Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – made from scratch and in a fraction of the time. Delicious and hearty, loaded with chicken, this soup will warm you to your bones!
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – made from scratch and in a fraction of the time. Delicious and hearty, loaded with chicken and veggies, this soup is comforting and soul warming! Perfect for cold and flu season, this version is highly adaptable. Make it with dry beans, canned beans or no beans at all, it’s totally up to you. Top it with cheese and sour cream, or keep it dairy-free and add avocado. Make it as spicy as you want.
The best part is after you saute the onions, you can just dump everything else in the pot and let the pressure cook work its magic. No pressure cooker? No problem….make it on the stove or in a slow cooker ( see recipe notes). You don’t even have to touch or cut the chicken, just drop it in whole. So easy! Very tasty and satisfying, and the left-over soup just gets better and better over the next few days- perfect for midweek lunches or dinners.
For the tastiest tortilla chips, spray strips of fresh tortillas with olive oil spray and a sprinkle of salt, and bake until crisp.
Feel free to use store-bought tortilla chips, or leave them off completely for a lower carb version.
When the soup is done, shred the chicken, right in the pot with two forks. Serve it up with avocado, optional cheese or sour cream, cilantro and fresh jalapeño or hot sauce for heat.
So simple, so easy. So tasty!!! Make this Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup and save the left-over for mid-week meals.
PrintInstant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – a fast and flavorful recipe that can be made using dry beans.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: soup
- Method: instant pot
- Cuisine: mexican
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, rough chopped ( or sub 1 tablespoon granulated garlic)
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 x 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes ( preferably fire roasted)
- 1 small 4 ounce can, mild green chilies (or sub 1 poblano chili, diced)
- 2 lbs chicken thighs ( boneless, skinless) left whole
- 1 cup dry black beans(or sub 1-2 cans black beans, or sub corn-see notes)
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth ( or water with 4 bouillon cubes)
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- juice from 1-2 limes
- Garnish|any of the following: tortilla strips, grated cheese, sour cream, avocado, hot sauce, cilantro, fresh jalapeño, scallions
Instructions
Set the Instant pot to the Saute function. Saute onion and garlic ( if using granulated garlic, add later with the spices) in the oil for 3-4 minutes while you prep the carrots and celery. Add them to the pot, and stir.
Add the diced tomato, green chilies, chicken thighs (whole), dry black beans, chicken stock, water, salt and all the spices. Give a good stir, and set the Instant pot to pressure cook on high. If using dry black beans, pressure cook 25 minutes. If using canned black beans, pressure cook for 17 minutes. Manually let pressure out, covering steam with a kitchen towel. (Or feel free to let pressure release naturally.)
Shred chicken thighs with two forks. The soup will thicken. (At this point you could add corn, and return to saute setting for a few minutes.) Squeeze with a generous amount of lime juice and taste for salt, adding more if necessary- especially if you used dry beans, you will need to add more. You want a good balance between lime and salt. ( If soup tastes bland, it probably needs more of each.)
Top with tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream or avocado and cilantro. Add hot sauce for added heat.
Notes
For a more brothy soup, use only 1 can of beans vs. two. ( I prefer this brothy.)
The toppings really add to the soup.
For the tastiest tortilla chips, spray strips of fresh tortillas with olive oil spray and a sprinkle of salt, and bake in a 300 F oven until crisp.
To make on the stove top, follow same directions, simmering covered until chicken is cooked through and beans are tender, about 40 minutes. To make in a slow cooker, follow same directions,
For a low carb, bean-free version you could swap out 3 cups corn for the beans ( Trader Joes, frozen fire-roasted corn is great) adding it to the soup after you release the pressure.
For slow cooker version, cook as stated above then cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.
For stove top version, cook as stated in a dutch oven, then simmer on low, covered for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is easily shredable and beans are tender.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 3/4 cups
18
Best chicken tortilla soup recipe! I don’ have an instant pot, but just made it in a dutch oven on the stove top exactly the same way. Didn’t cut up the chicken beforehand and just put whole chicken breasts and thighs in with the broth and took them out and shredded them when they were tender. Perfect cold night dinner.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for sharing how you adapted it …very appreciated and glad it worked!!!
In the recipe, it says to ad 2 cups of water in addition to the 4 cups of broth. Why? Why wouldn’t you add 2 more cups of broth? Is it because of the instant pot pressure? Sorry, I’m new to the instant pot and still trying to figure it out.
Denise you sure can sub more broth for water. It has nothing to do with the instant pot, and mostly to do with economy- many people use a 4 quart container of broth, so instead of having them open two containers,(and having left overs) I opt for one, with the addition water. It seems the flavor isn’t compromised at all and saves a little money. If you use all broth, you may need less salt.
Made this tonight, and it was so delicious! Thank you for sharing! This is definitely going on our rotation list!
★★★★★