Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

This drool-worthy Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup is the ultimate 20-minute dinner recipe. Loaded with chicken, veggies, and flavorful spices, this cozy soup is comfort food at its finest. 

When I served tortilla soup at the Mexican restaurant where I worked so many years ago, I used to wonder why people ordered it. It didn’t look like much and if I were to pick one of the soups we served, it would have been albondigas soup.

Naturally, I didn’t think about this soup again for years. In fact, I forgot about it until I went to a Mexican restaurant recently and saw someone at the next table order it.

It looked much different than the soup I’d served back in the day. And since I thought it looked delicious, I decided to make it at home. And boy, I’m glad I did. It tastes incredible and has just the right combination of flavors to make it your new favorite soup.

You can make this gluten-free by not adding the tortilla strip chips or crumbled tortilla chips if you don’t want to buy the strips..

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Normally, I use boneless chicken thighs when I make tortilla soup but I had some ButcherBox chicken breasts in the freezer so I decided to use those. If you don’t know, ButcherBox is a meat delivery subscription service that I use and love.

Helpful tips

• You can use either chicken breast meat, as I do in this recipe, or boneless chicken thighs.
• I’ve also made this soup with shredded beef and beef broth.
• If and when I sauté vegetables for something I’m cooking in the instant pot, I never wait for the IP to read ‘HOT’ after I press the sauté button. (That takes about 10 minutes.) I wait only 2 minutes before adding oil and starting the vegetables.
• Once the IP beeps to indicate the soup is done, do a quick release after 5 min. Here’s how: don an oven mitt, carefully nudge the venting knob to the vent position, and let all the steam escape until the pressure indicator button drops.
• I like to sprinkle tortilla strip chips on the soup, but if you want to go gluten-free, try chopping some cilantro on as garnish. Or add a few slices of avocado on top.
• If you have any leftover soup, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

How to make tortilla soup

Pre-step

Get your instant pot or pressure cooker.

Step one

Gather the vegetables – onion, carrots and celery. (A)

Step two

Chop onion and carrots in chunks and celery in slices. (B)

Step three

Gather the rest of the ingredients – chicken breasts, black beans, broth, diced tomatoes and herbs and spices. (C)

Step four

Plug instant pot in and press the sauté button. After two minutes, add olive oil. Then add the onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 4 minutes until they are somewhat tender. Add garlic and continue sautéing for another minutes. Then press the cancel button. Scrape the bottom of the pot for any browned bits.

Step five

Add black beans, chicken breasts, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, canned green chiles, cumin, oregano, chipotle powder, and salt.

Step six

Place the lid on the IP and seal it. Make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position. Press the pressure cook button and make sure the mode is set to normal and pressure is high. Set the timer to 7 minutes.

Step seven

After the IP beeps, let it sit for 5 minutes before doing a quick release. (See helpful tips to learn how.) If you want to do a natural pressure release, it will add at least 15 minutes to the cook time.

Step eight

Remove chicken breasts from the soup, take two forks and shred the meat. (D)

Step nine

Transfer the soup to a serving bowl or pan and place the chicken back in the soup.

Ladle the soup in some soup bowls or crocks.

Sprinkle some crispy tortilla strips on the soup. Add any other toppings you want, like shredded cheese or sour cream.

I hope you enjoyed this instant pot chicken tortilla soup recipe.

It’s delicious and filling and would go perfect any day of the week.

Other popular soup recipes

• Black bean soup
• IP chicken soup
• Clam chowder
• IP posole

And as always, may all your dishes be delish.

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!