Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
The BEST soup made SO EASILY right in your pressure cooker with the crispiest tortilla strips! So good + so comforting!
Chunky sweaters. Homemade tortilla soup. Crispy tortilla strips.
Ugh. Life is good. Too good.
That, and, well, we’re headed to Las Vegas to see Backstreet Boys!
Backstreet’s back, alright!
This was my favorite childhood band ever, and growing up as a very sheltered child, I never went to a single concert of theirs. So don’t mind me while I scream out my lungs at Planet Hollywood tonight.
Until then, I hope you guys find the chunkiest sweater for this soup. It’s so perfect – it’s made in the Instant Pot (which basically means this is the easiest recipe ever), and the chicken is so amazingly tender, it just melts in your mouth.
So grab a spoon and all the crispy tortilla strips you can find.
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 6 6-inch corn tortillas, sliced in half and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 4 cups chicken stock
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine tortillas and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place tortillas in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into oven bake until golden brown and crisp, about 10-15 minutes; set aside and let cool completely.
- Set 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, onion and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin and oregano until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in tomatoes, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in chicken and chicken stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 10 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove chicken from the Instant Pot® and shred, using two forks.
- Stir in chicken and cilantro until heated through, about 1 minute.
- Serve immediately, topped with tortilla strips and avocado.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Should the chicken stock be unsalted and then salt added to taste?
I made this tonight and it was so easy and so delicious! I love your recipes
Delicious soup, perfect for a cold night. Quick and easy as promised, too.
This is such a great and easy recipe! But so delicious and full of flavor. I’m going to make it with beef today! It’s my favorite to cook.
Love this recipe. I made it in the crockpot, but started with skillet saute of initial veggies adn spices, to follow your IP instructions as best I could. Cooked on high for 4 hours. I added roughly chopped squash and zuchinni, along with a can of rinsed black beans, after 3 hours, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. It was terrific and will definitely make again (and again)! Thank you!
LOVE THIS! I made it a few weeks ago and added black beans and corn… the family went crazy. I am going to make it again tonight, but I only have frozen chicken breasts I have not thawed out. Do you think I can put then in the instant pot frozen? If so, how long should I cook them for? Thanks so much for ALL of your amazing recipes! We make so many and they have become staples in our home.
I don’t even like chicken, but enjoyed this dish. I topped with sour cream, a little cheese, and store bought chips as I don’t have an oven in my tiny apartment. Damn delicious.
Amazing! Added a can of corn while I was shredding the chicken, as someone recommended here. While eating we squeezed some lime in our bowls, which is why I’m here commenting: the lime made it even more delicious, I definitely recommend it.
Love this recipe and have had many compliments on it. For a touch of variety, I add 1 cup of frozen corn kernels at the end of cooking, while I’m shredding the chicken. Gives it an even more complex flavor.
I love a lot of recipes from this website but I love this one the most!! No joke, I make it at least once a week.
I can never find poblanos in store near me (thanks, germany) so I use jalapeños instead. I also have family members with texture issues so I will blend soup together (chicken removed) after it’s done cooking. I serve it over rice with avocado, green onion, cilantro, Mexican cheese, and lemon juice. SO GOOD. <3
Oooh, blending it is smart! I have an issue with texture too, never thought about blending it. Thanks for the idea!
This was sooo good! I just got an instant pot and chicken tortilla soup from Cantina Loredo is my favorite! I did something a bit different and after I took out the chicken and shredded it, I then blended the soup so it didn’t have chunks of veggies in it! It came out AMAZING!
This was delicious! Texture is everything to me so I decided to use the immersion blender before adding the shredded chicken, which created a velvety, rich base. Topped it with the tortilla strips, avocado, cilantro, a bit of queso, crema and some green onion. So good! It was a bit with the family too.
Great additional toppings, Annie!
Sooo delicious and easy! I randomly chose this recipe to make since I’m on a “soft foods” diet and it did not disappoint! The flavors are incredible and took maybe 25 minutes to prep and cook.
Right? It’s so quick and flavorful! Glad you liked it, Kayleigh!
Easy and super yummy! I substituted a can of red enchilada sauce for the tomato paste and it made a nice rich broth
What a great idea, Jess!
I am a big IP fan. But when I planned to make this for my church group, I accidentally left my pot at home so I made it on the stovetop. I think the meat was a little tougher than being pressure cooked, but it was fine. Everyone loved it. I added two cans of black beans and a big bag of frozen corn. I couldn’t find the pablano at two stores so I used diced jalapeño.
Way to improvise, Mary! 🙂
Very very good. We will fight over the leftovers of this one!!
Love that!
Made a double batch of this soup for our Sunday gathering and it was great. My best friend’s husband told her later that it was better than hers. Eeek! Not a very smart man, but this is a very good recipe and with the Instant Pot, it is so quick and easy. Especially since I had to make 2 separate batches because the IP can’t cook that much at one time. For the first batch, I used 2 Rotel tomatoes according to the recipe and it was pretty spicy so for the second one I used 2 diced tomatoes instead so it wouldn’t be too spicy for a general crowd and combined both soups together. Perfection! If I were to make only one batch, I would use 1 Rotel and 1 diced tomato. One final note, I didn’t have quite enough chicken as the recipe called for but found about 1-1/2 lbs per batch was plenty. Thanks so much for making my kitchen life easier.
If I wanted to add frozen corn and black beans when should I add these?:
I’m wondering the same thing?
This was delicious and a big hit. Thanks for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Great recipe! So easy and so full of flavor. My entire family loved it!!!!! Can’t wait to make it again…… Have a great day!
That’s great!
This. Was. Amazing. Honestly one of the tastiest soups I’ve made. I used all chicken broth (and it wasn’t low sodium) and it was perfect.
Thank you so much!
After reading all the rave reviews for this recipe and having success with your instant pot ragu tonight (damn delicious!) i’m going to give this a shot tomorrow. I see a few people added corn–any tips for adding a can of black beans?
What a great idea! You can probably add it in around step 7 with the chicken and cilantro. I hope that helps, Christina!
Just received an instapot for Christmas and this was the first recipe out of the gate! Total success! Yum! I doubled the recipe (cooked 12min instead of 10) Used dark and chicken breasts and added lime and corn at the end. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Phoebe! Glad you liked it.
I made this today as my first dish in my Instant Pot I got for Christmas. It is delicious!! My kids were saying how good it smells while it was cooking. They loved putting the chips in the soup and even ate the poblano (they won’t eat anything that looks like bell pepper). Using the pot was a learning experience, but even with me being slow this was quick and easy. I have been a fan of yours for a couple years and this recipe is a good example of why.
Thank you for sharing with us!
This was so easy and tasty! It was kid-approved and is another keeper!
Awesome!
This soup is SO good. I added the juice of a fresh lime at the end to brighten it up. Perfection.
Great idea!
Best soup I’ve ever made! Seriously, I’ve tried making other soups, believed it was just not my thing, and now I know it’s not me! i did, however, make a couple of deviations – I bought the tortilla strips at the store and skipped the cilantro. Oh, and then I added some cheddar and sour cream. Family loved it. Damn Delicious!
Sounds so yummy!
I’ve already made this 3 times! So so good! My only tweak is to buy mission tortilla chips (lazy, I know) and to add corn. This is my new go-to recipe!!
Thanks, Sara! Happy to hear you like it!
found this site a month ago and ever since have been running through the recipes. this has to be the fourth or fifth recipe i’ve tried (made the chili 3 times) and it was awesum, just like all the rest.
used boneless skinless chicken breast since i didn’t have any thighs, and tossed in a bag of frozen corn just for grins. will definitely make again….
Great!
Question instead of a review, have you tried this as a freezer meal?
Yes, you can freeze in plastic freezer bags (I like to lay them flat in the freezer to save on space), thaw in the fridge overnight, and reheat over low heat. The tortilla strips and avocado should be saved for serving. 🙂
Does the chicken have to be thawed?
Yes.
It’s looking so so delicious
Tasty as always! We also added corn for texture and just used some tortilla crumbles we already had at the bottom of a bag. I’m not a fan of dark meat but a huge fan of how much flavor it added to this soup.
I gave it four stars because my rating scale is different for this website – everything is so damn good (as advertised) but I have my favorites and this came in juuust under my faves like the Instant Pot Shrimp Boil, Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps, Korean Beef Bowls, One Pot Nacho Beef Skillet, Easy Thai Shrimp Soup, Turkey and Spinach Veggie Lasagna to name a bunch.
I’m so thankful for your website! Keep the Instant Pot recipes coming – I bought one so I can keep up with all your new recipes! Thanks from a superfan.
Thank you, Becky!
Hands down, the best chicken tortilla soup we’ve ever had, and it has a kick to it, which we loved.
Great!
Delicious!!!
I added 1 tsp of cayenne pepper.
My family likes it spicy!!!
I did too! It was so yummy!
This is an easy, excellent, well-flavoured soup! It was a little spicy for my husband as-written, so I added a tin of corn, a squeeze of lime, and some sour cream to top it off. The tortilla strips crisped beautifully in the oven (I added a light dusting of sea salt). I generally refrain from using chicken thighs due to a strong preference for white meat, but this recipe may have converted me: the thighs remained delicate and incredibly juicy in the Instant Pot, resulting a taste and texture that was truly amazing. This is going in our rotation!
Awesome! I added corn to mine as well when I made it – great addition! 🙂
Very good! I messed up at the grocery store and so. Add mine with skinless (but not boneless) chicken thighs. I did not realize my mistake until it was time to add the chicken, so I just went with it and upped the cook time to 14 minutes. The bones were then easy to remove.
Also, I’m lazy, and I served this with Fritos instead of making my own tortilla strips.
Excellent sounding recipe.
Definitely will prepare now that Fall’s around the corner.
I like the idea of preparing the tortilla strips in the oven.
Other recipes call for commercial tortilla chips which, IMHO are too SALTY !
Could you please suggest to me how you would alter the directions for boneless skinless chicken breasts? I know they likely won’t be as moist, but my husband won’t do dark meat… Thank you! This looks delicious!
Kate, if you use the same amount of chicken, cooking time should stay relatively the same.
Great, thank you!
This is a question not a review yet, but I must assume from the ingredients that it will be 5 stars. My question to you — you indicate that the recipe serves 6. I am considering purchasing an InstantPot but a smaller one – 3 quarts. Trying to calculate how much soup does this receipt make. Do I need to get a larger InstantPot. I do only cook for one.
When using a 3qt or “mini” Instant Pot, the general rule of thumb is to divide the recipe in half with the same cook time. But as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Do you think this would work in a crock pot instead? Thanks!!! Looks so yummy!!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Hi I’d like to know if this recipe can be made in a slow cooker and if so how long do I cook it?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.