Pressure for 15 minutes and then do a quick release.
- Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a large plate, shred it with 2 forks, and return it back to the pot.
- Stir in the cheddar cheese.
- Top with the crispy bacon and scallion, and serve.
Notes
A Paris says
2 months into the keto diet. I have to say this is BY FAR the best keto recipe I’ve stumbled across thus far!
Faith Gorsky says
A Paris, Thank you so much for your kind words, you made our day!!
Theresa says
I made this last night, it taste great and I plan on trying it again. It did burn, I turned off my IP a few times, scraped the bottom and added even more water to no avail. My pot has been soaking all night in an attempt to clean the burned chicken/cheese.
Lara says
Hi Teresa,
Between me, Faith and my family we’ve made this recipe about 20 times now. The only time any of us had an issue was when the cream cheese was left on the bottom of the instant pot. I recommend putting the cream cheese directly on the chicken like we show in the video. I hope this helps 🙂
Theresa says
I think I did it that way, but I will definitely try again. Thanks for the response.
Carla Salzman says
I love this recipe!!
I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and this was the first thing I made in it. I do meal planning and freeze dinners for my husband. This dish actually tastes better after he heats it up. It’s now his favorite!
Faith Gorsky says
Carla, Yay, we’re so happy to hear you and your hubby are loving this recipe and that you’re getting good use out of your Instant Pot! 🙂
klebefolie says
That was delicious! I just made it. My Kids and I both loved it. Thanks for the recipe!
Faith Gorsky says
Yay, we’re so happy you and your kids enjoyed it!!
Manish says
Quick question. I’m making this recipe this weekend. I was looking in the store today but could not find dill, chives, or scallion (granted it was a Target market not a regular grocery store–will try a whole foods tomorrow). But in case I can’t find those things, can I replace the chives with chives and onion cream cheese, and skip the dill and scallion?
Faith Gorsky says
Manish, This recipe is very forgiving in terms of herbs/spices; feel free to play around with whatever ingredients you have on hand or whatever suits your taste preferences. If you’re going to use fresh herbs instead of dried, we recommend using a bit more and adding them in at the end once it’s cooked. Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Manish says
I made this recipe last night for a friend, using chives and onion cream cheese. I ended finding dill weed but not scallions. I put it over quinoa (I know, not keto friendly) and spinach leaves and it was delicious! Thanks!!
Faith Gorsky says
Manish, We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Lara says
My husband and I decided (well I decided, and so my husband decided by default) to try the keto diet for a month and see what happens. Today is our first day and I stuck this in the crock pot to have prepared for later on this week. Took a bite to test it after shredding the chicken… and then took a few more… and another and wowwww. Can’t wait for husband to try this! With this recipe in the mix, I think we can stick with keto !! Thank you for sharing!! For some reason I can’t rate the recipe… but if I could, this would get 10!
Faith Gorsky says
Lara, We’re so happy you enjoyed this, it makes our day to hear that!! Thanks for letting us know you aren’t able to rate the recipe, what a bummer – we’ll look into it. And welcome to the keto family! 🙂
Jessica says
I made this yesterday in my slow cooker and my mouth was watering all day. It smelled so wonderful. Like divinely wonderful. But it was totally lacking in flavor. I don’t get it. I wonder if some of my seasonings were old or something.
Faith Gorsky says
Jessica, We’re sorry to hear you didn’t find this recipe flavorful enough! Yes, if your seasonings were old, that was likely the reason. Also, we hold back a little on the added salt to this recipe because there’s salt in so many of the components, and we assume people will usually taste and add salt and pepper as desired – you may want to add a little sprinkle of salt and see if you like it better.
Jim says
Turns out perfect every time in my Cuisinart electric pressure cooker. I don’t deglaze. No burning. This recipe is amazing.
Faith Gorsky says
Jim, Thanks for taking the time to let us know – you made our day!!
Kerri says
I used fresh chicken and followed the recipe exactly as outlined. After 15 min, my husband and I were sad to see that the chicken wasn’t cooked. We are new to the Instapot. I put the chicken directly on the bottom in a single layer. Are we supposed to use a trivet in there? We gave it another 15 minutes and it seems to have cooled now. We’re we suppose to cut up the chicken breasts first?
Faith Gorsky says
Kerri, We’re sorry to hear your chicken wasn’t cooked through! No, we didn’t use the trivet when we cooked it. No, we left the chicken breasts whole. (If you want to see exactly how we make this, please take a look at our video at the top of this post.) I can ask a couple questions to help you troublshoot…did you use boneless skinless chicken breasts as the recipe says or did your chicken breasts have the bone in? You said you cooked it for the 15 minutes that the recipe says, did you cook it at Manual, High Pressure? We’d love to be able to help you figure out what happened, especially since you’re new to Instant Pot cooking and we want you to be able to get the most out of it!
Tami L. Davidson says
This is a GREAT recipe. It turned out so good. I did saute the bacon, then washed out the pot. Next time I will just fry up the bacon on the stove top. But still, it was just fine! My daughters and I LOVE this! So good!!
Lara says
We’re so happy you loved it!
Olivia says
Delicious!!! It was super yummy I had a couple issues that were my fault. I had to keep it in the instant pot double the time because the chicken wasn’t done, next time may brown on the stove first. Also I stacked one of the chicken breasts which now I see you are not supposed to do. It also came out very soupy but I see that you said to press sauté and that would solve the issue. I just set down the chicken on the bottom of the pot, was I supposed to use the trivet? I just started using my instant pot so I’m new at this! Overall this recipe rocks! Next time I will take note of those few things and I’m sure it will come out even better
Faith Gorsky says
Olivia, We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for letting us know! Nope, we didn’t use the trivet, we just put the chicken into the pot. If you want to see exactly how we did it, take a look at our video at the top of this post. 🙂
Kim says
When cooking with frozen chicken breasts I would omit the water. It is not needed.
Faith Gorsky says
Kim, Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Frozen chicken breasts definitely hold water, but we’d still recommend using the 1/2 cup water that this recipe calls for to avoid the burn warning potentially coming on (especially since the censor for different Instant Pot models is different). Having the sauce too liquidy has an easy remedy (just cook it uncovered while stirring to thicken it), but it’s a lot more frustrating if the burn warning comes on and you need to find an alternate method to cook dinner.
Marissa says
If loaded potato cheddar soup and chicken chowder had a love child but there was a mutation and no potatoes were present …this would be it! That is all.
Jen says
Wonderful. This was my first recipe in a brand new instant pot, and it didn’t disappoint. I added some Frank’s as suggested, and it was perfect. I deglazed the pot and let it cool before turning it on to pressure cook, and I did not get the burn warning. Served it on a bed of slightly wilted spinach. It’s extremely filling, so leftovers for me tomorrow (yay).
Faith Gorsky says
Jen, That’s great, we’re so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Yay for leftovers! 🙂
Carrie says
My husband and I drive a semi over the road and I tried this recipe for the first time tonight. I cut the recipe in half and used my mini duo 3 qt. My husband loved it and clean up wasn’t to bad. Definitely going to be part of our weakly meals on the truck from now on as we are on the keto diet.
Lara says
Hi Carrie,
We’re so happy you and your husband loved it!
Angie Coleman says
Flavor was fantastic but chicken was very tuff. Any suggestions?
Faith Gorsky says
Angie, What type of chicken did you use? Was it free-range or conventional? Were you able to shred it like in the video?
Hannah says
Just tried to make this and definitely got the burn warning. I tried twice and the bottom was definitely burning… I didn’t cook the bacon in the IP either. Decided to put it in the oven instead🤦
Faith Gorsky says
Hannah, Oh no, that’s really strange that the burn warning came on even without cooking the bacon in the IP! Glad you put it in the oven instead, hope it turned out ok!
Kevin Stansbury says
I made it just fine and have not had any burn alarms yet. However, I just cooked my bacon on the stove and not in the pot.
Suzanne says
Thank you for replying! I am using my brand new 6 quart instant pot tonight and I’m nervous. I have never used one! I am using 3 fat uncooked boneless,skinless chicken breasts. How much cream cheese should I use?
Suzanne says
Well shoot! My husband is returning my Instant Pot, because out of all of the things it can do, it is not a “pressure cooker”!So he is picking the correct one up for me right now. Meanwhile, I’m trying the oven method.🙄
Suzanne says
This was AMAZING. OH MY GOODNESS! Oven method worked perfectly. My husband and I loved it. It is delicious cold as well. We had it served hot for dinner last night, and couldn’t help ourselves…we had it cold for breakfast today! 😊
Steven says
Hi – I followed the recipe / instructions to a tee but when it finished, the sauce was very watery. I closed the lid on the IP and let it sit for a few minutes…a little better but not like the pictures outlined above. Any idea why?
Regardless, it’s delicious and thank you so much for sharing!
Faith Gorsky says
Steven, We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! About it being watery, without being in the kitchen with you, it’s hard to pinpoint a cause, but there is quite an easy fix. Once you add the shredded chicken back in, turn the “saute” function on the pot and cook (stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn on the bottom) until it reaches your desired thickness.
Suzanne says
The recipe calls for dried chives. Can this be found in the spice aisle? Your pictures look like the chives are fresh.
Faith Gorsky says
Suzanne, Yes, dried chives are found in the spice aisle. No, the garnish on top that’s shown in the photos is the fresh scallion that the recipe calls for.
Avery says
This was very tasty but it made WAY more than I anticipated. Have you ever tried freezing leftovers? I hate for it to go to waste but know we’ll never get through all of this.
Faith Gorsky says
Avery, Yes, this freezes well! I freeze it in 1-cup glass Pyrex dishes because I find they’re a great size for lunch. I defrost them the night before, and then you can reheat the mixture in the microwave or on the stovetop. We’re so happy you hear you enjoyed it!
Barbara says
Not meaning to be negative here, but I’m a picky eater so I don’t have some ingredients even in my house. Instead of water, I put in 1/2 cup chicken broth. I only had 1.5 lbs chicken and 1-2/3 cream cheese so that worked out. I did not put in chives or red pepper flakes bc I don’t have any. I put in only part of the garlic powder and onion powder (probably 1/2 tsp.) and only 1 Tbl of vinegar and 1 tsp of dill. I also added what frozen spinach I had left in a pkg and maybe 1.5 cups of broccoli florets when I added the cheese. I added 2 handfuls of cheddar. After tasting it, I added like 1/4 cup sour cream to tone down the tart/sourness of the cream cheese/vinegar flavor. I think it helped a lot. I will add this over cauliflower rice for dinner. I devoured the bacon before the IP finished cooking. I don’t care for bacon bits over food. Next time, I’ll leave out dill and vinegar, too, and stick with only 1/2 tsp. of garlic and onion powders. I added more salt and pepper, too, to taste.
Faith Gorsky says
Barbara, Thanks so much for your thorough review! We’re so happy to hear you made this recipe work for your palate and your pantry! Happy keto cooking. 🙂
Mel says
If I half the recipe, do I half the cook time ?
Faith Gorsky says
Mel, No, leave the cook time the same if you half the recipe. Also, even if you half it make sure to leave the liquid amount the same (you’ll still need 1/2 cup water), but all other ingredients can be cut in half.
Loni Brannon says
Hi. So I was very excited to try this for a meal prep lunches, but I needed to make a double batch. I even let the chicken thaw out ahead of time. I wasn’t sure if I needed to double up the time, but I doubled all the ingredients. I cooked for 15 minutes, however, when I opened the insta pot, it was very soupy. I dont know if this is how it’s supposed to be? The pictures make it seem like it should be a thicker texture. Oh and the cream cheese did not melt completely. Does it need to be room temperature? Thanks for any feedback!
Faith Gorsky says
Loni, We love your idea of meal prepping this recipe – it reheats so well and is so easy to make a double batch! There are a couple of really easy “fixes” for the things you mentioned: 1) once you remove the chicken from the pot to shred it, whisk until the cream cheese is smooth, and 2) once you add the shredded chicken back in, turn the “saute” function on the pot and cook (stirring frequently so it doesn’t burn on the bottom) until it reaches your desired thickness.
Maxine G. says
This was pretty good but not all my chicken was cook fully. I had to cut off a few pieces but besides that no issues, i think i had 2.5 pounds of chicken breast though thats my fault. I will make this again,thanks again for the recipe.
Alana says
I have the Ultra Mini 3 quart Instant Pot. Would I just cut this recipe in half to make it work? So hard to find info anywhere on cooking with the 3 quart model. Thank you!
Faith Gorsky says
Alana, Yes, you would cut the recipe in half, except leave the amount of water the same. Hope you enjoy the recipe if you give it a try! 🙂
Sasha Jamison says
This is called crack chicken for a reason. Once you make you once you will want to make it over and over again. Thanks for such a fantastic recipe.