Only 10 minutes of active prep time for this comforting Chicken and Rice Soup! It’s a breeze to make in the Instant Pot. 241 calories and 5 Weight Watchers Freestyle SP
Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe {Instant Pot}
Chicken and rice soup is one of those meals that I crave when the temperatures drop or when one of the season’s pesky colds or coughs takes hold. No matter how much hand washing and Vitamin C popping we do, at least one virus manages to sweep through the family each year. Homemade soup recipes are the best tonic as soon as the sneezing and sniffling starts.
Out comes the Instant Pot for some chicken rice soup love! And why do I like making this soup in the Instant Pot as opposed to using the stovetop?
Two words…chopping chicken. We all have those tasks in the kitchen that we despise, right? One of mine is cutting up chicken to be sautéed. It’s a completely irrational pet peeve and usually I just suck it up and do it anyways, but if I have an option to avoid it, I’m definitely taking the easy route!
Putting the chicken breasts in whole (then shredding) and having the option to use frozen chicken breasts (more on that in a moment) makes my life a whole lot easier. Plus, it means I can make this soup for dinner, even if I haven’t remembered to defrost some chicken breasts earlier in the day.
How to make chicken and rice soup in the Instant Pot:
- Either frozen or defrosted chicken breasts can be used in this creamy chicken and rice soup. If using frozen chicken, it will take slightly longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure.
- Start by using the Saute mode on your Instant Pot to soften the onions, carrots and celery. Next, add the garlic and herbs.
- Pour in the chicken broth, and add the chicken breasts and rice before sealing your pressure cooker and setting it to HIGH pressure.
- Once the cooking time is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then use the quick release.
- Shred the chicken, stir in the parsley, season well with salt and pepper, and serve it up!
Do you cook rice before adding to soup?
- Nope! The uncooked rice is added at the same time as the broth and raw chicken breasts.
- This is a huge timesaver, especially since this recipe calls for brown rice. If you had to cook the brown rice ahead of time, that would require an additional 40 minutes or so. Another win for pressure cookers!
- Brown rice and chicken breasts have very similar cooking times when prepared in the Instant Pot, so the timing works out perfectly. I suggest sticking to brown rice in this recipe because white rice would become very overcooked.
- As the brown rice cooks and releases its starches, it produces a wonderfully creamy texture in this soup. Creamy without the cream!
Other healthy Instant Pot soups:
Instant Pot Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes {Cookin’ Canuck}
Vegan Instant Pot Mushroom Soup {Cookin’ Canuck}
Instant Pot Lebanese Chicken Soup {The Lemon Bowl}
Chicken Tortilla Soup {Add a Pinch}
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 1 large carrot cut into thin half-circles
- 1 large stalk celery diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
- 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¾ cup brown rice uncooked
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Heat the olive oil, then add the onion, carrot and celery. Saute the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic, thyme and rosemary. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken breasts, brown rice, salt and pepper to the Instant Pot.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot, close the steam vent and set to HIGH pressure using the manual setting. Set the time to 13 minutes. It will take the Instant Pot about 15 minutes to reach pressure.
- Once the time is expired, use natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release.
- Transfer the chicken breasts to a cutting board, shred with 2 forks, then transfer back to the Instant Pot. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
judith judge says
can you use rotierie chicken and maybe ad dit at the end
Dara says
Judith, that should work. I hope you enjoy the soup!
Don, D says
Hi Dara. Used Instant Pot for the first time Sunday 30, 2018. Selected Chicken Rice soup . Made few changes, use natural herbs from garden , two carrots two celery . One word to describe recipe ( Awesome) Looking for another great recipe. Thank You
Dara says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Don!
Rachel says
I must admit, I didn’t think this would be that great, but it was actually REALLY good. My husband and I both had 2 helpings!
Cynthia R says
I received an Instant Pot for my birthday and this was the first recipe I tried. Holy cow, it was amazing! Definitely a keeper.
Dara says
You’re going to love your Instant Pot! So glad the recipe was a winner for you.
Zach says
I used extra carrots and celery, and added three small yukon gold potatoes. Delicious recipe.
Dara says
Thank you, Zach!
Dale says
I was just given an insta pot because, for some reason (which I CAN’T BELIEVE WHY) my friend said that it’s collecting dust! Any way her loss is my gain! I just made this soup from frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs. My family is going crazy over it. Thank you so much for sharing.
Dara says
That’s great to hear, Dale! I hope you enjoy your new Instant Pot (lucky you!)
Lisa says
Can you use instant brown rice or would that overcook?
Dara says
Hi Lisa, I would be concerned that the rice would become quite mushy.
Ceci says
Made this today and it is awesome. I did add a chopped, peeled apple (something I learned from Pioneer Woman) and a peeled, chopped jersey sweet potato because I had one. I added a little more broth. Will add this recipe to my favorites.
Dara says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Ceci! I’ll have to try the apple trick next time I make it.
Cameron says
This is the best recipe to show off the power of the Instant Pot that I’ve found to date. Frozen chicken and uncooked rice, it just seems to easy to be true. I also made some minor modifications, added some frozen peas and corn, and used a basmati rice and lentil mix that I had handy. Even with my changes, the recipe proved foolproof.
I’ll be making this one again soon.
Stephen Surfaro says
Hi Dara, this looks like a great recipe, and I’ve been looking for a way to use brown rice. BTW for some of your readers, I’d recommend using Nishiki Premium Brown rice available on Amazon, but I’m not sure of the cooking time with the stock. If you want to cook the brown rice separately, it is 23 min on high pressure. Nishiki White Rice is also available, but I would recommend cooking it separately (8 min on high). I have found I can’t go back to any other rice – I’ve even stopped ordering Chinese take out as the rice is always of poor quality. I’ll let you know how I do with the Nishiki brown rice and your recipe!
monica says
I omitted rosemary and used frozen chicken breast and wild rice as well as brown rice. doubled the recipe and set my instant pot for 18 min. this turned out delicious!! will make again for sure.
Susan Foust says
My husband and I enjoyed this soup! The only modification I made was a little more salt. I think adding a Parmesan rind during cooking or heavy cream at the end would be tasty. As is though, we loved it!
MissAinCA says
Dearest Dara! Another amazing recipe! Loved the brown rice instead of pasta! Now my go to for a while! I added some dried/reconstituted wild mushrooms and did chicken thighs (my fav). Also some extra veggies. THANK YOU WONDERFUL YOU! This is such a fun keeper!
Rhonda Whittaker says
The flavor of this was great! Used frozen chicken breast, and it cooked beautifully. Just not near as much rice as I was expecting. Or what I am used to from my mom’s. I will try again with more broth and more rice. This was my third use of my IP and I’m loving it!!!
Lavinai says
This soup was delicious! I made it as written except for leaving out the onion. So good! Do you think I can safely double the recipe? I have a large pressure cooker.
Thank you!
Melissa says
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it tonight. I am on a low FODMAP elimination eating plan right now, and this looks as though I can modify it to fit my diet restrictions. (I’ll have to use green onion tops and garlic infused olive oil). Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Kristi says
I’m sure it says somewhere but I can’t find it. How long do you cook it if the chicken is frozen?
Thanks!
Dara says
Hi Kristi, the cook time that you set the Instant Pot is typically the same, but it will take longer for the Instant Pot to come to pressure. So, the frozen chicken breasts will actually get extra cooking time during that additional pressurization time. Make sure that your chicken breasts are separated, not in a frozen mass, when you put them into the Instant Pot.
Pamela Komons says
Delicious! I especially appreciated the fact that you could use frozen chicken breasts. It was quick, easy and extremely tasty! I added a few pinches of dill (just personal preference.) Awesome soup!
Karen says
Perfect for this cold night. Recipe is very forgiving! I used precooked, shredded chicken which I tossed in with everything else. I also increased broth and rice by a half cup. Purely personal taste, but next time I think I would cut back a bit on the seasonings…but just because the chicken and vegetables made such a delicious broth. Would also add more carrots and celery. That being said, this was so easy and delicious. Thanks for the recipe?
sean says
How much broth would you use for 2 cups of rice? and would it be okay if some of it were water? thanks!
Dara says
Hi Sean, I haven’t tested this recipe with 2 cups of rice, so am not certain. That is A LOT of dried rice, so you would most definitely have to increase the broth to maintain the consistency of a soup.
Colleen says
Delicious and so easy!!
Toni Gromacki says
This is the second Instapot meal I’ve made. This soup was really good tasting and healthy. I added a squeeze of lemon with the fresh parsley at the end! This is a keeper.
Denise says
Excellent soup! I like to double the recipe and add a little more water for extra broth. This is my absolute favorite!
Suze says
This was excellent! The only thing I changed was I used a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
Stephanie says
I made it as written except I used a flavored chicken broth for half of the broth (roasted vegetable and herb)and doubled the recipe. Fit perfectly in my 8 quart and was OUTSTANDING! My husband loves rice soup and he devoured it! He’s super excited to have lots of leftover soup for his lunches the rest of the week. Couldn’t be easier to make and I’m already planning on making this at a cold weather tailgate next fall. I don’t usually leave comments, but I had to commend you on this fantastic recipe!
Jennifer F says
Love it and so easy to make !!! Definitely will be making it again !!
Diana says
Can I use white rice instead?
Thanks!
Dara says
Hi Diana, I haven’t actually tried the recipe with white rice. I would be concerned that the rice would be overcooked because white rice takes less time than brown rice. An alternative would be to cut the chicken into pieces before cooking so that you can reduce the overall cooking time.
Kerri says
I used my harvested carrots. Added mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, and more broth.
It was delicious!!!
I wish I added a little more rice.
Evelyn Gold Foster says
Easy to make and delicious!
sara says
This is an amazing recipe. Super easy and quick. I made it for lunch. Everyone loved it. I used chicken thighs b/c that is what I had and it turned our perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe. I will make it again for sure.
Angela Gaskins says
If making soup on stovetop with regular pot instead of insta-pot should ingredients be adjusted?
Dara says
Hi Angela, the ingredients should stay the same, with the exception of the broth. Because the soup would be simmering longer on the stovetop in order to cook the rice, you will likely need additional broth.
Angela Gaskins says
Thank you Dara for responding !
Jennifer says
Wow- I was hoping this would taste amazing but it seemed too easy! Toss frozen chicken and uncooked rice into the insta pot…added lemon juice as I love lemon. It was so delicious.
Tracie says
THIS.WAS.AWESOME!!! I was starving after work and almost left to get a burger, but pushed through to eat a healthier meal. In the time it took me to wash the dishes and clean up from the prep my meal was finished. I thought I thawed out chicken breasts but they were boneless skinless thighs, even so they were perfect and easily fell apart on their own. The only change I would add next time is to include more rice for my liking. This soup is my new winter staple!
Joanne says
The soup was delicious! I do have a question though. I used regular white rice and cut up the chicken breast and pressure cooked for less time (I did it for only 9 minutes ) like you said to do. Everything was fine, but after the natural and fast release when I turned over the lid of my instant pot all the seasonings seemed to have blown up and gathered around the steam vent and anti-block shield!! Does anyone have a clue why that happened?? I’m new to the instant pot world, obviously but I was a little afraid that it could’ve caused a venting problem. Thank you in advance for advice:)
Dara says
Hmm, I’ve never had that happen. Perhaps check that the sealing ring is firmly in place?
Jessica says
My rice was mush
Dara says
Hmm, I’ve never had that issue. Did you use brown rice (regular, not instant/quick cooking)?