A chicken taco soup Instant Pot recipe that's so creamy and easy, just sauté the onion, dump the ingredients, and pressure cook for 5 minutes! The Instant Pot taco chicken soup is loaded with veggies and protein, plus it's simple to make this dairy-free or low carb too. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Instant Pot Chicken Taco Soup
All sorts of Mexican inspired recipes are popular in our home, but making an Instant Pot chicken taco soup is definitely one of our favorites! Well, I should say we go back and forth between making it as a chicken taco soup and swapping the chicken for beef.
This Instant Pot chicken taco soup recipe is a variation of our popular crockpot taco soup recipe with beef! Both are seriously amazing!
Sometimes we add the dairy, other times we skip it when we're attempting to eat a little lighter.
The recipe as written makes this a gluten-free chicken taco soup, and it's super easy to adapt to any sort of dietary concern whether it be dairy-free by skipping the cream cheese and cheddar or making it low carb and sugar-free.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Making taco soup in an Instant Pot means being able to dump all of the ingredients in the pot and then being able to walk away. So easy!
- The chicken taco soup Instant Pot recipe is super simple to customize and swap ingredients.
- With a pressure cook time of just 5 minutes, you'll get a delicious pot of soup that didn't have to simmer on the stove for hours.
- You get your family's favorite flavors of Mexican food but as a healthy and hearty soup!
Looking for more Mexican soup recipes? Be sure to try our crockpot beef taco soup, Instant Pot white chicken chili, or our Mexican chicken Instant Pot recipe!
Ingredient Notes
The chicken taco soup Instant Pot ingredients are super easy to customize. Don't have canned corn or beans? Skip them or substitute a different type! Don't have chicken thighs but do have chicken breast meat? Use that instead!
- boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed - chicken breast can be used instead of thighs
- cream cheese
- shredded cheddar cheese or 3 cheese blend
- Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
- canned corn kernels, drained
- canned black beans - other types of beans can be swapped like pinto or kidney beans
- chicken broth
- taco seasoning
- large onion, diced
- green bell pepper, diced
- garlic salt
- ground pepper
- optional garnishes - shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro
Variations
Recipe Variations- This is easy to make as a beef taco soup too! Just cook 1.5 lb of ground beef before making the recipe, add it to the pot when you add the vegetables, and pressure cook it for 5 minutes.
Equipment
A Pressure Cooker - This is the 6 qt Instant Pot model that we used.
Diet Adaptions
- Keto - skip the corn and beans and increase the chicken to 1 lb. Be sure to use full-fat dairy products and use tomatoes and taco seasoning that don't add sugar.
- Dairy-free - leave out the cream cheese and cheddar cheese.
Step by Step Instructions
While this isn't quite a dump and go recipe, the chicken taco soup Instant Pot recipe is simple. Just sauté the onion, add the other ingredients, give it all a good stir, and pressure cook! Stir in the cream cheese and cheese at the end before serving. YUM!
Sauté the Onion
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté High and heat the olive oil.
Add the diced onion and cook it until softened, for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the pot off by pressing the Cancel button.
Add the Other Ingredients
Add the chicken broth to the pot and stir the bottom of the pot to remove any onion bits that might be stuck to the bottom.
Add the chicken, black beans, Rotel, corn, green pepper, taco seasoning, garlic salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
Pressure Cook
Put the lid on the pot. Cook the soup on Manual High for 5 minutes - some pots call this setting Pressure Cook. The pot will take about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure.
Once the soup is done cooking under pressure, do a Natural Release for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure from the pot.
Stir in Dairy
Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until it breaks down and is well combined into the soup. Stir in one cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
Serve additional shredded cheddar on top of the bowls, plus other garnish ideas include sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado, chopped tomatoes, salsa, olives, jalapenos, cilantro, or chives.
Recipe Tips
- Prep all ingredients before you start cooking. The recipe goes quickly and most of the ingredients just get dumped in the pot.
- The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature or it won't fully break down into the soup. Cutting the cream cheese into cubes works best. To quickly soften the cream cheese, cut into large cubes, and soften in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- We used cubed chicken thighs, but cubed chicken breasts can also be used. To make a shredded chicken soup, cook the chicken breasts whole in the soup and pressure cook for 15 minutes, remove the whole breasts, shred them and add them back to the pot.
- Some taco seasoning brands are very spicy. If you have a brand that's spicy we suggest cutting the taco seasoning back to 2 tablespoon in the recipe.
- To make the Instant Pot chicken taco soup low carb, increase the chicken to 2 lbs and skip the canned corn and black beans.
Common Questions
What to serve with chicken taco soup?
With most of the food groups in the chicken taco soup Instant Pot recipe, all you need is a side salad and some cornbread or rolls or perhaps some air fryer taquitos on the side!
How can I make this a shredded chicken soup?
If you have whole chicken breasts and are wanting to make a shredded chicken taco soup, leave them whole in the recipe and pressure cook the soup for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken to shred it and then add it back to the soup.
How long does it keep?
The Instant Pot Mexican soup will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
More Instant Pot Chicken Soups
- Instant pot chicken bacon ranch soup
- Pressure cooker chicken noodle soup
- Instant pot white chicken chili
- Pressure cooker chicken posole recipe
- Cuban chicken soup
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
📖 Recipe
Creamy Instant Pot Chicken Taco Soup
An easy and creamy chicken taco soup recipe in an Instant Pot that's full of goodness and easy to adapt to dairy-free or low carb. Top with your favorite garnishes like sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and crushed tortilla chips.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened (and cut into cubes)
- 2 10oz cans Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 15oz can corn kernels, drained
- 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 3 T taco seasoning
- ½ large onion, diced
- 1 large green bell pepper, diced
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Optional garnishes, more cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado, cilantro
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute High and heat the olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook it until softened, for about 3-4 minutes. Turn the pot off by pressing the Cancel button.
- Add the chicken broth to the pot and stir the bottom of the pot to remove any onion bits that might be stuck to the bottom.
- Add the chicken, black beans, Rotel, corn, green pepper, taco seasoning, garlic salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Put the lid on the pot. Cook the soup on Manual High for 5 minutes, some pots call this setting Pressure Cook. The pot will take about 15-20 minutes to come to pressure. Once the soup is done cooking under pressure, do a Natural Release for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure from the pot.
- Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until it breaks down and is well combined into the soup. Mix in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
- Serve with optional garnishes such as additional cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado, chopped tomatoes, salsa, olives, jalapenos, cilantro, or chives.
Notes
The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature or it won't fully break down into the soup. Cutting the cream cheese into cubes also works best. To quickly soften the cream cheese, cut it into large cubes, and soften it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
We used cubed chicken thighs, cubed chicken breasts can also be used. To make a shredded chicken soup cook the chicken breasts whole in the soup and pressure cook for 15 minutes, remove the whole breasts, shred them and add them back to the pot.
Some taco seasoning brands are very spicy, if you have a brand that's spicy we suggest cutting the taco seasoning back to 2 tablespoon in the recipe.
To make the Instant Pot chicken taco soup low carb, increase the chicken to 2 lbs and skip the canned corn and black beans.
Trish says
When adding the corn and beans before pressure cooking, do they get mushy? I just wonder if they should be added after the pressure cooking, along with the cheeses, so they stay firmer... Your suggestion, please. Thanks
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Trish, they do not get mushy. You could add them after pressure cooking if you prefer!
Pam says
Could I use whole, frozen chicken thighs instead of cubed? Would I need to extend the cooking time, and if so by how much?
Holly says
My husband stumbled on this recipe recently. Tonight was our fourth time making it! So easy, so delicious, and relatively healthy. We're huge fans - thanks!
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you so much for sharing, Holly! I'm so glad you and your husband love the chicken taco soup recipe!
Heather says
Can you freeze this soup?
WholeLottaYum says
Ideally, I'd freeze it before adding the dairy at the end. Sometimes dairy can change texture or become a little grainy once it's frozen. It would still taste great regardless!
Claudia says
I made this keto friendly by using soy black beans instead of regular black beans, only 1 net carb in a half cup.
WholeLottaYum says
Awesome tip, Claudia! I've heard black soybeans are low carb but haven't yet tried them. I'll have to check them out!
Claudia Wood says
They taste very much the same and are the same consistency. I miss kidney beans and such in soups and chilli. These are a good substitute! Making this again tonight! Quick meal to toss together and so easy.
Christine says
What size is a serving?
Rick says
Your ingredients include a cup of shredded cheddar, but it isn't called for in the recipe instructions. Is it included for garnish only?
WholeLottaYum says
Yes! Thank you for clarifying, we used the extra 1 cup as a garnish spread between numerous bowls.
Erin G. says
When do you use the 1 cup of shredded cheese? I don’t see it in the recipe unless I’m missing it?
WholeLottaYum says
The remaining cup gets sprinkled on the top as the garnish! Thanks for asking! I'll clarify that in the post 🙂
Laura says
Does any of the shredded cheese get melted in the soup? Or just melt the cream cheese in and use the shredded cheddar only for the garnish?
WholeLottaYum says
We mix in one cup after the cream cheese and then add more on top as a garnish. The recipe has been updated to clarify! Thank you!
Lynda S Reich says
I don't have a pressure cooker. What else can I use to make this taco soup?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Lynda, here's our crockpot taco soup with beef (stove-top included too)...it's VERY similar but uses beef instead of the chicken and adds corn and beans. No need to sear the chicken like the beef, just add it raw and then follow the rest of the instructions. 🙂 https://wholelottayum.com/low-carb-taco-soup/
Andrea says
I'm not following something here... I was wondering the same thing, about how you would make this if you don't have an instant pot, then I saw the question and answer, but I'm confused after reading this link. This soup is with ground beef, (so no searing) and I don't see beans or corn in the ingredients... Could you tell me where That soup is? Or what I'm missing? I am running on zero sleep so maybe that's the problem.