Aromatic Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup is everything you love about Mexican food in a
one pot meal ready in 30 minutes. Delicious and healthy, it’s loaded with juicy chicken, tender veggies and crispy tortillas!
Love Instant Pot like us? Try Instant Pot white chicken chili or Instant Pot taco soup.
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Making a big pot of one of my Instant Pot soup recipes like this Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup comes in handy when I’m feeding my hungry husband and 2 hockey playing boys.
If you don’t have the Instant Pot, you can make this healthy chicken tortilla soup on the stovetop or in a crockpot instead. As the flavors settle overnight in the fridge, enjoy it even more the next day for a quick lunch or easy dinner!
Love soup? You might also like my Instant Pot Thai chicken soup or similar creamy chicken enchilada soup.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Major flavor: This soup has boldly spiced broth mixed with tender chicken, chunky beans and corn, crispy tortilla strips, and creamy avocado.
- On your table in 30 minutes: Which makes it a perfect weeknight dinner or a weekend soup to ward off the chills!
- Easy to make: Other than a bit of sauteing, you just dump majority of chicken tortilla soup ingredients in Instant Pot and walk away. You can even shred chicken right inside the pot! Also a one pot meal makes for easy cleanup.
- Leftovers and freezer friendly: It’s one of those soup recipes when the flavor gets better as the soup sits. Freezing it means you can have it again in a few weeks!
Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or any part of chicken works. Either way, the recipe stays the same!
- Black beans: I use Instant Pot black beans that have been batch cooked or sometimes I cook dried beans on the stove. You can also use Instant Pot kidney beans or pinto beans. Canned beans work as well, just be sure to buy low sodium or no salt added beans.
- Corn: I use frozen corn and no need to thaw it. Canned corn that has been drained works too.
- Tomato sauce: You can also use passata or crushed tomatoes. It is the same tomato sauce with a different name based on your location. Or pulse diced tomatoes in a blender.
- Chicken broth: Here is how to make chicken broth or Instant Pot chicken broth recipe. If you don’t have broth on hand, just use water and add more spices to taste. I have done this many times.
- Chipotle in adobo sauce: Look for it in small cans in the International food section. Replace with smoked paprika or extra chili powder to taste.
- Cumin and chili powder: A traditional combination of spices in Mexican cuisine.
- Tortillas: I recommend using corn tortillas rather than flour tortillas for the best texture. You can also use corn tortilla chips to thicken the soup and for serving.
How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup in Instant Pot
- Saute the garlic and combine ingredients: Saute garlic in oil right in the Instant Pot. Add half of the tortilla strips, chicken, corn, black beans, chipotle in adobo, cumin, chili powder, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Don’t stir.
- Cook the soup: On the Instant Pot Duo, press Pressure Cook and select High pressure, and on Instant Pot Lux press Manual button for 20 minutes.
- Saute the other half of tortilla strips: I find the pan on the stovetop yields crispier tortilla strips that don’t break. This is for garnish. You can add a bit of crushed garlic as well.
- Shred the chicken: After soup is done cooking, do the Quick release (after 5 minutes) or Natural release to release remaining pressure. Open the lid and shred chicken with 2 forks right in the pot. Stir to combine and we are ready to top off the soup with our favorite garnishes.
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t stir soup before cooking: It’s better not to stir because sugars in tomatoes may start caramelizing at the bottom and cause the “Burn” message. If you stirred by accident, let it be and hopefully your pressure cooker will come to pressure.
- If you want to do a quick release: I recommend waiting 5 minutes before doing so to avoid very aggressive steam and possible splatters. Also using a steam diverter helps a lot!
- For 3 quart Instant Pot: Half the ingredients but keep the same pressure cooking time.
- To use frozen chicken: You can use any frozen chicken pieces, just make sure they are separated. Cooking time will be the same but your Instant Pot will take a few extra minutes to come to pressure.
- Toss in a few more veggies such as diced carrots and celery.
Toppings Ideas
- Tortilla strips: Fry the other half in a separate ceramic non-stick skillet while your Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup is cooking. Crispy tortilla strips add such a fun contrasting texture!
- Or simply use tortilla chips: Scooping up some soup on a crunchy chip is also a bonus!
- Lime: A squirt or drizzle of lime adds a vibrant citrus finish that is amazing.
- Cilantro: Or parsley, or green onions.
- Red onion: Sweeter than white onion, and very popular in Mexican-inspired cuisine. It’s not too pungent but adds great taste and a slightly crispy component.
- Avocado: Sliced or diced avocado on top adds a creaminess without adding any dairy.
- Sour cream, Greek yogurt, and freshly shredded cheese: If you’re not concerned about keeping it dairy-free, add some of this good stuff.
Serving Ideas
- Soup and salad: Mexican street corn salad or mango black bean salad would pair nicely with the flavors in this soup.
- Soup and quesadilla: Either veggie quesadillas or chicken quesadillas would be great!
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container or right in the pot with a lid for up to 5 days.
Freeze: This chicken tortilla soup is freezer-friendly because there are no tender vegetables. Freeze cooked and cooled down soup leftovers in an airtight container or resealable silicone bags leaving room for expansion for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 6 hours.
Reheat: Reheat the amount of soup you will consume at that time by simmering on low heat in a pot. Shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes. For quick thawing, place frozen soup into a pot and simmer on low, covered, and stir occasionally.
FAQs
If you have 8 quart Instant Pot, you can double all ingredients but keep the same cook time. 6 quart pressure cooker is too small for the doubled recipe.
Yes. Cook garlic and tortillas in a skillet. Then add half of tortillas to a large slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
Yes. Omit the chicken and add chickpeas or double the amount of beans used. Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth too.
Yes, you can add about 3 cups of shredded chicken and pressure cook for 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes. Leftover cooked chicken like Instant Pot whole chicken and Instant Pot frozen chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken are great.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot chicken rice soup
- Instant Pot chicken noodle soup
- Instant Pot chicken wild rice soup
- Instant Pot Thai chicken soup
- Instant Pot white chicken lasagna soup
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 small corn tortillas cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil divided
- 4 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs
- 15 ounces can low sodium black beans rinsed & drained
- 1 1/2 cups corn fresh or frozen
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 15 ounces cans tomato sauce low sodium
- 2 tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Avocado, red onion, cilantro and lime for garnish
Instructions
- On Instant Pot, press Saute and wait until display says Hot. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and garlic; saute for about 1 minute. Press Cancel.
- Add half of tortilla strips, chicken, black beans, corn, broth, tomato sauce, chipotle in adobo, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.
- Close the lid, turn pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 20 minutes.
- While soup is cooking, preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and swirl remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to coat. Add tortilla strips and cook for 5-7 minutes or until crispy, stirring occasionally. Or skip this step and use tortilla chips.
- After Instant Pot has finished cooking, release pressure immediately or let it subside on its own. Open the lid and shred chicken with 2 forks right in the pot. Stir to combine.
- Serve soup hot with tortilla strips and garnishes.
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container or right in the pot for up to 5 days. Reheat amount you will consume at that time by simmering on low heat in a pot for 5-7 minutes.
- Freeze: Freeze in a glass container or resealable silicone bags leaving room for expansion for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 6 hours.
- Instant Pot size: 3 quart Instant Pot half the ingredients but keep same cooking time. In 8 quart Instant Pot you can double the recipe, keep same cook time.
- Sauteing tortilla strips: I tried to saute them for more flavor in my 8 quart Instant Pot and they stuck badly – I would worry about Burn. But my 6 quart, sautes better. So, if you can – saute them all in there, if not – saute garnish part on a skillet.
- You can use frozen chicken: Cooking time will not change. Your Instant Pot will take a few minutes longer to come to pressure. If using a couple of chicken breasts, make sure they are separated.
Made this tonight for the first time in my IP and it turned out perfect! I will definitely be making it again! Just in case this helps someone making this recipe I had 3 tomatoes that I needed to do something with so I minced them up and put them in the soup and omitted 1 can of tomatoes and I added red pepper flakes to make it a little more spicy for us.
I always do that – use up leftover tomatoes. Awesome to hear and you are so welcome, Shelly.
I tell you what THIS IS The Best! Tortilla soup EVER! I am sharing this link with everyone I know cause it’s soup time! it was such a snap! I’m just addicted to my instapot too and ifoodreal.com is one of the best sites for go to recipes ever!
Thanks, Mary!
Side note: Instead of the tortillas, grab a few tortilla chips right from the bag (choose a great brand, COSTCO has some good ones), crush a few slightly in your hand and sprinkle on top of your soup – easy, crunchy, fresh, delicious – and no cleanup!
I agree on Costco chips. Frying tortilla strips is a bit extra work. We do chips all the time.
It was dEE-licious! I added a scoop of home made Mexican rice to each individual bowl before ladling in the soup – extra YUM! Thx❣️
That sounds fantastic!!!
Most delicious!!! and so easy! Thank you!!!
You are so welcome, Kathy!
Can you suggest any substitution for the chipotle in adobo sauce? I have dried chipotle chili flakes. I have all the ingredients at home to make this tonight except for the chipotle in adobo sauce, but I’ll make a run to the store if need be 🙂
Hi Sabrina. No, don’t go to the store. Chipotle in adobo is a bit smoky and spicy. So add chili flakes to taste and maybe if you have a bit of BBQ sauce or liquid smoke or smoked paprika. Or nothing.:)
I used 1 tsp smoked paprika and 1 tsp chipotle chili pepper (powder). I wasn’t sure how much of each to use but it worked out.
This has to be one of my favorite soups. So much flavor and depth without having to make ANY modifications to the recipe. This one is definitely a keeper.
Glad to hear, Nipa!!!
The flavor of the soup was great! I even used frozen chicken and it cooked just the same. My only BIG problem was with the tortillas in the soup. They were still there and a really slimy consistency! I’m thinking I should not have used the wheat tortillas that I had and gone with corn instead. Not totally sure that was the issue but just a warning!
I have added that to FAQs. Good question! You have to use corn tortillas or no tortillas at all. Wheat tortillas will get soggy. Not to mention they do not add flavor like corn tortillas do. If you have no corn tortillas, skip all together.:)
Just tried this in my insta-pot I got for Christmas. So glad I did it was so good and easy to make! Tastes like something I’d expect a restaurant to come up with! Definitely going to make it again and check out more of your recipes.
You are welcome, Jenna! So happy more and more people are tapping into amazing lazy but healthy cooking world of Instant Pot.
Excellent site, lot’s of new ideas, thank you for sharing.