Yep! Learn how to make Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup. This is the best Mexican soup recipe in the land....creamy, cheesy, and delicious. You'll find this recipe covers all the bases and makes a quick and easy meal.
Prep Time: 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 5 minutesminutes
Total Time: 35 minutesminutes
Servings: 6servings
Calories: 319kcal
Ingredients
2large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded may substitute 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked and shredded
1-2tsp.chili powderas desired
1tsp.cumin
1-2Tbs.olive oil
1small yellow oniondiced
1red sweet bell pepperseeds and membranes removed, diced
3clovesgarliccrushed, may substitute 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic, if preferred
3Tbs.tomato paste
10oz.can diced tomatoes and green chilieswith juices
4cupschicken broth
3cupswater
15oz.black beansrinsed and drained
3Tbs.corn meal
6corn tortillascut into strips about 1-inch, may substitute tortilla chips, if desired
your favorite Mexican-inspired toppingssuch as sour cream, diced avocado, salsa or pico de gallo, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro
Instructions
Using the sauté setting on the Instant Pot, heat the oil, cooking the onions, garlic, and bell peppers with the spices and the tomato paste for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cooked shredded chicken along with the diced tomatoes and green chilies, broth, water, and black beans to the Instant Pot; bring the soup to a full boil, then turn off the sauté setting. (Bringing the soup to a full boil before you pressurize makes the Instant Pot come up to pressure a lot more quickly!) Now, immediately lock the Instant Pot lid into place, choosing the high pressure setting for 5 minutes, bringing the Instant Pot to full pressure. When the timer sounds, perform a quick release to remove all the pressure from the Instant Pot.
In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal with a small amount of water, then stir it into the soup, along with the tortilla strips. To serve, top with your favorite Mexican-inspired ingredients, as desired.
Notes
This version of Chicken Tortilla Soup isn’t spicy as long as you use mild tomatoes and green chilies and mild chili powder. However, if you’d prefer to spice this soup up a bit, you could add some smoky chipotle sauce, diced jalapenos, or use a nice hot chili powder.
You can absolutely make this soup in a pot on your stove. You will make it in the same exact manner, except it will need to simmer for 45-50 minutes on the stove.
You can use any type of cooked chicken in this recipe. I actually prefer to cook up a big batch of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs so I can use the meat throughout the week for speedy meals. I think the dark meat from the thighs is more meaty and moist than meat from cooked chicken breasts.
I love to use the meat from a rotisserie chicken for making this soup – it works great and makes dinner go even faster!
Adding the spices to the heat first does what’s called “blooming”. The heat intensifies the flavors of the spices because it forces them to release their essence.
After you make this soup in your Instant Pot, it will automatically switch to the “keep warm” setting until you’re ready to eat. Or, if you’d like to warm the soup up at a later time, you can use the sauté setting to reheat the soup.