Cozy up to a large bowl of this Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup tonight for dinner! Made with delicious Mexican flavours, this soup is an easy family friendly weeknight dinner.
Want more Instant Pot Soup recipes? Try my Instant Pot Chicken Soup, Instant Pot Taco Soup Recipe and Instant Pot Sweet Potato Kale Beef Soup.
Get dinner on the table quickly thanks to the Instant Pot! This Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup is quickly made in the pressure cooker and with all the things we are juggling right now, an easy meal like this is just what we need.
This is one of those meals that has everything you want in a dinner — it’s packed with protein and vegetables so you can skip the side dish if you’re in a rush! Plus, it’s naturally gluten-free without any extra work or substitutions.
In addition, since this is all made in the Instant Pot, like my Instant Pot Meat Sauce Recipe, clean up is super easy! We sauté our onions, garlic, and peppers in the pressure cooker then the rest of the ingredients goes into the pot. And because we cooked everything in one pot, the flavours are phenomenal, despite the short cooking time. There really isn’t anything better than that!
Don’t have an Instant Pot? No problem, you can make this southwest chicken soup in the slow cooker or the stove top as well. It’ll take a little longer but with the slow cooker, the work is hands off once you’ve put everything inside it and on the stove top, you’ve just got to simmer it for a while. Either way, your kitchen is will amazing with the aromas from this soup.
Want even more soup recipes? Try my Ground Beef Vegetable Soup Recipe or any of these 30 Healthy Soup Recipes! They’re so quick and easy to make.
How to Make this Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- White onion — chopped
- Garlic — minced
- Green bell pepper — if you don’t have green bell peppers, you can always use red, yellow, or orange bell peppers. They’ll be sweeter than green bell peppers.
- Boneless skinless chicken breast
- Frozen corn
- Tomato sauce
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes — this is what gives the soup that smokey flavour.
- Black beans — rinsed and drained.
- Tomato paste
- Chicken broth
- Spices and seasoning: chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper.
- Juice of 1 lime
- Fresh green onions and parsley for garnish
Instructions
Sauté the Aromatics
- Preheat your Instant Pot on SAUTE mode and add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes. Stir every couple of minutes until the onions become translucent.
Add the Ingredients into the Instant Pot
- Add all the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice, green onions, and parsley for garnish), in your Instant Pot. Mix all well and place the lid on the pot and make sure the pressure valve is in the sealing position.
Pressure Cook the Soup
- Switch your Instant Pot to the MANUAL/PRESSURE mode and set it for 8 minutes.
- When time is up, naturally release pressure for 5 minutes before switching the pressure valve to the venting position. Once opened, shred the chicken with two forks and stir in lime juice.
- Garnish with fresh chopped green onions and parsley. Enjoy!
How to Make This Soup in the Slow Cooker
- Add all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
- Once done, shred the chicken with two forks and stir in lime juice.
- Garnish with fresh chopped green onions and parsley.
How to Make This on the Stove Top
- In a heavy bottomed pot, add oil and once the oil is hot, add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes.
- Add all the remaining ingredients (except the lime juice, green onions, and parsley for garnish), to your pot.
- Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.
- Once done, shred the chicken with two forks and stir in lime juice.
- Garnish with fresh chopped green onions and parsley.
Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- You can garnish your soup with crushed tortillas, shredded cheese and avocado as well.
- It’ll take a couple minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure so don’t be concerned if it doesn’t cook immediately.
- If you don’t have chicken breasts, you can swap with chicken thighs!
- If you’ve got extra time on your hands, charred fresh corn adds additional smokey flavour to this Instant Pot southwest chicken soup as well.
- Don’t have black beans? White beans can be substituted as well.
Make Ahead Tips for the Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup
- Meal prep: If you want to meal prep this, simply portion it out into four to five containers to enjoy throughout the week. Reheat on the stove or microwave.
- Freeze: If you want to freeze this, transfer the cooked Instant Pot southwest chicken soup into a freezer friendly container once it’s cooled. Then freeze for up to 3 to 4 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove or microwave.
More Chicken Soup Recipes to Try
- Sweet Potato Chicken Soup Recipe
- Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
- White Chicken Chili
- Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Watch the Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup Here.
Instant Pot Southwest Chicken Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup white onion chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 cup green bell pepper chopped
- 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 cup frozen corn
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1-15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1-15 ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
- Fresh green onions and parsley for garnish chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your Instant Pot using the SAUTE function on the display panel and add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add onions, garlic and bell pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes. Stir every couple minutes until the onions become translucent.
- Add all the remain ingredients (except the lime juice, green onions and parsley for garnish), in your Instant Pot. Mix all well and place the lid on the pot and make sure the pressure valve is in the sealing position.
- On the display panel, press the cancel/off button. Then select the MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK button and use the +/- buttons until the display says 8 minutes.
- When time is up, naturally release for 5 minutes before switching the pressure valve to the venting position. Once opened, shred the chicken with two forks and stir in lime juice.
- Garnish with fresh chopped green onions and parsley. Enjoy!
Tips
- You can use boneless and skinless chicken thighs for this recipe.
- If you prefer to make this recipe on the stove top, you just need to add all the ingredients in a pot and simmer on low for 45 minutes or so.
- You can also make this recipe in a slow cooker. Just cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
- You can let the pressure release naturally entirely.
- You can garnish your soup with crushed tortillas, shredded cheese and avocado as well.
- To store: Store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: Reheat leftover soup on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- To freeze: Cooled soup can be stored in a freezer-safe container for 3 to 4 months. Always make sure to leave some space in the container as the soup will expand as it freezes.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Michael says
Made this soup this week and it is so good!
Olivia Ribas says
Awesome!
Eleanor Carter says
Absolutely delicious. I added cilantro at the end and used 1 red, yellow, and orange bell pepper each rather than just 1 green. I also used chicken thighs and seared them before adding them.
Olivia Ribas says
Happy you liked it!