Salt & Lavender

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Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

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This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it’s been cooked low and slow, but it’s fast and requires minimal effort!

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!

I think you’ll really like this Tex-Mex chicken soup. It’s got a delicious fire-roasted tomato broth, corn, beans, spices, and tender shredded chicken. It’s not too spicy, but it’s packed with flavor. It’s actually pretty healthy too.

The toppings are always my favorite part, though. 😉

How to make chicken tortilla soup in an Instant Pot

Sauté your onion right in your Instant Pot, add your chicken breasts and the rest of the ingredients, and cook it on high pressure for 8 minutes. Do a quick release once the Instant Pot has done its thing.

Shred the chicken with two forks then add it back into the pressure cooker. Serve and garnish bowls as desired. Simple as that!

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!

This easy chicken tortilla soup recipe can be topped with a variety of things:

  • Chopped avocado
  • Mexican shredded cheese blend (mine had cheddar, queso quesadilla, and Monterey Jack)
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Tortilla chips
  • Lime wedges
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream

…etc.

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!

This Instant Pot tortilla soup is so good that the leftovers went really fast too. And there’s only two people who live in this house.

And we always have tons of leftovers because I cook a whole lot for this blog.

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!

Will you try making this electric pressure cooker chicken tortilla soup recipe?

Hope you give it a try! Questions? Ask me in the comments below.

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!
4.89 from 9 votes
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Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

This easy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup recipe tastes like it's been cooked low and slow, but it's fast and requires minimal effort!

Course Soup
Cuisine Tex-Mex
Keyword Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Inactive time 15 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 291 kcal
Author Salt & Lavender

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 medium onion chopped
  • 3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 (12 fluid ounces) can corn drained
  • 1 (19 fluid ounces) can black beans drained & rinsed
  • 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies 
  • 2 (13.5 fluid ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Toppings (optional, to taste):

  • Chopped avocado
  • Mexican shredded cheese blend
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Tortilla chips
  • Lime wedges
  • Greek yogurt or sour cream

Instructions

  1. Sauté the onion in your Instant Pot for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the other soup ingredients, except for salt & pepper, to your pressure cooker and give it a stir. 
  3. Cancel sauté and ensure the lid is on "sealing". Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. It'll take about 10-15 minutes for it to get up to pressure.
  4. Once the countdown has finished, carefully do a quick pressure release (soups can splatter a bit).  
  5. Take the chicken out and shred it with two forks. Add it back into the soup, dish it up, and top each bowl as desired.

Recipe Notes

  • I use this 6-quart Instant Pot.

Calorie information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. 

Nutrition Facts
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 /6 of recipe not including toppings)
Calories 291
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

You may also like my Instant Pot taco soup recipe or my easy chicken tortellini soup.

Try more of my tasty recipes:

Quick and Easy Turkey Noodle Soup
Instant Pot Turkey Chili
Crockpot Chipotle Chicken Soup

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Hi! That’s a good question. I’m concerned that increasing the cooking time to compensate for the frozen chicken might make the other ingredients turn to mush. I’m thinking another 4-5 minutes should do it based on other recipes I’ve looked at that use frozen chicken, but definitely use caution and if in doubt, use a meat thermometer to ensure the chicken is at least 165F in the middle before you go to shred it. Another idea is to thaw the chicken in the microwave prior to cooking it in the Instant Pot if you wish.

      Reply

  9. Hi! The ingredients sound great and Ive loved the things Ive made from your site so far BUT I dont have an insta-pot – is there anyway you would be able to translate the cook time into either slow cooker OR normal stove top duration?
    Thanks and no worries if you cant!

    Reply

    • Hi Rachel! I haven’t tested it, but it’s definitely possible to make it on the stove or slow cooker. As far as the Crockpot goes, I’d give it 6-8 hours on low (perhaps use chicken thighs instead if you’re worried about them drying out), and then take the chicken out to shred it, add it back in, etc. You could either add the onions in raw, or sauté them on the stove beforehand as an extra step. On the stove, you’d follow similar steps as I’ve outlined in the recipe, but I am not exactly sure how long the chicken would take to cook to make it easy to shred… you’d have to do a bit of experimenting. I want to say at least 25-30 minutes, but again, I haven’t tested it. Does this help?

      Reply

  10. Oh My Gosh, this was SO GOOD! I had to use boneless skinless thighs because that’s what I had, but other than that I was right with you. DELICIOUS!

    Reply

    • Thanks so much for letting me know, Russa!! So happy you liked the recipe. And chicken thighs are definitely a great option as well. They tend to be even more tender after cooking. 🙂

      Reply

  12. How full was your Instant Pot? Specifically, I have a 6 qt pot, and I’m trying to figure out if I could double the recipe safely or if I’d have to do it in 2 batches. Thanks 🙂

    Reply

    • I can’t exactly remember, but I am pretty sure it would go over the “safe” line if you doubled it, so I would try with 2 batches (at least at first). Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂

      Reply

    • You can definitely do that if you wish. I usually just take it out and portion it up right away, but there’s only 2 of us in the house. 🙂

      Reply

  14. Looks yummy and I can’t wait to make it! Queation- how long would you cook it for if you used canned shredded chicken instead?

    Reply

    • Thanks, Michelle!! I’d probably just do it on the stove, in that case. The pressure cooker is great for quickly cooking entire pieces of chicken, but it tends to turn already cooked things into mush and/or it’ll make chicken dry and rubbery.

      Reply

  15. I’m testing out my new Pampered Chef Quick Cooker and this recipe was amazing in it! I’ll be sharing your recipe link on my FB page so everyone I know can enjoy this very tasty meal! Thanks so much.

    Reply

  16. I have a question what kind of tomatoes do you use. Never heard of them. Can I use stewed tomatoes i did from my garden last summer?

    Reply

    • Hi Amanda! Sure, stewed tomatoes would work just fine. I just used canned diced tomatoes that happen to be fire-roasted (try the Muir Glen brand if you’re curious), but any diced or stewed tomato will be fine. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂

      Reply

  18. This recipe looks fantastic. I am an IP newbie so one question: if I use chicken thighs – do I need to alter the cook time?

    Thank you!
    KC

    Reply

    • Hi Shannon! I’d recommend cooking it on the stove if you’re using already cooked chicken, because it’ll way over cook it. If you really want to use the IP, maybe you could add the chicken in after the high pressure part is done and turn the valve so it’s ‘venting’ rather than sealing.

      Reply

    • Hi Brittney, I don’t usually worry too much about the actual weight of the chicken (I just pick up whatever’s at the grocery store and it all cooks up fine in the IP), but an average size chicken breast is about 6-8 ounces, so that would be just over a pound to a pound and a half of chicken. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

      Reply

  21. I just made this, it was very good!! I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. I used boneless thighs and they worked just fine with the cook time. It is really a wonderful recipe, thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  22. Oh my goodness, you had me at ‘minimal effort’ but I will keep making this for the wonderful flavor!! We loved this soup!! I toasted up some Italian bread to dip into this flavorful soup & it went fast!! I have a little bit left for some leftovers but not much!! LOL!! Thank you for sharing this!!!!

    Reply

  23. Are there tortillas in this recipe? I cook this in the slow cooker but am wondering how corn tortillas hold up under pressure. I’m new to IP cooking. Thanks.

    Reply

    • Hi Karen! Nope, there’s no tortillas in the actual soup. I just add them on for toppings. They would not hold up under pressure, so I just add the tortilla chips/strips on top for a little crunch after it’s done cooking.

      Reply

    • I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure, but I would leave everything the same. I imagine the veggies will end up quite soft based on other recipes I’ve made in the IP.

      Reply

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