Can we just establish that my idea of a good dinner is one that starts with pulling a meal out of the freezer, dumping it in the Instant Pot, and ending with juicy pineapple and spiced chicken crisped under the broiler, tucked into tortillas, and rolled up with creamy jalapeño ranch slaw?
These tacos are fresh, delicious, and just plain happy. Er, maybe it’s me that’s happy? And probably because throwing some pantry ingredients together, freezing it, pulling it out and pressing start on the Instant Pot, taking my crew for a walk, and coming home to dinner almost done is almost the same as winning a million dollars. Almost.
How To Make Freezer Meal Hawaiian Chicken
It really can’t get any easier.
- Add a bunch of yummy easy stuff to a freezer bag.
- Stick it in the freezer.
- Pull it out, dump it in the Instant Pot to cook, and WALK AWAY.
When it’s done, give it a little crisp under the broiler and tuck it into warm tortillas with creamy Jalapeño Ranch Slaw. This is what dreams are made of.
Freezer Meal Hawaiian Chicken Tacos
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Freezer Meal Hawaiian Chicken Tacos! Juicy and crispy pineapple and chicken, tucked into tortillas, and rolled up with creamy jalapeño ranch slaw.
Ingredients
Freeze together:
- 1.25 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cups fresh pineapple, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, minced (remove ribs and seeds for less heat)
- half of a red onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
For serving, blend together Jalapeño Ranch and toss with cabbage:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 jalapeño (remove ribs and seeds for less heat)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried dill (or about 1/4 cup fresh)
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup fresh chives (or sub 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
INSTANT POT: Add 1/4 cup of water before cooking. From frozen, 20 minutes on high pressure + quick release.
SLOW COOKER: Add 1/4 cup of water before cooking. From thawed, 3-4 hours on high.
FINAL STEP: Shred chicken and serve with Jalapeño Ranch Slaw (see above) in tortillas.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Hawaiian-Inspired
Keywords: freezer meal, hawaiian tacos, chicken tacos, instant pot tacos
View original recipe here.
You might also like our freezer meals post.
Wow, this place has lots of delicious chicken menus. I hope i can try to eat this kind of food when I go there.
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Tried these tacos tonight and they were phenomenal. I have been cooking your recipes for two years and they never disappoint.
Happy dances all around! Glad you enjoyed the tacos, Laura! 💃
Question; I usually do not freeze dinners, but need to make a church meal for someone. Is the chicken raw that goes into the freezer bag?
Thanks
Yep, that’s right. Just raw chicken here.
I usually love your recipes, but this was a flop for me. I followed the directions and froze everything in a plastic bag, but after the 20 mins on high and quick release my chicken was still frozen in the middle and I had to put it back in and cook for extra time. Any tips?
Hi, Erin! So sorry to hear this didn’t turn out for you. We’re not totally sure why the chicken was still frozen. We’d suggest just cutting up the chicken thighs into small pieces next time before freezing.
I had same experience, after 20 mins and quick release chicken was still raw and partially frozen, trying to cook for another 10 and see if that works. Hope it tastes good, it smells amazing.
I made these from frozen tonight and while the flavors were great, I found both the chicken (cooked in Instant Pot from frozen with the 1/4 cup of water per the instructions) and the slaw came out very watery. I even added more mayo to the slaw to try and thicken it to little avail. Any tips? The tacos were still very good, just needed a lot of napkins on hand!
For the jalapeño ranch do I mix all ingredients in a blender or just stir them together?
You can blitz all those ingredients in a blender.
Hi! I just LOVE all your meals. They are so easy and delicious! For this meal…does it have to be frozen? IF I wanted to just make it fresh, would I still follow the same instructions?
Here are our instructions from fresh. Enjoy, Kate!
This was phenomenal with ground pork. I double the garlic, added 3/4 of a red onion, and used canned pineapple chunks. I put it in the slow cooker on high before I left for work (2 hours), then turned it to low, so when I got home, it was perfect. I didn’t need any toppings and I used iceberg lettuce leaves instead of pita. Big win for me!
I forgot to add, I cooked form frozen.
YUM! Thanks for sharing, Kristin!
Thanks for sharing your tweaks!
Love, love, love your recipes. And your love for tacos. These were delicious! Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed the tacos, Julie!
These are great! I work with a local organization that calls me when Foster care families get a new placement and I bring them a meal, this is a go to for me! Always rave reviews from people and it’s something easy that’s prepped so I can cook and bring over quickly
❤️
This recipe was so good; the chicken with the creamy slaw was fantastic! The only thing I would change next time is leaving out the olive oil in the slaw; it just pooled on top of the cabbage and made it greasy. I might add a little for the flavor, but definitely not the full amount!
Could you make this with pork instead of chicken?
Yes, we think pork would work well!
Can you freeze the chicken after it’s cooked?
Yes, you can freeze the cooked chicken!
This is a go-to in our house. Super tender chicken, great balance of spice and sweet.
Are you able to freeze the jalapeño ranch or does that need to be made fresh? Trying to make some freezer meals for some friends and this looks delicious!
We’d recommend making it fresh!
So good!! When I was prepping this I went ahead and made a second batch to make fresh in addition to the one for the freezer. Prep once, eat twice! I’m so glad I did because we loved this!
Great idea, Kristine!