Chicken and Rice Soup
This hearty and flavor-packed Instant Pot Chicken and Rice soup starts with rotisserie chicken for a warming comfort-food dinner.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe: This recipe starts with rotisserie or leftover cooked chicken, which makes it a fast short-cut recipe that’s great for weeknights.
We’ve been testing chicken soups in the Instant Pot for years, and love how satisfying this version is, thanks to tender white rice.
We love to make this with our Shortcut Chicken Broth for maximum homemade flavor.
It’s always a hit at our house on chilly nights here in Utah, and once you give it a try, you’ll see why!
We love making soup in the pressure cooker. Especially chicken soup. If you’re wanting something a little creamy, try our always-popular Instant Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup or our classic Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
Here’s what you need to make this hearty chicken and rice soup in the Instant Pot:
- Butter. Use unsalted butter so you can better control the seasoning in the soup.
- Vegetables. The flavor base for this chicken and rice soup comes from onions, carrots, celery, and peas.
- Broth. You can use delicious homemade chicken broth or store-bought. If you buy it, opt for low-sodium broth.
- Rice. Be sure to use regular white rice, not the instant or microwavable kind, which will become mushy during pressure cooking. We use Uncle Ben’s brand.
- Chicken. We use shredded or diced rotisserie chicken, but if you have any kind of leftover, cooked chicken, that will work.
- Seasonings. Add flavor to your soup with red pepper flakes, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Cornstarch. This makes a quick slurry to thicken your soup right up.
How to Make Chicken and White Rice Soup in an Instant Pot
✅ This easy recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
To start making your soup, preheat the pressure cooking pot using the Sauté feature. Then add the butter. When it melts, add the chopped onion, carrots, and celery and saute them until they’re tender.
Next, stir in the chicken broth, rotisserie chicken, white rice, and seasonings. Then cook at high pressure for five minutes. Release the pressure naturally for five minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
Next, make a slurry to thicken the soup by stirring together cornstarch and water into a paste. Add up to three more cups of chicken broth, depending on how thick you like the soup. Then add the peas, and finish by seasoning your dish with salt and pepper.
Important Tips for Making Instant Pot Chicken Soup
- You can make this soup with homemade Instant Pot chicken broth, or use store-bought. If your broth is unsalted, you’ll want to add another teaspoon of salt to the soup.
- You can also use raw chicken, just dice it up into small, bite-sized pieces, and there’s no need to change the cooking time.
- Be sure to stir the soup well after you add the broth and before pressure cooking to avoid anything sticking to the bottom of the pot and causing a burn warning.
- Remember that the soup will continue to thicken as it cools, so avoid making the soup too thick to start.
Frequently Asked Questions about Chicken Soup
Store fully cooled chicken and rice soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. You can reheat servings on the stove or in the Instant Pot.
You can, but you should know that the rice can become soggy and fall apart when you defrost the soup.
So we don’t recommend it
Add a slice of crusty bread on the side for a complete meal. Or, if you want something extra, add a fresh green salad on the side.
If you’d like to add other veggies to your soup, you can add frozen corn or chopped spinach, or kale along with the peas at the end. You could also add mushrooms to the saute step at the beginning of the recipe.
MORE Instant Pot Chicken Soup Recipes
Here are more of our favorite hearty chicken soup recipes to warm up with:
- The BEST Chicken Noodle Soup is our go-to if anyone in the family is feeling under the weather.
- Spicy Chicken Soup has a bit of a kick that’s great for spice lovers.
- Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken and Orzo is slightly sweet and totally satisfying, thanks to orzo pasta and pureed butternut.
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Chicken and Rice Soup – Instant Pot Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 8 cups chicken broth divided
- 4 cups shredded or finely diced cooked chicken meat from about 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 package 6 ounces Uncle Ben’s Original White Rice (not the instant rice or the microwavable packages)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Dash red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Crusty bread for serving, optional
- Fresh parsley for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Select Sauté and add butter to the pressure cooking pot. When the butter is melted, add the onion, carrot, and celery, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add 5 cups chicken broth, chicken, rice, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and parsley to the pressure cooking pot.
- Lock lid in place, select High Pressure and 5 minutes cook time, and Start. When the cook time ends, turn off the pressure cooker and allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then finish with a quick pressure release.
- When the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in water. Select Sauté (adjusted to low if your brand has that capability), and add the cornstarch mixture to the cooking pot, stirring constantly until thickens. Stir in up to the remaining 3 cups chicken broth (to desired consistency) and frozen peas and allow to heat through.
- Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with crusty bread, and garnish with fresh parsley if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
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