THE Best Instant Pot Chicken Soup Recipe
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Why you'll love this chicken soup
This soup is amazing on a cold day and just the thing to make if someone in your life isn’t feeling well. It’s loaded with veggies like onion, carrot, celery and parsnip, which are great prebiotics for beneficial gut bacteria. Combined with the nourishing bone broth, this soup this is great for boosting the immune system, fighting inflammation, and promoting a healthy gut. The secret ingredient is generous amount of chopped fresh dill. This adds flavor and brightness that takes this soup to the next level.
This recipe is easily modified to make in a large pot on the stove if you don’t have an Instant Pot.
Also, this chicken soup is Paleo and Whole30 compliant.
Instant Pot Chicken Soup Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (organic, free-range recommend)
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped and divided
- 3-5 celery stalks, chopped and divided
- 2-4 carrots, chopped
- 2-4 parsnips, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 2 large bunches of fresh dill, divided
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
- Optional: 4-6 cups of pre-made broth (for an extra large batch*)
Putting it together:
Instant Pot & stove-top instructions
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Step 1 - prepare brothAdd chicken (innards removed, cavity empty), 3/4 of your chopped onion, 1 chopped celery stalk, 2 sprigs of fresh dill (reserve the bulk of your dill for Step 3), salt, dried dill, poultry seasoning, and cracked pepper to your Instant Pot. Add about 8 cups of water or enough to cover most of the chicken.
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Step 2 - cook chicken & build flavorSeal the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 14 minutes - then a 20 minute natural release (manually release after 20 mins). To make this on the stove top, boil the chicken for about 30 mins, skimming foam as you see it.
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Step 3 - prepare chicken for soupRemove cooked chicken. When it's cool enough to handle, remove meat from the bones. Shred or chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Discard skin. Note: this is enough chicken for a very large batch of soup. Reserve half the chicken if making a regular-sized batch.
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Step 4 - strain brothUse a fine mesh colander to strain broth. Note: you may want to save the bones and cartilage from the chicken to make bone broth in the future. I keep mine in a silicone bag in the freezer until I'm ready to make a fresh batch.
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Step 5 - put it all togetherCombine strained broth from step 4, chopped carrots, chopped parsnips, chopped celery, 1/4 of a chopped onion, remainder of fresh dill, finely chopped, back into your Instant Pot. Optional: to make an extra large batch of soup with all the chicken, add another 4-6 cups of pre-made bone broth and use extra veggies.
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Step 6 - simmer & finishSet Instant Pot to Saute or simmer on stove-top for about 5 minutes until veggies are softened. Taste broth and adjust seasoning if needed. Stir in chopped chicken and serve. Optional: serve with a splash of lemon juice for a brighter flavor.
Difficulty:
Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Nutrition Info
6-8 Servings
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Tips & other options
I find that using a whole chicken is the easiest and most economical way to make this recipe. However, a regular batch only requires half the cooked chicken because I like to have veggies make up the bulk of the soup. You can reserve half of the chicken and use it as a salad topping, make chicken salad, or use it as a burrito filling.
Something I love about using my Instant Pot is that I can store the inner pot in the refrigerator. I love my Instant Pot silicone lid and these multi-purpose Five Two silicone lids for easy storage.
*If you want to make an extra large batch of soup with all of the cooked chicken, use at least the high amount of veggies and supplement with some extra bone broth.
