Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

In the winter time, all we want to eat is soup. It's the perfect meal to satisfy your family's diverse tastes on a cold day. It's not only comforting, but can be incredibly healthy. This particular soup recipe provides tons of flavor, a bit of heat, some vegetables, and some chicken to create a well-balanced meal. No need to serve this with a side dish of anything at all. Make this one soup and the meal will be complete.

Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD, brings us this easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe that can be tossed together in a matter of minutes. All you need is an Instant Pot to do most of the quick cooking leg work. Thank goodness for Instant Pots, right? Follow our step by step guide of how to make this Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup that will leave your whole family feeling warm and satisfied.

To make this Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup, you will first need to gather your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, a can of fire roasted salsa, chicken broth, black beans, ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You may also need sour cream and tortilla strips for topping. You can easily substitute full-fat Greek yogurt for sour cream, if desired.

As far as ingredient substitutions, this soup is fairly versatile. You can easily substitute pinto beans for black beans if you prefer. Additionally, drained and rinsed canned corn can also be added for extra texture. If you are not a fan of chicken, you can use ground beef or ground turkey as a substitute, but be sure to cook the ground meat on the sauté setting of the Instant Pot until no longer pink before adding the other ingredients and turning on the pressure cook setting.

Now, we can get started with the actual cooking. Open up your Instant Pot and place the chicken breasts at the bottom of the insert bowl. Top the chicken with the fire roasted tomatoes, salsa, chicken broth, black beans, ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Give this mixture a good stir to combine. Now, close the Instant Pot lid, close the valve to sealing and turn on the high pressure cook setting. Set the timer for 12 minutes.

Once the timer goes off, do not touch the Instant Pot. We want to allow this to naturally release, meaning that the sealed valve will release the pressure on its own in a few minutes. Carefully nudge the valve so it begins releasing the pressure and steam. Once the pressure has been released, remove the lid to the Instant Pot. Then take two forks and shred the chicken. We like to shred the chicken right in the Instant Pot. Alternatively, you can remove the chicken breasts from the Instant Pot and set on a bowl or cutting board to shred. We prefer to not dirty up any other dishes and complete this right in the Instant Pot.

Stir the soup well to incorporate all the ingredients together. Then, serve the soup into bowls. We like topping ours with full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream as well as with a sprinkling of tortilla strips. If you want, you can also add sliced avocado, hot sauce, and chopped cilantro as desired.

If you have any leftovers of this Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup, we recommend that you store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge. This should remain fresh for at least three days if stored in this manner. Please note that the toppings of sour cream and tortilla strips should be stored separately if using them. Otherwise, the tortilla strips will get soggy and the sour cream will alter the texture of the soup.