Make the best Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe in a fraction of the time thanks to your Instant Pot! Carrots, potatoes, zucchini, and squash combine with shredded chicken and tons of fresh herbs for a soup that’s not only delicious, but also incredibly nutritious and comforting! You’ll want to cozy up with a big ole’ bowl of this soup year round.
Table of Contents
When you’re sick, almost nothing tastes better (or makes you feel better!) than a big bowl of chicken vegetable soup.
The problem comes when you’re sick and don’t feel like cooking for hours to make a good soup.
The answer… this Instant Pot chicken soup recipe!
Ingredients
For the exact measurements and detailed instructions, you can jump to the recipe.
- Vegetables. A delicious mix of onion, celery, carrots, red potatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash add beautiful color along with nutrients.
- Chicken. Grab some boneless skinless chicken breasts from the grocery store. You can choose chicken thighs instead, if you prefer. Make sure you cut any other chicken parts into 4-ounce portions to ensure the best results!
- Broth. When making this recipe it is completely up to you whether you use chicken broth, chicken stock, or bone broth. In any case, make sure you use a low sodium version so you can adjust the amount of salt to your preference. If using chicken stock, you will most likely have a much richer and more gelatinous soup. However, if you are short on time, a boxed chicken broth or bone broth will work equally well with delicious results!
- Herbs. Don’t skimp on the dried herbs! For the best results, you’ll want thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and paprika. Of course, salt and black pepper are a must. Feel free to swap these out for fresh herbs or a bit of basil or sage.
- Milk. Regular dairy milk or a plant-based variety can be used. The key to this recipe is WARM milk.
- Starch. Tapioca or corn starch are used to make a slurry that thickens the soup.
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
Jump to the recipe for the full instructions, ingredient amounts, and a printable recipe.
- Make the base. Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Sauté a bit of olive oil with diced onions and garlic. Add the broth or stock and give it a good stir, scraping the bottom of the pot. Layer up all of your vegetables in the pot and then place your chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle in seasoning ingredients, salt and pepper.
Cook’s Tip: It’s super important to add the broth and scrape the bottom to make sure you do not get a burn error notice on your pressure cooker.
- Cook in the Instant Pot. Cover the Instant Pot with a lid and set the pressure valve to sealed. Cook the soup for 10 minutes on high pressure. Then, do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. Once done, allow a quick release.
- Shred the chicken. Shred chicken breasts in the pot using two forks. (Or you can also remove the chicken and shred it on a cutting board.)
- Thicken the soup with a slurry. A simple solution of warm almond milk (soy or cashew milk work great, too!) and a couple of tablespoons of starch (tapioca or corn starch work well!) get whisked together to form an incredible thickening agent. Simply add it to the soup when it is done cooking in your Instant Pot and voila! A super thick, creamy, comforting soup without the heavy cream. (You can also learn how to thicken soup 5 different ways!)
- Serve. Serve this delicious soup in a cozy bowl with gluten-free crackers or crusty bread and topped with fresh parsley!
Meal Prep and Storage
- Prep-Ahead. This chicken veggie soup seriously gets better with time… if you have the patience for it. The flavors somehow meld together even more perfectly if refrigerated for about 24 hours.
- Storage: First, let the soup come to room temperature uncovered, and then transfer leftover soup to the refrigerator in an airtight container. Soup will keep well for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: After following the directions above and letting the soup refrigerate for at least 8 hours, store soup in freezer-safe plastic containers or a freezer bag for up to 3-4 months.
- Reheating: Soup is the absolute BEST when reheated in a pot on the stove. However, if you’re in a hurry simply pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and it will be ready to enjoy!
FAQs
The best way to give any type of chicken soup flavor is by creating layers throughout the cooking process and using different herbs. Cook the onion and garlic first, the add in the other ingredients and herbs to build rich flavor.
Yes, you can definitely overcook soup in the Instant Pot. Cooking for too long will lead to mushy vegetables and an unappealing flavor.
The pre-programmed soup mode on most Instant Pot models is 30 minutes. However, not all soup recipes need to cook that long, so make adjustments as needed.
Yes! This chicken soup recipe freezes really well, and so does plain vegetable soup. Just be sure to let it completely cool. Then, freeze it in individual portions so you can easily thaw a serving. (Learn how to freeze soup!)
What to Serve with Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
Sometimes all you need is a bowl of soup. Other times, you want to add a side to round it out.
You can’t go wrong with a salad like a Fall Harvest Salad, Strawberry Spinach Salad, or Lemon Arugula Salad.
Or, whip up Gluten-free Cornbread or Sweet Mini Cornbread Muffins.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
Chicken soup can be made in many satisfying and comforting ways. Be sure to put these on your menu soon for a tasty dinner for the whole family.
Don’t miss out on Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and Chicken and Dumpling Soup.
If you like Mexican flavor, stick with Chicken Enchilada Soup, Green Chili Chicken Soup, or Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup.
You can’t go wrong with a classic like Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup or Gluten-free Chicken Noodle Soup.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, Chicken Pot Pie Soup, and Chicken and Dumpling Soup are irresistible!
You can also skip the chicken and get all of the health benefits in this veggie-packed Olive Garden Minestrone Soup!
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Instant Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 sweet onion finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 4 cups chicken broth regular sodium
- 4 stalks celery cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¾ pound carrots cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 pound red potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 zucchini cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 yellow squash cut into ½-inch slices
- 1 pound chicken breasts cut into 4-oz. portions
- ½ teaspoon thyme dried
- ½ teaspoon rosemary dried
- ½ teaspoon tarragon dried
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ – 1 ½ teaspoons salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup almond milk milk, or cashew milk, warm
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch
Instructions
- Saute Onion: Set Instant Pot to the sauté function and add olive oil, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to ensure there are no bits or pieces stuck.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 sweet onion, 3 cloves garlic, 4 cups chicken broth
- Add Veggies, Chicken, and Seasoning: Add celery, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, and squash to the Instant Pot. Stir to combine. Add chicken breasts on top of the vegetables. In a small bowl whisk together the thyme, rosemary, tarragon, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add seasoning ingredients to the Instant Pot.4 stalks celery, ¾ pound carrots, 1 pound red potatoes, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 1 pound chicken breasts, ½ teaspoon thyme, ½ teaspoon rosemary, ½ teaspoon tarragon, ¼ teaspoon paprika, ½ – 1 ½ teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Pressure Cook: Ensure the pressure release valve is sealed and set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 8 minutes. Let the contents sit for 10 minutes (10 minute NPR) before releasing the pressure valve. Shred the chicken breasts when the soup is done cooking.
- Make the Slurry: While soup is cooking, whisk together the warm milk and starch until smooth. Add starch slurry to soup and stir until well incorporated.½ cup almond milk, 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
- Serve chicken vegetable soup with crackers or bread and enjoy!
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Video
Notes
- Herbs: You can also use 3 teaspoons total of FRESH herbs instead of dried.
- Prep-Ahead: This chicken veggie soup seriously gets better with time… if you have the patience for it. The flavors somehow meld together even more perfectly if refrigerated for about 24 hours.
- Storage: First, let the soup come to room temperature uncovered, and then transfer leftover soup to the refrigerator in an airtight container. Soup will keep well for 3-5 days.
- Freezing: After following the directions above and letting the soup refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Store soup in freezer-safe plastic containers or a freezer bag for up to 3-4 months.
- Reheating: Soup is the absolute BEST when reheated in a pot on the stove. However, if you’re in a hurry simply pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and it will be ready to enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First let me say that this recipe is great and so simple!!
Just a couple of issues that I encountered:
* The Instant Pot pressure cooking at 10 minutes pretty much made vegetables super mushy. I cooked chicken with onion, garlic, and spices first for 7 minutes then added veggies and cooked for another 3 minutes.
* To keep Whole 30 compliant, I swapped arrowroot for corn starch and omitted Almond Milk since I don’t like milk alternatives (of any kind) in my savory recipes.
I hope this is helpful for anyone who has/had similar issues.
Thank you for the reminder that Chicken Soup is especially comforting and doesn’t have to be difficult.
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Olga! I’m glad you could make this recipe fit your needs. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
I cannot cook anything. It’s been a running joke between my wife and I that every time I cook something it’s mutually agreed upon that it’s generally awful. Then we’ll spend the meal dissecting what exactly makes it taste wrong. That is until I tried this recipe. We both ate it and to our astonishment I actually cooked something that was . . . dare I say . . . good. All credit goes to you of course. I’m thankful but my wife is even more thankful.
Woohoo! Way to go Nick! So happy the recipe turned out for you and that you enjoyed it. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Best chicken vegetable soup I have ever tasted in 76 years!!
Wow!! What a compliment, Judy! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating! 🙂
Looking forward to trying this! Any adjustments for using frozen chicken breast?
I wouldn’t recommend using frozen since they’re going to take a good bit longer to cook and the vegetables will end up coming out mushy. If you must, you can cook the frozen breasts for 5 minutes, then add in all of the additional vegetables, and cook according to the recipe. Would love to hear how it works out for you!
I love this recipe but I substitute fresh oregano for tarragon, as I don’t like the licorice flavor tarragon has. I use fresh herbs only and it’s delicious every time!
That’s a great substitution, Carly! Happy to hear you enjoy the dish – Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating! 🙂
We made this soup this week just prior to Thanksgiving. It is THE BEST soup recipe on the internet!
The flavor was to die for, it is simple, and it was filling.
Yay, Marilee! So happy you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂
So quick, easy, and delish!! Sure to be a fall favorite at my house. Heats super well! I used coconut milk to thicken and yumm!!!!!
What a great idea to use coconut milk! Will definitely need to try that out next time I make it. Thanks so much for your comment, Brenda!
I happened to have all of the ingredients to make this. It turned out great and everyone really enjoyed it.
Yay, Becky!! It’s one of our go-tos, too! So happy to hear everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for your comment and rating 🙂
I forgot to do the last step with the slurry and it was still delicious. 🙂
Yay, Kim! So happy to hear it still turned out great. Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
Hi again, another question, how long would I cook the chicken if it was placed frozen in the IP with the vegetables per your direction?
Hi Jennifer! Great question. I would advise not to put the chicken in there frozen. The chicken will take quite a bit longer to cook and the vegetables will get overcooked and turn out mushy. You could always add the chicken to the IP with 1 cup of broth, cook for 5 minutes with a quick pressure release and then follow the directions as outlined in the recipe! Would love ot know how it turns out for you!
thanks. I will try that.