The BEST Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – made from scratch, in a fraction of the time! Delicious and healthy, loaded with chicken and veggies, this soup will warm you to your bones! Can also be made on the stovetop or slow cooker!
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 cool fall and winter days 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.
Watch how simple it is to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup!
The best part is after you saute the onions, you can just dump everything else in the pot and let the pressure cooker work its magic. No pressure cooker? No problem….make it on the stove or in a slow cooker ( see recipe notes).
The nice part is you don’t even have to touch or cut the chicken, just drop it in whole. You can use fresh or frozen boneless, skinless thighs or use chicken breast, up to you! 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.
Feel free to add corn or beans in this recipe- or both!
Make sure to garnish the Instant Pot Tortilla soup with either avocado or sour cream, and a squeeze of lime and fresh cilantro! The garnishes make this!!!
So simple, so easy. So tasty!!! Make this Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup and save the left-overs for mid-week meals!
P.S. Here are a few more of my all-time favorite, Instant Pot Recipes from around the globe!
And if you like broth-based soups, take a look at these soul-warming brothy soups!
Have a delicious week!
xoxo
SHOP THE POST! Serve your delicious soup in beautiful, handmade Ceramic bowls – found at our Bowl and Pitcher Store!
PrintInstant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup – a fast and flavorful recipe that can be made using dry or canned beans, and using fresh or frozen thighs, or breast meat. Very adaptable! Very easy.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- 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)
- 1–2 cups carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 x 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, and juices ( preferably fire roasted) or 1 ½ cups diced tomatoes
- 1 small 4 ounce can, mild green chilies (or sub 1 poblano chili, diced)
- 2 lbs chicken thighs ( boneless, skinless, fresh or frozen) left whole (or breasts -see cooking notes)
- 1 cup dry black beans or sub 1-2 cans black beans, or sub corn-see notes ( do not use dry beans with chicken breast as breasts will over cook)
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth ( or water with 4 chicken bouillon cubes)
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- juice from 1–2 limes
- optional: for a smoky heat, add a little chipotle (either the adobo sauce from canned chipotles, or a little ground chipotle powder to taste. )
Garnish with any or all 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 onions ( if using granulated garlic, add later with the spices) in the oil for 3-4 minutes while you prep the garlic, carrots and celery. Add them to the pot, and saute 3-4 minutes.
Add the diced tomato, green chilies, chicken thighs (whole), dry black beans ( or canned, drained), 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 22 minutes. If using canned black beans, pressure cook for 14 minutes ( same for either fresh or frozen thighs). 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, scallions 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.)
If using whole breasts, cook 8-12 minutes, and do not use dry beans (you will overcook the breasts). 8 minutes for smaller breasts or 12 for thicker breasts.
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 this on the stove top, using a dutch oven– follow same directions, simmering covered until chicken is cooked through and easily shreddable, and beans are tender, about 40 minutes.
For a 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 3/4 cups
Keywords: instant pot chicken tortilla soup, chicken tortilla soup, instant pot chicken soup recipes, instant pot tortilla soup, chicken tortilla soup instant pot,
Fool-proof, restaurant quality soup that will feed an army right here! I was sick as a dog, and very much prefer Chicken Tortilla Soup or Tom Kha Gai when I’m sick to plain-old Chicken Noodle. I was looking for something easy (like throw a bunch of cans of stuff together and go back to my couch and be in a cold-syrup coma for the next half hour – easy) and delicious, and this recipe is absolutely it! I forgot the limes and chipotle peppers, and it was STILL amazing. A friend made it the very next day off of my recommendation (and she didn’t forget those two ingredients), and she reiterated that this was restaurant-quality stuff. I’ve been sharing this with all my friends and family, and this will absolutely be my go-to Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.
★★★★★
Avery, thanks so much! I’m so happy you liked it and hope you feel better soon. Thanks for the comment, rating… and for sharing with your friend! Very appreciated! xo
I have a 6 quart and want to double this recipe. Would that be ok or should I do it in the crock pot?
That’s a great question and I’m not sure. I haven’t doubled this one yet in the instant pot. Has anyone else tried doubling?
Oh man!! So good! And so easy! Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
★★★★★
Thanks Rachel!
Really easy and delicious recipe. We added fresh corn on the cob, cut into 2-inch pieces, and pressure cooked them along with everything else. It was a nice addition.
★★★★★
Sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing Marsha!
Mmmmmmmmmm…! Made this on Saturday morning for brunch with some lovely people and it was delicious. My version used a whole can of diced tomatoes, canned black beans, and a second quick 5 minute cook time with shredded rotisserie chicken and cubed carrots and celery. I didn’t want to overcook the chicken and veggies. Next time I will try it with uncooked chicken. Made my own tortilla strips, too! Highly recommended!
★★★★★
happy you liked this!
Delicious – as I was not adding chicken, I added another cup of mixed dried beans and lentils (plus 3 additional cups of water), and 1 teasp. of paprika. The Instant Pot took 60 mins – probably because of the extra beans. I added a cup of frozen chopped kale. DELICIOUS!!! Added juice of 1 lime when it was ready, then had more wedges cut on the table.
★★★★★
Glad it turned out. Next time, if you presoak your beans, it should take half the time!
Love this recipe and I compliment you on the video. Easy to follow and you are so very calming. If I want to cook a new dish I think I will look and see if you have a tutorial on it first. Thank you and I’m glad I stumbled upon your site.
Thanks Jennifer! I’m glad you are here too!
Vegetarian/Vegan Version! This soup is sooo yummy! I made one major adaptation – which was to use jackfruit in place of the chicken … and it totally worked (2 cans)! The flavor, texture, consistency, aromas are all superb. This soup would be just as amazing without chicken, or jackfruit – the flavors are delicious and I really don’t think you’d miss out on anything by omitting the “chicken-y” component. I also prepared this stovetop in a large soup pot. This will definitely go into heavy rotation – great for quick weeknight meals, long sunday simmers, or even for guests. Everyone loved it. Another fabulous recipe from you – Thank you!
★★★★★
Jen- Awesome! I’m so glad you tried this with jackfruit! I was wondering if it would work!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
It’s cooking right now! I can’t wait to eat it! I didn’t use beans , I used carrots and celery and a red bell pepper that I needed to use up!
I make this about every 2 weeks. It is a big hit The whole family loves it.
★★★★★
Oh Awesome- thanks for the comment and rating! Appreciated!
I’ve made this recipe several times the past few months – amazing!!
★★★★★
Awww… thanks, Shannon! I appreciate the comment!