Recipes

Our Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are perfect for Taco Tuesdays or meal prep on Sundays! This simple shredded beef cooks up juicy and flavorful in the pressure cooker and can be used for many recipes besides tacos.

Ever heard the phrase “will run for tacos”? We have, and we couldn’t agree more!

There’s nothing like fueling up after a great run with healthy homemade tacos, and our Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are a perfect for weeknight dinners or weekend meal prep meal to stay fueled, especially when you’re in the midst of a heavy training plan and don’t have loads of free time to spend cooking.

These shredded beef tacos have everything you want: juicy shredded beef, crunchy fresh veggies, and creamy avocado. Plus they’re balanced with everything you need: protein, carbohydrates, and fresh vegetables.

Read more for tips on how to make our Instant Pot shredded beef tacos and how to get tender and juicy beef with your pressure cooker.

How to make Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos

Our Instant Pot shredded beef is pretty easy to make, but it takes some time to cook. But the time it takes to cook it is worth it! This shredded beef is full of flavor and can be used for many recipes, not just tacos.

While some Instant Pot recipes call for browning beef before cooking it, I haven’t found that this makes a difference when cooking in a pressure cooker. It makes a big difference when roasting meat in the oven or slow cooking, but not so much with pressure cooking meat.

So you don’t have to brown the meat before adding it to your pressure cooker, plus it saves time not searing/browning your beef beforehand!

For this recipe, you’ll simply add your boneless beef short ribs to the pressure cooker, top with your chopped poblano pepper and cilantro, then pour over the beef broth mixed with your garlic and spices. Then cook and shred!

Since I don’t eat a lot of spicy food, I kept the heat down in this recipe by using mild poblano peppers. But if you want more spice with your taco meat, swap the poblano pepper for 1-2 jalapeño peppers for more spice.

You can even use 1 poblano pepper and 1 jalapeño pepper if you want a little bit of spice but not too much. Play with the recipe a little bit and see where you want your spice level.

Using natural pressure release with your pressure cooker

In this recipe, I specify natural pressure release for your beef taco meat once it’s done cooking in your pressure cooker. Don’t skip this step, it’s important!

Using natural pressure release when you cook meat in a pressure cooker helps to keep the meat more tender and juicier. If you use the quick pressure release method right after cooking your beef, it will end up more tough.

Natural pressure release means that you allow the pressure in your Instant Pot to release by itself naturally. It takes longer than a quick pressure release (where you open the valve to release the pressure quickly), but it results in taco meat with better texture.

Serving your beef tacos

When you’re ready to assemble your tacos, use whichever tortilla you love! You can easily make this recipe fit special diets by using different kinds of tortillas: high-fiber tortillas, grain-free tortillas (like the ones from Siete), homemade tortillas, gluten free tortillas, or regular ones if you love those.

We love using the uncooked refrigerated flour tortillas since they have minimal ingredients in them and they are more fresh. They only take about 1 minute to cook on a skillet or griddle, so they’re super easy and they taste so much better than pre-cooked tortillas.

If you want to give the uncooked tortillas a try, you can find them in the refrigerated section of the grocery store usually by the cheese and butter. They’re worth the little bit of extra effort to cook them.

This Instant Pot shredded beef is also amazing in other recipes besides tacos. You can skip the tortillas and make burrito bowls with rice and beans – one of my favorite ways to eat this beef!

How to store your shredded beef

Once your shredded beef is cooked, you can let it cool and store it in an airtight container for about 3 days.

You can also create taco meal prep bowls with this beef as well! Fill each meal prep dish with brown rice, beans, and shredded beef. When you’re ready to eat your meal prep taco bowl, add diced fresh tomatoes, avocados, and lettuce!

This Instant Pot shredded beef will also freeze well. You can freeze leftovers in one portion in a freezer bag, or divide it into single portions to freeze for easy grab-and-go meals.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos

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Our Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos are perfect for Taco Tuesdays or meal prep on Sundays! This simple shredded beef cooks up juicy and flavorful in the pressure cooker and can be used for many recipes besides tacos.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Additional Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs or beef country ribs
• 1 medium poblano pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, minced
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 5 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Zest of 1 lime
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Your favorite tortillas (whole grain, gluten free, etc.)
• Your favorite taco toppings: black beans, red cabbage slaw, pickled onions, cotija cheese, avocado, additional cilantro, etc.

Instructions

1. Place the beef short ribs in the pressure cooker and add the diced poblano pepper, chopped cilantro, and minced oregano.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the beef broth, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, cumin, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper.
3. Pour the broth mixture over the beef in the pressure cooker and close the lid, lock it, and set the valve to closed.
4. Set to cook on high heat on "Meat" setting for 35 minutes.
5. Once the beef is done cooking, turn off the "keep warm" feature if your pressure cooker has it. Allow the pressure to release naturally (this takes about 25-30 minutes).
6. Once the pressure has been naturally released from the Instant Pot, remove the beef onto a cutting board and shred it, then return it back to the juices in the pot.
7. Stir the beef with the cooking juices, use a slotted spoon or fork to add the shredded beef onto your preferred tortillas and top with your favorite taco toppings!
8. Store leftovers with a bit of the juices in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge, or freeze it for later.

Notes

Nutrient calculations are an estimate and are for the beef only and doesn't include the tortillas or toppings you choose.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10 servings

Serving Size:

@1/2 cup shredded beef
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 329Total Fat: 28.6gSaturated Fat: 11.8gSodium: 278mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 15g

Looking for a flavorful and healthy recipe for fueling your body after an active day? Our Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta is a balanced meal with healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and lean protein. This is a delicious healthy chicken pasta recipe that will add some variety to your meal plan and will refuel your working muscles.

Need a little more variety in your running meal plan? We created this Healthy Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta recipe inspired by Mediterranean flavors that’s perfect for runners looking for a balanced but flavorful meal.

Our healthy chicken pesto pasta recipe is a well-balanced meal that has healthy fats, lean protein, and complex carbohydrates to fuel your next run, and help with recovery!

This healthy pasta recipe is pretty easy to make, and we include a delicious pesto recipe so you can make your own!

Its one of the dishes featured in our Marathon Training Meal Plan, which you can download for free at the end of this post!

So whether you’re in marathon training or simply looking for a delicious, nutritious dish…read on!

If you have food allergies, we also provide some easy swaps to make this recipe fit your food allergies, and we share some options for cooking the chicken without a grill if you don’t have access to one.

Read on for tips on making this healthy chicken pesto pasta!

How To Make Our Healthy Chicken Pasta Recipe

There are 3 parts to this amazing recipe: preparing your pesto, preparing the chicken, and preparing the pasta. You can do all these things simultaneously, so the prep and cooking time for this recipe should only take about 30 minutes or less.

1. Prepare your pesto first while you heat your water for pasta and preheat your grill. The pesto will only take about 5 minutes to make in a small-ish sized food processor.
   
2. Season and grill your chicken. Cooking the chicken over medium heat will take about 10 minutes (or 12-13 minutes if they are larger).
   
3. Once the water is boiling, cook your whole-wheat pasta.
   
4. Assemble everything! Combine the pasta, pesto, chicken, marinated artichokes, and fresh tomatoes together and serve.

Our recipe card with complete instructions and ingredients is at the end of the post!

We like to grill with chicken breasts that are smaller and cut/portioned to cook evenly so most of them will cook in the same time.

If you have chicken breasts that are rather thick, you can cut them in half horizontally or pound the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap (or in a plastic bag) to make them uniform thicknesses for easier grilling.

Cutting the chicken breasts in half or pounding the chicken isn’t absolutely necessary for this recipe, but we find that it makes cooking a bit faster and easier!

How To Cook the Pesto Chicken Without a Grill

Grilling the pesto chicken in this recipe makes it taste amazing, but if you don’t have access to a grill, you can cook this in the oven instead.

To cook the chicken in the oven, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the bottom of a glass 9×13 baking dish and season the chicken as listed in the recipe.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 18 minutes. Remove the foil and check the chicken, it will likely need a few minutes more if they aren’t small chicken breasts. If you’ve cut the chicken breasts in half or pounded the chicken, 18 minutes might be plenty of cooking time.

If the chicken needs more time to cook, remove the foil and cook again in the oven for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is firm or the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Can I Use Store Bought Pesto In This Recipe?

Making pesto at home is really rewarding: you have the freshest ingredients in your pesto that are hand chosen by you!

But if you don’t have the time to make your own pesto or you’re having a hard time finding some of the ingredients, you can definitely use pre-made pesto from the store.

If you’re using store bought pesto, check the ingredients to make sure you find one that has few (or no) preservatives in it and is made with natural ingredients.

What Swaps Can I Make If I Have Food Allergies?

If you have food allergies, here are a few swaps you can easily make in this healthy chicken pasta recipe to accommodate!

• If you can’t have gluten, use a whole grain gluten free or grain free pasta that fits your diet. Some great options are brown rice pasta, corn or quinoa pasta, or chickpea or lentil pasta.
  
• Pine nuts can be replaced with roasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds if you have tree nut allergies.
  
• Can’t have dairy? Dairy free parmesan works great in this recipe as well! We love the Violife brand of dairy free parmesan.

Yield: 5 servings

Healthy Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta

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Looking for a flavorful and healthy recipe for fueling your body after an active day? Our Grilled Chicken Pesto Pasta is a balanced meal with healthy fats, complex carbohydrates, and lean protein.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Homemade Pesto

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan 
• 3 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 3 cups loose packed fresh basil leaves, washed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced or pressed
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Whole Wheat Pesto Pasta

• 1 Tablespoon oilve oil
• Dash salt
• 8 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti (or gluten free pasta)
• 1/4 Tablespoons homemade pesto

Grilled Presto Chicken

• 1/4 cup homemade pesto (or jarred pesto if you don't have time to make your own pesto)
• 5 medium-sized chicken breasts (about 1 pound chicken in 3 ounce portions/breasts), cut in half horior pounded if they are large
• Seasonings: salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder

• 1 (12 oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 pound cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

Instructions

1. Fill a 2-quart saucepan 3/4 full of water, add your olive oil and a sprinkle of salt to the water and heat for your whole wheat pasta.
2. Prepare the pesto: place the pine nuts and parmesan cheese in a small food processor and process until it forms small crumbs.
3. Add the basil, salt, and garlic, and process again until it's finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of your processor, add the olive oil, and process again for about a minute until your pesto is a sauce but still has some texture (it's not completely pureed). You may have to stop a time or 2 to scrape the sides of your processor to make sure everything gets mixed.
4. Set aside the pesto. This makes about 3/4 cup of pesto, you'll only need about 1/2 cup for this recipe, so you'll have some pesto left over for other recipes.
5. Prepare the chicken: Heat your grill, scrape/clean the grates, and oil the grates. Depending on the outdoor temperature, it may take 5-10 minutes to warm up. Once it's about 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C, turn it to medium heat.
6. Once the pesto is done, prepare the chicken: sprinkle each side of the chicken breast with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder, then spread about 1 teaspoon pesto on each side of the chicken breast.
7. Grill the chicken over medium heat on your pre-heated grill for about 4-5 minutes on each side. If the chicken breasts are large or thick, you may need to grill another 4 minutes to cook completely.
8. When the water in your saucepan begins to boil, add your whole wheat pasta and cook according to package directions.
9. Strain the water out of the cooked pasta and set aside, adding a little more olive oil to the pasta to keep it from sticking while you prepare the other ingredients.

Putting it all together

1. Toss 1/4 cup pesto into the pasta, add salt and pepper to taste. Add the drained artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes.
2. Divide the pasta onto 4 plates, add 1 sliced grilled chicken breast, and garnish with aa few basil leaves and additional grated parmesan.
   

Notes

I love fresh tomatoes in this recipe, but you can lightly roast or saute the tomatoes if you like before adding them to the pasta.

If you don't have the time to make your own pesto, pesto from a jar works great, instead!

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Please note nutrition information is an estimate only and may change depending on your choice of ingredients

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1/5 recipe
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 480 Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 886mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 9gSugar: 6gProtein: 35g

Looking for more meal ideas to fuel your run training?

Grab a free copy of our Marathon Training Meal Plan below!

Here’s our favourite carb-loading pasta recipe – spaghetti aglio olio with mushrooms!  Perfect for a fast, easy-to-prepare and not fussy – it’s great for meal preppers!

One thing I constantly struggle with is eating food that aligned with my training – I’m constantly running late, grabbing whatever is available, and often sacrifice health and good carbs for something processed and easy.

That’s where my carb-loading pasta Aglio Olio recipe comes in!

This is a super fast (20 minute) dish to prep.  It tastes great, it’s vegan, and I can usually throw it together with things sitting in the cupboard at home.

 Using good quality spaghetti and veg means it’s a nutritious boost, and loads me up of the right carbohydrates to fuel my workouts.

It’s also a great meal for meal preppers – I sometime make 2 – 4 x the quantity I’ve outlined below and slam them in glass tupperwares in the fridge!

Carb-loading Pasta:  Algio Olio Spaghetti with Mushrooms Recipe

Ingredients:

170 gr (6 oz) spaghetti

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I often add in a load more).

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup baby Portobello mushroom, sliced

1 tbsp dry parsley

2 tbsp olive oil (I am fairly generous with this)

Cheese to taste

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

How To Make it:

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cook until fragrant.
3. Add mushroom to the skillet, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue to stir and cook for 3 minutes more.
4. When the pasta is al dente, drain and add to the skillet. Add salt, pepper, and parsley and toss until pasta is evenly coated. For taste, grate up your favourite cheese and mix it in. Serve immediately.

There you go!

A simple, nutritious meal for runners!

Make a batch and slam it in the fridge!

And let us know what you thought of this recipe below!

Here’s our awesome recipe for no-bake runner’s energy balls!

Looking for a quick, no-fuss, homemade running snack?

Finding a cheap and easy source of slow-burn energy can often be a challenge for runners.

Our Runner’s Energy Balls recipe takes 5 minutes to throw together, and provides an all-natural source of slow burning energy.

They’re a great source of fast carbs and fat, the two fuel sources we need when we’re running.

The peanut butter and cacao nibs leave them tasting like a cookie, while the oats and seeds help fuel your workout.

The best part?

They’re made entirely of things you already have in your kitchen cupboard!

Our Runner’s Energy Balls are the perfect pre-run snack to give you the energy boost you need prior to your training run; whether you’re preparing for your first 10k or a marathon.

Interested?

Here’s how to make them!

No-Bake Runner’s Energy Balls – Ingredients:

• ¾ cup old-fashioned oats
•   ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1-2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (change for honey for a non-vegan option)
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs
• Pinch of sea salt

No-Bake Runner’s Energy Balls – How To Make Them:

The best part of this recipe is how simple it is to make these energy balls!

1. Combine all ingredients into a sturdy bowl

2. Mix them together with a spoon or fork

3. Using your hands, roll the mixture into bite-sized balls

4. Store them in the fridge, in a paper-lined tupperware, until ready to eat!

***

I find these balls to be the perfect boost I need before heading out the door for a 1-2hr run around the trails!

Have you tried this recipe?  Let me know what you thought below!