Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup with juicy chicken, hearty vegetables and tender rice cooked in flavorful chicken broth. Ready in under 40 minutes, kids love it and it’s filling!
We love chicken and rice around here, whether it’s Instant Pot chicken wild rice soup or Instant Pot chicken and rice.
This Instant Pot chicken and rice soup is a recipe for you if you love homemade soups that are light yet hearty, full of flavour, and will warm you up on a cold day.
There is nothing that brings more comfort than a bowl of homemade chicken soup when you’re not well. Like this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup or chicken wild rice soup.
Not only will this delicious soup make you feel better, but it may actually help keep the sniffles away!
With nourishing ingredients such as oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder as well as the turmeric powerhouse, this immune-boosting soup is all you need to keep your spirits up all season.
Chicken and rice soup in an Instant Pot is great for busy weeknights. Make ahead and heat it up the next day. Save the leftovers for lunch or freeze for later.
Ingredients You Will Need
To make Instant Pot chicken and rice soup, you will need just a handful of simple ingredients. Many of them are spices and fridge staples.
- Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs are great.
- Brown rice: Uncooked brown rice. I recommend not to use other types of rice like white rice or instant rice because it will become completely overcooked. Wild rice blend may work though.
- Fresh veggies: Finely chopped onion, diced celery, sliced carrots.
- Seasonings: Dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, salt, pepper, bay leaf. You can also use Italian herb blend, if you wish.
- Chicken broth: I used bouillon cubes diluted in water, or you can use low sodium store-bought chicken broth, homemade chicken broth or Instant Pot chicken broth.
- Fresh herbs: Finely chopped fresh dill or fresh parsley.
- Butter: You can use either butter or olive oil.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
Here is a quick recap how to make Instant Pot chicken rice soup in 4 simple steps. There is a full recipe card below.
- Prep: Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, dice the celery, and slice the carrots. Don’t want to dirty extra cutting board? Cut up the chicken with kitchen shears right above the pot. You can rinse rice or skip it for more creamy soup. As the soup cooks and rice releases its starches, it makes soup creamy without the heavy cream.
- Combine all ingredients: To the bottom of Instant Pot, add in all the ingredients with the exception of parsley and butter. If you are wondering whether or not to saute veggies and chicken first for added flavour, save yourself the time. I tried it and saw no difference in flavour.
- Cook the soup: Close the lid, set the vent to Sealing position, and press Pressure Cook on high pressure or Manual button for 7 minutes.
- Release the pressure: Release the pressure with natural release for the first 15 minutes to avoid liquid splatter. Then move the steam release valve to Venting position to release remaining pressure. Discard the bay leaves, add butter and fresh parsley. Stir your Instant Pot chicken and rice soup and serve.
Tips for Best Results
- Whole chicken breasts: If you prefer not to cut raw chicken, add chicken breasts whole and shred after cooking. I always make Instant Pot BBQ chicken and Instant Pot teriyaki chicken with shredded chicken.
- Frozen chicken breasts: You can add frozen chicken, just make sure the breasts are separated. Also be sure to reduce cook time to 5 minutes because your electric pressure cooker will take longer to come to pressure and you do not want your rice overcooked.
- Added convenience: Use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. Try and use one that doesn’t have a lot of extra seasonings already on it. You can also add leftover turkey breast.
- Do not use white rice: No one wants mushy rice in their soup. White rice quickly becomes overcooked in this Instant Pot chicken and rice soup recipe. If you have Instant Pot brown rice leftovers, add that in after cooking as well.
Serving Suggestion
I like to serve a bowl of this Instant Pot chicken soup while it’s still piping hot. With a lot of extra fresh parsley or dill in each individual bowl and a slice of crusty bread.
Adding a bit of butter or oil at the end brings all the flavours of comforting soup together nicely. You can also add a bit of fresh lemon juice and grated Parmesan cheese in each bowl of soup.
Serve with a simple salad like lettuce salad.
How to Store and Reheat the Soup
Store: Pressure cooker chicken and rice soup will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Freeze for up to 3 months in airtight containers, making sure to leave some room for expansion.
Reheat: Reheat desired amount of soup in a covered pot on the stove top. Simmer on low heat until warmed through. If reheating from frozen, thaw in the fridge overnight first.
FAQs
Yes. To make soup ahead, cut up and prep all ingredients and place in the fridge for up to 24 hours the day before making this soup. To make ahead 2-3 days prior, prep all ingredients in the fridge with the exception of the chicken. Add chicken and broth just before making the soup.
White rice does. Brown rice holds its shape better.
Rinse rice if you want less creamy soup. Skip rinsing if you want more starchy and creamy Instant Pot chicken and rice soup results.
I don’t recommend it. But if you would like to try, cook soup with white rice for 3 minutes on high pressure.
More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot Thai chicken soup
- Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup
- Frozen chicken in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot white chicken lasagna soup
Browse all Instant Pot healthy recipes
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3 large carrots sliced
- 4 large chicken breasts cubed (1.5 lbs)
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice rinsed & drained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
- 10 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1/4 cup fresh dill or parsley finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
Instructions
- To 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot, add onion, celery, carrots, chicken, rice, oregano, onion and garlic powders, turmeric, salt, pepper, bay leaves and chicken broth.
- Close the lid, set vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High pressure or Manual for 7 minutes.
- After let pressure come down on its own for 15 minutes to avoid starchy liquid splatters. Then move valve to Venting to release remaining pressure. Open the lid, discard bay leaves, add parsley, butter and stir.
- Serve hot with a whole grain or rye toast.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days
- Freeze: Up to 3 months (leave some room for expansion).
- Make ahead: You can refrigerate all ingredients without broth in an airtight container for up to 24 hours and then cook as per recipe. Without chicken for up to 2-3 days and then add chicken from the package and broth before cooking.
- Chicken: You can use frozen chicken breasts, just make sure they are separated and reduce cook time to 5 minutes. For added convenience, use pre-cooked rotisserie chicken! Try and use one that doesn’t have a lot of extra seasoning already on it.
- Use brown rice: I recommend not to use white rice or instant brown rice because it will become completely overcooked and mushy.
How is it that the brown rice in the soup is going to cook in 7 minutes? When your Instant Pot Brown rice recipe is 20 minutes.
Because soup has liquids and other ingredients therefore it takes 20-30 minutes to build up pressure during which brown rice will be cooking. Unlike just the brown rice recipe.
I just made this to have for lunches this week at work. I tried a small bowl and all I can say is YUM!
I didn’t use the turmeric, as I don’t have any and probably wouldn’t use it again. I added a tad of dill along with the parsley. I also used a blend of rices I found at the grocery store, had white, brown, red, and wild rice.
I will add this to my stable of regular favorites! Thank you for sharing it!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This chicken and rice soup was SO delicious! I love how you used turmeric, too. I believe that added a nice flavor to an already delicious soup. I did chuckle, though, when you listed a prep time of 10 minutes. I must be a very slow chopper! My husband isn’t a chicken guy, but he also liked the soup. I didn’t have any fresh herbs, but I did add the butter. I look forward to trying more of your recipes, Olena!
Thanks Nancy! So glad you enjoyed the soup and the husband, too!
Oh my goodness, I tried it tonight. Absolutely delicious. The cooked rice ‘smushed’ and kinda melted so the soup was super creamy. Definitely making again, thank you for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I was so excited to find this recipe on your website! After using your “Whole Chicken from Frozen” recipe and then making the “Chicken Bone Stock,” I couldn’t WAIT to make this soup with my liquid gold. It came out great! I did have to add some more spices, but I usually do that to everything I make. Thanks so much!
Awesome for making it your own and so excited that you have found all 3 recipes helpful!
Absolutely fantastic. I added some fresh mushrooms that were hiding in the back of the fridge. Second day, reheated was even better. Yummy.
So glad to hear this! And fantastic to use up those hidden produce items 🙂
To confirm, this calls for 4 lbs of chicken? I see other recipes that call for 1 pound and yet they cook for 18 min (10 if white rice). Any idea why such a vast difference in cooking time between an 18-min recipe and this 7 minute recipe? I’m looking forward to making it for a neighbor ill with the flu. It looks delicious!
Hi I am not sure on other recipes, but this recipe only calls for 1 1/2 lbs of chicken cubed, it will cook quicker cubed, as well as recommend natural release for 15 minutes, where IP continues to cook. Enjoy!
Currently attempting to make this.. Can’t wait..
You can do it!:)
So if I’m using chicken stock, I use 10 cups???
Yes.
I want to use chicken thighs for the soup. Does that work?
Absolutely!