Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup is one of the best, comforting healthy chicken soups to enjoy on chilly days. It's hearty, savory, and bursting with flavor. Have this favorite on the table in under 35 minutes.
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📋 About the Recipe
- Just one pot! No need to cook the chicken separately before adding it to the soup.
- Easy clean up. With everything cooking together in the pressure cooker, minimal dishes are used, meaning quick and easy clean up. Try my Chicken Pot Pie and Italian Wedding Soup for more easy Instant Pot soups with chicken.
- Perfect weeknight meal. This chicken soup is ready in just 35 minutes, and only requires 10 minutes of hands on prep! Great for busy weeks or meal prep.
- Turns a day-long process into a quick and easy recipe! With the use of the instant pot, you still get that same great homemade chicken soup flavor in a fraction of the time. No need to let it simmer for hours on end to achieve the same great flavor!
- Made with wholesome ingredients. Full of vegetables, grains, and protein. Naturally gluten-free and dairy free. Also perfect for when you're feeling under the weather!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Chicken - This chicken soup is made with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are more tender and juicy than chicken breasts and add richness to the broth. Once the bones are removed, you can save them to make your own chicken stock at home.
- Rice - I use white basmati rice in this soup because it keeps the cook time short. Substituting the basmati with any other rice such as wild rice or brown rice will change the cook time and liquid measurements and is not recommended.
- Parsnips - A root vegetable that is sweet like carrots, but more starchy in texture like gold potatoes.
- Broth - I recommend using low sodium chicken broth for the most flavorful soup, but vegetable broth will also work.
- Spices - I use a combination of dill, thyme, oregano, and salt and pepper to add exceptional flavors to this soup. These spices are going to add richness to the broth.
📓 Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to the "saute" function, then once hot, sauté the carrots, onion, celery, and minced garlic in the olive oil until soft and fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, water, parsnips, and spices and stir to combine.
- Carefully add the chicken thighs into the pot. No stirring needed!
- Secure the lid with the valve set to the "seal" position, and pressure cook at manually high pressure for 10 minutes. Once the timer is up, allow the pressure cooker to naturally depressurize for 10 additional minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Discard the bay leaf and quartered parsnips, then remove the chicken to a cutting board, and remove the bone. Discard any skin, bones, and cartilage (or save it for homemade chicken stock).
- Once again, turn on the sauté function of the Instant Pot and stir in the basmati rice. Simmer the chicken soup for 8-10 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through and tender.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the soup along with any additional water and salt and pepper to taste (I typically like to add an additional cup of water for my preferred soup taste and consistency).
- Serve your soup immediately while warm with fresh parsley and a side of bread.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Make this a chicken noodle soup instead: If you'd like to make a chicken noodle soup instead of a chicken rice soup, simply swap the rice for wide egg noodles and cook using the sauté function after pressure cooking for 5-6 minutes or until noodles are tender.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Chicken rice soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You may find that the flavor even deepens over time. For prolonged optimal freshness, store in a glass container.
To freeze: Allow the soup to cool completely then transfer to a freezer safe vessel like a mason jar, silicone freezer cube, or a freezer safe bag. If freezing in glass like a mason jar, be sure to not overfill, as the soup will expand in the freezer and can shatter the glass if overfilled. This soup is best frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating and serving.
To reheat: Microwave or use the stovetop to heat any leftover soup until hot.
🔍 FAQs
To prevent the rice from over cooking in the Instant Pot, I add it to the pot after pressure cooking and cook it through using the sauté function. This ensures it will not overcook.
Yes, it is good to thoroughly rinse the basmati rice before cooking to prevent excess starches from thickening the soup and also prevent the rice from sticking together and clumping in the soup.
For the most flavorful chicken rice soup, I recommend bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. They are far more flavorful than skinless chicken breasts.
💭 A Few More Tips
Make sure your Instant Pot is large enough to handle more than 8 cups of liquid before making this soup. Adjustments may be needed to fit the size pressure cooker that you have.
If you prefer a less greasy soup, you can store the soup in the refrigerator overnight before serving. Then, skim the solidified fat off the top and warm to serve.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups sliced carrots (about 5 large carrots)
- 1 ¼ cups chopped yellow onion (about ½ an onion)
- 1 ¼ cups sliced celery (about 3 celery stalks)
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 garlic cloves)
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 4 cups water
- 1 parsnip quartered
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
- 1 cup white basmati rice
Instructions
- Set instant pot to the sauté setting. Add olive oil, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring so the garlic does not burn.
- Add chicken broth, water, quartered parsnip, and seasonings. Stir to combine.
- Carefully drop in the chicken thighs.
- Cover the instant pot. Set the valve to the "sealing" position. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
- Once the timer is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes before switching the valve to the "venting" position and manually releasing any remaining pressure.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Remove and discard the bay leaf and parsnip quarters.
- Remove the chicken from the bone. Discard any skin, bones, and cartilage.
- Once again, set the instant pot to the sauté setting. Add the rice to the broth and simmer 8 to 10 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Add chicken back to the pot, along with any additional water, salt, or pepper (to taste). I usually add around another 1 cup of water to make more broth.
Notes
- Make sure your instant pot is large enough to handle more than 8 cups of liquid or adjust the recipe to fit the size that you have.
- If you prefer a less greasy soup, you can store the soup in the refrigerator overnight before serving. Then, skim the solidified fat off the top and warm to serve.
- If you'd like to make chicken noodle soup instead, simply leave out the rice and cook wide egg noodles instead. Use about ½ a bag of wide egg noodles and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes in the broth, until tender.
Nutrition
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Laura
Winter is the perfect time for this soup! I’ve been searching for more instant pot recipes and this definitely was a hit. Super tasty!
Alana Lieberman
Thanks for giving it a try, Laura! So happy you enjoyed it.