Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup RecipeWhether you are a newbie to the Instant Pot scene, or an experienced pro, everyone needs a good chicken vegetable soup that they can whip up in a jiffy.
While this is technically a “recipe”, I want to start by encouraging you to experiment a bit.
Don’t have all of the vegetables mentioned?
Feel free to substitute with what you have.
Can’t find all of the fresh herbs at your grocery store? Swap a few or use dried herbs.
Do you want to learn How to Use an Instant Pot? All of the basics are covered in this post!
This chicken vegetable soup was made one night when I was recovering from a terrible stomach bug.
It was still within the first week of coming down with this dreaded 24-hour virus and my stomach was on the fritz.
While Instant Pot chicken noodle soup would have been delicious, I wanted to replace the egg noodles with a bunch of veggies!
The fix? A delightful chicken vegetable soup recipe full of nutrition! And it could be made in the Instant Pot without a lot of time and attention from me!
How to Make
Chicken vegetable soup is one of those recipes you cannot really mess up. You can make it in the Instant Pot, in a Crock-Pot, or on the stove top. For today’s purposes, we’re pulling out our Instant Pot to give you a little more time away from the kitchen:
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Sauté a bit of olive oil with diced onions and garlic.
- Add broth or stock and scrape the bottom of the pot.
- Layer up all of your vegetables (see below for vegetable details!) in the pot and then place your chicken breasts on top.
- Sprinkle in seasoning ingredients, salt and pepper.
- Cover Instant Pot with a lid, and set the pressure valve to sealed.
- Cook Instant Pot chicken vegetable soup for 10 minutes on high pressure and let sit for 5 minutes once done cooking.
- Shred chicken breasts in the pot using two forks. (You can also remove the chicken and shred it on a cutting board.)
- Add starch slurry and stir to combine.
- Serve in a cozy bowl with gluten-free crackers or bread and enjoy!!
Cook’s Tip: Step #2 is super important to make sure you do not get a burn error notice on your pressure cooker.
Ingredients
As mentioned previously, you can swap out many of these ingredients for those you happen to have in your pantry. But these are the ingredients that work extremely well in this healthy chicken soup recipe:
- Chicken breasts – In order to keep the timing the same, make sure you cut any other chicken parts into 4-ounce portions to ensure the best results!
- LOTS of vegetables (onions, celery, carrots, zucchini, squash, and red potatoes!)
- Dried herbs (rosemary, thyme, and tarragon)
- Feel free to swap these out for fresh herbs or a bit of basil or sage.
- Chicken broth, chicken stock, or bone broth.
Various Vegetables = Maximum Nutrition
One of the best parts about this chicken and vegetable soup is how LOADED with vegetables it is. Here are just a few of the health benefits you will receive when eating a bowl of this soup:
- Carrots – A great source of beta-carotene, fiber, vitamin K, and potassium.
- Zucchini and squash – These vegetables have almost no fat and are full of vitamins B6, C, K, riboflavin, and folate.
- Red potatoes – These potatoes also have no fat or cholesterol and have almost half of your recommended amount of Vitamin C.
Broth or Stock?
When making this chicken vegetable soup recipe it is completely up to you whether you use chicken broth, chicken stock, or bone broth. In any case, make sure you use a low sodium version so you can adjust the amount of salt to your preference.
If using chicken stock, you will most likely have a much richer and more gelatinous soup. However, if you are quick on time, a boxed chicken broth or bone broth will work equally as well with delicious results!
How to Thicken Up Soup
In order to keep this Instant Pot chicken soup extra healthy, it is gluten-free, dairy-free, and Whole30 compliant. But how do we thicken it up without adding a bunch of heavy cream?
A simple solution of warm almond milk (soy or cashew milk work great, too!) and a couple of tablespoons of starch (tapioca or corn starch work well!) get whisked together to form an incredible thickening agent. Simply add it to the soup when it is done cooking in your Instant Pot and voila! A super thick and creamy, comforting soup without the heavy cream.
Store It & Reheat It
This chicken and vegetable soup seriously gets better with time… if you have the patience for it. The flavors somehow meld together even more perfectly if refrigerated for about 24 hours. So if storing for later, or you just have too many leftovers:
- Store in refrigerator by letting the soup come to room temperature uncovered and then transfer it to the refrigerator in a glass or plastic container. Soup will keep well for 3-5 days.
- Store in the freezer after following the directions above and letting the soup refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Store soup in freezer safe plastic containers for up to 3-4 months.
Soup is the absolute BEST when reheated in a pot on the stove. However, if you’re in a hurry simply pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and it will be ready to enjoy!
More Recipes Like this:
Instant Pot Potato Corn Chowder | Vegan
30-Minute Easy Chicken Noodle Soup | Gluten-Free
Gluten Free Cream of Chicken Soup
Cream of Asparagus Soup | Vegan
Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
Chicken Vegetable Soup is an easy Instant Pot soup recipe that is full of healthy carrots, red potatoes, celery, zucchini, and squash.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 sweet onion finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 4 cups chicken broth regular sodium
- 4 stalks celery cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¾ lb. carrots cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 lb. red potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 zucchini cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 yellow squash cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 lb. chicken breasts cut into 4-oz. portions
- ½ tsp. thyme dried
- ½ tsp. rosemary dried
- ½ tsp. tarragon dried
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- ½ - 1 ½ tsp. salt to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ½ cup almond milk milk, or cashew milk, warm
- 3 Tbsp. tapioca starch or corn starch
Instructions
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Set Instant Pot to the sauté function and add olive oil, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.
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Add chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure there are no bits or pieces stuck.
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Add celery, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, and squash to the Instant Pot. Stir to combine. Add chicken breasts on top of the vegetables.
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In a small bowl whisk together the thyme, rosemary, tarragon, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add seasoning ingredients to the Instant Pot.
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Ensure the pressure release valve is sealed and set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 8 minutes. Let the contents sit for 10 minutes (10 minute NPR) before releasing the pressure valve. Shred the chicken breasts when the soup is done cooking.
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While soup is cooking, whisk together the warm milk and starch until smooth. Add starch slurry to soup and stir until well incorporated.
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Serve chicken vegetable soup with gluten-free crackers or bread and enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- You can also use 3 teaspoons total of FRESH herbs instead of dried.
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Olga says
First let me say that this recipe is great and so simple!!
Just a couple of issues that I encountered:
* The Instant Pot pressure cooking at 10 minutes pretty much made vegetables super mushy. I cooked chicken with onion, garlic, and spices first for 7 minutes then added veggies and cooked for another 3 minutes.
* To keep Whole 30 compliant, I swapped arrowroot for corn starch and omitted Almond Milk since I don’t like milk alternatives (of any kind) in my savory recipes.
I hope this is helpful for anyone who has/had similar issues.
Thank you for the reminder that Chicken Soup is especially comforting and doesn’t have to be difficult.
London Brazil says
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Olga! I’m glad you could make this recipe fit your needs. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
Nick says
I cannot cook anything. It’s been a running joke between my wife and I that every time I cook something it’s mutually agreed upon that it’s generally awful. Then we’ll spend the meal dissecting what exactly makes it taste wrong. That is until I tried this recipe. We both ate it and to our astonishment I actually cooked something that was . . . dare I say . . . good. All credit goes to you of course. I’m thankful but my wife is even more thankful.
London Brazil says
Woohoo! Way to go Nick! So happy the recipe turned out for you and that you enjoyed it. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Judy Grove says
Best chicken vegetable soup I have ever tasted in 76 years!!
London Brazil says
Wow!! What a compliment, Judy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating! 🙂
Ashley says
Looking forward to trying this! Any adjustments for using frozen chicken breast?
London Brazil says
I wouldn’t recommend using frozen since they’re going to take a good bit longer to cook and the vegetables will end up coming out mushy. If you must, you can cook the frozen breasts for 5 minutes, then add in all of the additional vegetables, and cook according to the recipe. Would love to hear how it works out for you!
Carly says
I love this recipe but I substitute fresh oregano for tarragon, as I don’t like the licorice flavor tarragon has. I use fresh herbs only and it’s delicious every time!
London Brazil says
That’s a great substitution, Carly! Happy to hear you enjoy the dish – Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating! 🙂
marilee leonard says
We made this soup this week just prior to Thanksgiving. It is THE BEST soup recipe on the internet!
The flavor was to die for, it is simple, and it was filling.
London says
Yay, Marilee! So happy you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
Brenda says
So quick, easy, and delish!! Sure to be a fall favorite at my house. Heats super well! I used coconut milk to thicken and yumm!!!!!
London says
What a great idea to use coconut milk! Will definitely need to try that out next time I make it. Thanks so much for your comment, Brenda!
Becky Payne says
I happened to have all of the ingredients to make this. It turned out great and everyone really enjoyed it.
London says
Yay, Becky!! It’s one of our go-tos, too! So happy to hear everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for your comment and rating 🙂
Kim Boyd says
I forgot to do the last step with the slurry and it was still delicious. 🙂
London says
Yay, Kim! So happy to hear it still turned out great. Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
jennifer says
Hi again, another question, how long would I cook the chicken if it was placed frozen in the IP with the vegetables per your direction?
London says
Hi Jennifer! Great question. I would advise not to put the chicken in there frozen. The chicken will take quite a bit longer to cook and the vegetables will get overcooked and turn out mushy. You could always add the chicken to the IP with 1 cup of broth, cook for 5 minutes with a quick pressure release and then follow the directions as outlined in the recipe! Would love ot know how it turns out for you!
jennifer says
thanks. I will try that.