Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

A bowl of creamy chicken tortilla soup, resting on blue napkins.

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Save time and prep work with this easy Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup. A flavor-packed soup that will taste like it's been simmering all day long.

Course Instant Pot Recipes

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 12

Additional Time 15

Total Time 52

Servings Servings

Calories 315

Author Dorothy Bigelow

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or oil
1 medium onion diced
5 cloves garlic minced
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 10oz cans Rotel green chilies and tomatoes
1 4oz can diced green chilies
1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup crushed tortilla chips
3 large chicken breasts about 1 ½ pounds
2 limes 1 juiced and 1 for serving
1 ½ cups frozen corn
1 8oz brick cream cheese, cubed

Toppings (optional)

Chopped cilantro
Crushed tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Cotija cheese
Diced avocado

Instructions

Select the “sauté” function of your Instant Pot and set the timer for 30 minutes.
Once the inner pot is hot, add the butter or oil, and use a wooden spoon to swirl it around to evenly coat the bottom of the pan.
Add in the onions, and sauté until translucent and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic!
Pour in the chicken broth and stir well to combine. Use the bottom of your wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Hit the “cancel” button of the Instant Pot to turn off the sauté mode.
Add in the Rotel, diced green chilies, black beans, chili powder, ground cumin, paprika, black pepper, crushed tortilla chips, and the juice of 1 lime. Stir well to combine.
Use a pair of tongs to add the chicken breasts to the Instant Pot.
Place the lid on the Instant Pot and cook for 12 minutes on manual pressure.
The Instant Pot will beep to indicate it has come to pressure, it will cook for 12 minutes, and then it will beep to indicate it is done and switch onto the “warm” mode. Do a natural pressure release for 5 minutes, before switching the valve to “venting” to do a manual pressure release.
When the pin has dropped, indicating it is safe to open the Instant Pot, carefully remove the lid of the Instant Pot.
Remove the chicken breasts and set aside on a plate.
Add the corn kernels and cubed cream cheese. Stir well. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and let the soup sit for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, use two forks to shred the chicken breast.
Once you have waited 5 minutes, return to the Instant Pot and stir the mixture well, using a fork or the back of a spoon to break up any soft chunks of cream cheese. If your cream cheese hasn’t melted well, bring the soup to a simmer using the sauté function. Stir often to help the cream cheese melt into the soup.
Add the chicken breast back to the soup and stir.
Serve immediately with lime wedges, and your favorite toppings.

Video

Notes

Gluten free: If you'd like to make this recipe gluten free, substitute the crushed tortilla chips for crushed gluten free corn tortilla chips. Verify all packaged ingredients (like broth, cream cheese, etc) are gluten-free.

Dairy free: Substitute the cream cheese for 1 cup of coconut milk with 2 tablespoons of flour whisked in. Bring the soup to a simmer on sauté mode and cook until thickened, about 5-10 minutes. Use oil in place of butter to sauté the onions. Verify that the tortilla chips are dairy free (some brands are, some are not).

Cream cheese: In place of cream cheese, whisk together 1 cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour. Add this to the soup and whisk to combine. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.

Rotel Substitute:

I have a post, detailing how to make a Rotel substitute. This is handy if you need Rotel for a recipe, but there is none available in your area. For this recipe, you need the equivalent of 3 cans, which is a little less than double my original recipe.

2 (15oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (4oz) can diced green chilies, undrained
4 tsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro (optional)

Weigh out and use just 30oz of the mixture above. You can easily freeze any leftovers if needed.

Nutrition