Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is the best ever Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. Made from scratch and in a fraction of the time! Loaded with chicken, vegetables and tasty Mexican flavor, it’s delicious and healthy. This soup will warm you to your bones.

a spoon on a table beside a bowl of chicken tortilla soup with an avocado in the background

If you haven’t yet made soup in the pressure cooker, you are truly missing out.

Long gone are the days spend simmering for hours, and this recipe will prove you can have homemade soup even when you have limited time in the kitchen.

If you need more Instant Pot soup recipes, try our Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and this Instant Pot Tomato Tortellini Soup.

The pressure cooker is a wonderful small appliance for making a tasty pot of soup, and this might just be one of the easiest recipes added to our growing pressure cooker recipes collection.

This is a delicious soup and quick Mexican meal that your whole family will devour. Perfect for busy weeknights, this comforting soup is ready and on the table by the time you have the toppings ready.

Filling enough to enjoy as a standalone meal, the blend of textures and flavours will leave you wanting a second bowl.

While this Easy Tortilla Soup in the Instant Pot recipe is ideal for fall and winter days, the warm flavors of mexican food are those that I crave year-long.

This is a hearty soup recipe that warms your soul, self care that is deserved no matter the time of year.

chicken tortilla soup in a bowl on a table with toppings

Why We Love Chicken Tortilla Soup

Aside from the taste and ultimate comforting feeling this easy chicken tortilla soup brings, there are also particular things that I love about making this soup. The total time to make from start to finish never exceeds beyond 25 minutes, even when I’m taking my time.

Another thing that I appreciate is that the chicken breasts are dropped in to cook, as a whole with no cutting or chopping required.

Whether you use boneless breasts or boneless chicken thighs – it’s a dump, cook then shred soup recipe. This saved prep time does add up! In fact the only chopping to do is the onion.

Also, having soup leftovers is a nice perk as well.

For midweek lunches to a main dish dinner the next day, hearty leftover soup is where it’s at.

No pressure cooker? NO PROBLEM! I also have a delicious Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that is divine.

It’s more of a thicker crushed tomato based soup than this instant pot version, totally different and worthy of checking out.


HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TORTILLA  SOUP

You’ll need the following simple ingredients to make this great recipe and ultimate comfort food. The full detailed instructions are below in the printable recipe card.

  • olive oil
  • small onion
  • poblano pepper
  • cloves garlic
  • chili powder
  • ground cumin
  • paprika
  • dried oregano
  • low sodium chicken broth
  • canned fire roasted tomatoes
  • canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • boneless skinless chicken breast
ingredients to make chicken tortilla soup in bowls on a table
  1. Heat the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Add the olive oil, diced onion, and diced poblano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent– about 4 minutes.
  2. Next add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and oregano. Stir and cook for an additional minute.
  3. Add the chicken stock, roasted tomatoes, black beans, and raw chicken breasts. Stir gently. 
  4. Attach the lid and ensure the valve is in the sealing position. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook- Manual for a cook time of 12 minutes. I do not use the standard instant pot soup setting as it’s a 30 minute high pressure function meant for meatless soups needing a slow simmer.
  5. Once the Instant Pot has finished cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. Then, turn the valve to the “venting position” to quick release any additional pressure.
  6. Remove the chicken pieces, and shred chicken (or slice it). Return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Serve this easy instant pot chicken tortilla soup warm, garnished with your choice of toppings.

TORTILLA SOUP TOPPINGS:

I love the options for garnishes for this mexican chicken tortilla soup, it is the ‘what to serve with chicken tortilla soup‘.

The base is only half the fun, I think the delicious array of toppings is one of my favourite parts about this soup.

Garnish Options:  avocado slices, fresh lime wedges to squeeze lime juice on top, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, crunchy tortilla strips (or tortilla chips), fresh jalapeño, enchilada sauce and hot sauce.

I like to serve with an assortment of everyones favorite toppings. Chances are, you’ll reach for quite a few.

a bowl of chicken tortilla soup with a lime wedge and tortilla strips on top

TIPS FOR MAKING INSTANT POT CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

  • To Shred The Chicken I just take out and use a fork and knife. It’s pretty simple. Yet if you prefer, you can put the cooked chicken into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment and it will shred quickly.
  • This is a Gluten Free Soup Recipe. You can also omit the meat to make it a vegetarian if you so choose.
  • To Cook this recipe in a Slow Cooker – place all ingredients except for the chicken in the crock pot. Stir and then add the chicken breasts. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Then shred the chicken and return to the slow cooker, stir and serve warm with your personal preferences in toppings.

TORTILLA SOUP VARIATIONS

  • You can add already cooked rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breasts! This soup is a great option to use up leftover chicken. Just add it in shredded at the end.
  • Olive oil helps the vegetables brown, yet feel free to use any neutral oil.
  • I use white onion but sweet onions or red onions would be just as delicious.
  • You can add corn kernels or sweet corn to this recipe too. Add them in with the beans.
  • Poblano peppers are like a spicier version of a green pepper, but feel free to use any kind of bell pepper you like. You can also leave it out entirely for a milder soup. To make this soup spicier, you could add green chilis, cayenne pepper or adobo sauce.
  • I am a huge fan of garlic and it adds a lot of flavor to this soup. Substitute 1 teaspoon of garlic powder if needed. 
  • I use a mix of chili powder, cumin, paprika, and oregano to give the soup a “tortilla” flavor. Feel free to use 1 tablespoon of your favorite taco seasoning if you’d prefer. 
  • Fire roasted tomatoes add a great smoky flavor to the soup. If you can’t find fire roasted, plain diced tomatoes or rotel tomatoes are also fine to use in this recipe.
  • Feel free to swap the black beans with pinto beans or great northern beans if you’d prefer. 
a bowl of chicken tortilla soup on a table with a half avocado in the background

STORAGE AND REHEATING TIPS

Like many soups, this Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup stores well, reheats well and also freezes wonderfully as a bonus.

To Store Leftovers: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Just make sure to place the tortilla strips in a ziplock bag at room temperature (separate from the soup), so they don’t get soggy.

To Reheat: Place leftovers in a pot on the stove over medium heat, or in the Instant Pot using the sauté setting, or in the microwave in a microwave-safe container. Leftover are perfect for busy weeknight dinners.

To Freeze: Let the pressure cooker chicken tortilla soup cool completely and then freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to freeze them in single portions rather than one big batch. Make sure to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.


More Great Soup Recipes

So simple, so easy and so incredibly tasty. We hope you enjoy this instant pot tortilla soup as much as we do, and the following day too.

You’ll appreciate those mid-week leftover meals, especially on busy nights.

Don’t forget to check out all our Instant Pot Recipes to get the most use out of your pressure cooker.

a bowl of chicken tortilla soup with a lime wedge and tortilla strips on top

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

This is the best ever Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. Made from scratch and in a fraction of the time! Loaded with chicken, vegetables and tasty Mexican flavor, it's delicious and healthy.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 poblano pepper, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 796ml canned fire roasted tomatoes
  • 540ml canned black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Instructions

  1. Heat the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Add the olive oil, diced onion, and diced poblano. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and translucent-- about 4 minutes. 
  2. Next add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, and oregano. Stir and cook for an additional minute.
  3. Add the chicken broth, roasted tomatoes, black beans, and chicken breasts. Stir gently. 
  4. Attach the lid and ensure the valve is in the sealing position. Set the Instant Pot to Pressure Cook- Manual for 12 minutes.
  5. Once the Instant Pot has finished cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. Then, turn the valve to the “venting position” to release any additional pressure.
  6. Remove the chicken and shred or slice it. Return it to the pot and stir to combine.
  7. Serve the soup, garnished with your choice of toppings.

Notes

  • Poblano peppers are like a spicier version of a green pepper-- but feel free to swap out any kind of bell pepper you like-- or leave it out entirely. 
  • See post for more tips, substitutions, storage and leftovers
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 284Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 494mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 9gSugar: 5gProtein: 33g

Did you make this recipe?

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chicken tortilla soup with text overlay

Created by Tammi Roy

Tammi Roy is the founder of My Organized Chaos, a Canadian food and lifestyle blog. She lives in Alberta, Canada and is the mom of three beautiful teenage girls. Tammi’s passions are her family, creating and sharing delicious recipes, travelling and photography. Learn more about Tammi.

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