Instant Pot 6-Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last updated on July 31st, 2019 at 11:07 am

This is a family favorite that turns out delicious every time!  We use our favorite kitchen tool, the Instant Pot, to make a tasty Chicken Tortilla Soup.  The Instant Pot really does give second-day soup flavor in only a few minutes! One of the things I love about this recipe is that there is something for each of my children to do to help prepare it. Watch the video to see how everyone pitches in. The recipe and instructions we used are down below.

Tools we used:

6 Qt Instant Pot

Cut Glove I make sure the kids are always wearing one of these when using the knife.

Wüsthof Santoku Knife

Pampered Chef Chopper (Amazon Prime) This is actually cheaper direct from Pampered Chef.

All-Clad Measuring Cups

Ingredients:

Instructions (for using cooked chicken:)

If using frozen or raw chicken, see pre-cooking instructions below.

1. Turn Instant Pot on <Sauté>.
2. Pour chicken broth, salsa, diced tomatoes w/green chiles, and black beans into pot to begin heating.
3. Stir in cumin and salt (if using).
4. Dice bell pepper, onion, and garlic while liquids are heating in the Instant Pot.
5. Add peppers, onions, and garlic to pot.
6. Stir in cooked, shredded chicken.
7. Drop pieces of corn tortilla into soup and stir well.
8. Set your Instant Pot to <Pressure Cook> or <Manual> mode for 6 minutes at High pressure. Natural release for 5 minutes, then quick release the rest. If you’re not yet sure how to do all of that, no worries. Read the next set of instructions.
9. Serve and enjoy! If desired, top with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, avocado, and tortilla chips.

Detailed Instructions for Newbies:

1. Close Instant Pot Lid.
2. Turn Valve to Sealing.
3. Press <Cancel> on Instant Pot to cancel the Sauté function that is heating soup.
4. Press <Pressure Cook> or <Manual>.
5. Press <+> or <-> to change time to 6 minutes.
6. Make sure Pressure is on High. (The default on the machine is High pressure.)
7. Pause and wait 10 seconds for Instant Pot to beep.
8. Now the pot will heat soup to a boil and begin to build up pressure—about 10 minutes, if it was fairly hot when the lid was closed.
9. When pressure is reached, the silver float valve on top of lid will pop up. In 1-2 minutes, the display on the front will show 6 minutes and then begin counting down.
10. When it has counted down to zero, it will beep. Display on front will begin counting up. Wait five minutes—5 min Natural Release.
11. Carefully turn valve to Venting, while keeping hands and face away from hot steam. Steam will begin pouring out the top, much like a steam locomotive.
12. When float valve drops, the lid can be opened. Soup is very hot.
13. Serve and enjoy! If desired, top with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, avocado, and tortilla chips.

*Alternate directions for using raw or frozen chicken:

To Pre-cook raw or frozen raw chicken: Place frozen or raw chicken in Instant Pot. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add at least 1 cup of liquid to the pot. Press <Pressure Cook> or <Manual>, set for 8-10 minutes at LOW pressure for chicken breasts or 10-15 min at HIGH pressure for chicken thighs. Natural release for 3 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Proceed with recipe as directed above.

Teach your Kids to Cook:

Young Children (Ages 2-5)

• Tear up corn tortillas and place them in pot.
• Help sort and rinse dried beans for pre-cooking. This is a great sensory activity for pre-schoolers!
• Carry cans of tomatoes from the pantry to the kitchen. This activity helps them learn ingredients and where they are stored in your home.
• Watch you open cans of tomatoes and beans. Talk about being safe with sharp edges.
• Carry onions and wash bell peppers.

Middle Kiddos (6-9)

• Chop garlic with a chopper.
• Watch you cut onions and learn knife safety skills. (Keep hands away from cutting board. Show and tell them how to hold the knife.)
• Core bell peppers after you slice in half.
• Dice bell pepper strips with a paring knife or steak knife.
• Put on a pot of beans with supervision.
• Put on a pot of bone broth with supervision.
• Pick chicken meat off a rotisserie chicken.
• Drain and rinse cooked beans.
• Pour in canned tomatoes, salsa, cooked beans, broth.
• Stir soup.

Older Children (10-12)

• Chop onions.
• Dice bell peppers.
• Measure spices.
• Put together entire recipe.
• Prepare and serve toppings.

Teens (13 and up)

• Plan meal including toppings.
• Make or add items grocery list.
• Use Instant Pot to make entire meal.
• Plan a theme night for Cinco de Mayo or Tex-Mex Fun night.

If you have any questions, ask us below, or on our Facebook page! We hope you enjoy making and eating this delicious soup with your family!

Instant Pot 6-Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup

Holly

This quick, easy, and YUMMY Tex-Mex soup will start a fiesta at your dinner table!

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Pressure Cooking Time 6 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Mexican, Tex-Mex

Servings 8

Calories 257 kcal

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 6 cups chicken broth low or no salt—if using regular, omit salt in recipe
• 1 1/4 cups salsa
• 2 10 ounce cans Ro-tel or other brand diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 3 cups black beans cooked, drained, and rinsed. One 14.5 oz can of black beans contains about 1 1/2 cups beans.
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt leave out if your chicken broth has salt
• 1 1/2 cups bell pepper, diced any assortment of colors. One large bell pepper measures about 1 cup diced.
• 1 cup onion, diced One medium onion equals about 1 cup diced onion.
• 5 cloves garlic, minced. Substitute 1/3 teaspoon garlic powder for each teaspoon fresh garlic.
• 2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken (1-2 frozen and/or raw chicken breasts or 3-4 frozen, raw chicken thighs could be substituted. See cooking directions below.)
• 4 corn tortillas torn in pieces

Instructions

 

• Turn Instant Pot ON to [Sauté].
• Pour chicken broth, salsa, diced tomatoes w/green chiles, and black beans into pot to begin heating.
• Stir in cumin and salt (if using).
• Dice bell pepper, onion, and garlic while liquids are heating in the Instant Pot.
• Add peppers, onions, and garlic to pot.
• Stir in cooked, shredded chicken.
• Drop pieces of corn tortilla into soup and stir well.
• Check lid to make sure sealing ring and valves are inserted properly. Close the lid.
• Turn Steam Release valve to [Sealing].
• Set Pressure Cooking Program to [Pressure Cook] or [Manual] or [Soup].
• Make sure your Instant Pot is on HIGH pressure by pressing the [Pressure] button until it cycles to HIGH pressure. The LUX model of Instant Pot only has High pressure, so you can skip this step.
• Set pressure cooking time to 6 minutes by pressing the [+] or [-] button.
• Pause for 10 seconds while you wait for the Instant Pot to start. Or Press [Start] if you have a model that has a Start button, such as Ultra or Max.
• Instant Pot will heat up, come up to pressure, and display countdown while pressure cooking.
• When pressure is reached, the silver float valve on top of lid will pop up. In 1-2 minutes, the display on the front will show 6 minutes and then begin counting down.
• When it has counted down to zero, it will beep. Display on front will begin counting up.
• Allow pot to Natural Release for at least 5 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure from the pot.
• Carefully turn valve to Venting, while keeping hands and face away from hot steam. Steam will begin pouring out the top, much like a steam locomotive.
• When float valve drops, the lid can be opened. Soup is very hot.
• Serve and enjoy! If desired, top with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, cilantro, avocado, and tortilla chips.

Notes

*Alternate directions for using raw or frozen chicken:

To Pre-cook raw or frozen raw chicken: Place frozen or raw chicken in Instant Pot. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Add at least 1 cup of liquid to the pot. Press or , set for 8-10 minutes at LOW pressure for chicken breasts or 10-15 min at HIGH pressure for chicken thighs. Natural release for 3 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Proceed with recipe as directed above.

Nutrition

Calories: 257kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 18gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 670mgPotassium: 710mgFiber: 8gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 346IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 3mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!