This instant pot crack chicken soup is about to become your favorite way to get a flavor dinner on your table any night of the week. This pressure cooker soup combines some fantastic flavors including ranch seasoning, chicken, bacon, and cheese.
It's an easy dinner that allows you to serve up a hearty bowl of comforting soup that is a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!

Crack Chicken Soup
If you've never heard of crack chicken, it originated as a chicken bacon ranch stew mix that's super-rich and thick. Personally, it's a little too rich for our tastes so we came up with a soup version that's full of chicken bacon ranch flavor but without being overly rich. We'll go as far as claiming that our crack chicken soup recipe is BETTER than the original crack chicken recipe easy to find all over the internet and Pinterest.
Why is it called crack chicken? To be honest, we aren't a fan of the name but that's how it's commonly known. Instead of just being referred to as chicken bacon ranch soup, that combo together has become known as crack chicken since it's addicting.
Instant pot crack chicken soup is gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-friendly making it a great option for those with dietary restrictions.
And where we are pressure cooking meat and veggies in one pot, your instant pot crack chicken soup is a complete meal for everyone in your whole house.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- With just one pot, your instant pot that is, you can create this entire soup!
- The soup is a hearty main dish, complete with multiple protein options, which is a complete meal all by itself.
- With milk, cream cheese, and cheddar, this pressure cooker crack chicken soup is rich and creamy.
- If you prefer to make your soup on the stovetop, be sure to check out our chicken bacon Ranch stovetop recipe here.
We love using our instant pot to create a wide variety of soups including instant pot stuffed pepper soup, instant pot tortellini soup, and instant pot broccoli cheese soup.
On Keto? Grab our FREE keto foods list here OR Snag our Keto Binder HERE
Ingredient Notes
Chicken broth, onion, cream cheese, and cheddar combine to create the flavorful base for your chicken, bacon, and spinach in this super simple soup.
- Chicken breast
- Oil - either your favorite oil or bacon grease
- Onion - any type of onion will work here, yellow, red, or sweet.
- Ranch seasoning packet - look for organic brands without extra fillers to keep the carbs down or make your own
- Cream cheese - full fat and not light cream cheese works best
- Cheddar cheese - we used sharp cheddar for a punch of flavor, mild or medium would work also, as would a Colby Jack blend.
- Cooked bacon-cooking from fresh has the best flavor but feel free to substitute the pre-packaged real bacon you can get at Costco or elsewhere.
- Chicken broth
- Milk - you can also use heavy whipping cream or half and half for a creamier soup. Plant based milk works very well, especially unsweetened almond milk or oat milk.
- Spinach- while we are using spinach in this recipe you can also use broccoli or cauliflower.
Equipment
A Pressure Cooker - This is the Instant Pot model that we used.
Diet Adaptions
- Keto- use a whole block of cheddar and shred your own as pre-shredded cheese is covered with starch. Use unsweetened almond milk or whipping cream in place of regular milk to make the carbs even lower. Be sure to use organic Ranch seasoning to keep the carbs down and to avoid artificial ingredients.
Step by Step Instructions
A quick saute for the onion before we add the chicken broth, chicken, and ranch seasoning packet. From there we are going to let the instant pot do what the instant pot does best, then add the remaining ingredients for our instant pot crack chicken soup.
Prep Ingredients
If you don't have any available, precook your bacon. We recommend cooking it in the oven.
Chop the onion.
Shred 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
Assemble
Turn the Instant Pot to Saute and allow it to warm up. Add your oil or bacon grease then the chopped onion.
Cook the onion for 3-4 minutes, until it is soften.
Add the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle with the ranch seasoning packet, do not stir.
Add the chicken breasts to the pot and push them down into the liquid covering them as much as possible.
Pressure Cook
Add the cover to your Instant Pot.
Turn the Instant Pot to Manual High (some models call this Pressure Cook) and pressure cook for 8 minutes.
Natural release for 5 minutes then quick release any remaining pressure.
Finishing Touches
Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the pot.
Turn the Instant Pot on Saute and add the softened cream cheese cubes, mixing until the cheese is melted into the soup.
Add the milk then stir in the cheddar cheese until it is melted.
Stir in the spinach and cooked bacon until the spinach wilts, which takes only 30 seconds-1 minute.
Serve warm with garnishes such as more bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives.
Recipe Tips
- If your chicken breasts are large, cut them in half to ensure they cook completely. Ours were 1 lb each so we cut them in half.
- If you forgot to soften the cream cheese on the counter, pop the cubed pieces in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- While you can cook the bacon in a pressure cooker in multiple batches, the easiest way is to cook it in the oven all at once.
- Be sure to fully incorporate the cream cheese before adding the milk.
- To prevent clumping, add your cheddar cheese in batches and stir well.
Common Questions
Instant pot chicken crack soup is truly a one-pot meal containing both protein and fats. Salads do pair nicely with soup, or your favorite crusty bread (as long as you aren't following a low-carb or keto lifestyle).
Soups with dairy do not reheat well and become grainy. However, you could freeze the soup prior to adding the dairy ingredients (after pressure cooking and shredding the chicken). Simple thaw and head, add your cream cheese, milk, cheddar, and bacon, and serve.
Stored in an air tight container, your pressure cooker chicken bacon ranch soup will keep for 4-5 days.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes
Looking for more Instant Pot soup recipes?
- Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Instant Pot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
- Pressure Cooker Tortellini Soup
- Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle
- 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.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken Soup
A hearty chicken bacon Ranch soup aka Instant Pot crack chicken soup that's hearty, comforting, and easy! You'll love this simple crack chicken recipe variation in soup form.
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon oil or grease
- ½ large onion
- Ranch seasoning packet
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 pieces bacon, cooked
- 6 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 4 cups baby spinach
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to Saute and heat up the pot. Add the oil or bacon grease if you have some leftover from cooking the bacon.
- Add the chopped onion and cook until it's softened, which takes about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth and scrape up any bits stuck on the bottom of the pot to prevent a burn signal.
- Sprinkle with the Ranch seasoning packet, do not stir.
- Add the chicken breasts to the pot and push them down into the liquid.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Manual High (some models call this Pressure Cook) and pressure cook for 8 minutes. Natural release for 5 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and shred it with two forks.
- Turn the Instant Pot on Saute and add the softened cream cheese cubes, mixing until the cheese is melted into the soup.
- Add the milk.
- Stir in the cheddar cheese until it's melted.
- Stir in the spinach and cooked bacon until the spinach wilts, which takes only 30 seconds-1 minute.
- Serve warm with garnishes such as more bacon, cheddar cheese, and chives.
Notes
2 lb of chicken breasts can mean 2 or 4, depending on what size you purchase at the store. We used 2 very large breasts and cut them in half.
If you forgot to soften the cream cheese on the counter, popping the cubed pieces in the microwave for 30 seconds can be done instead.
While you can cook the bacon in a pressure cooker in multiple batches, the easiest way is to cook it in the oven all at once.
Half and half or heavy whipping cream can be substituted for the milk for a richer soup.
Shredding cheese from a block of cheese melts better into the soup than pre-shredded cheese.
If you're on a keto diet or eating gluten free check the Ranch seasoning labels to make sure it's low carb. We try to find organic Ranch seasoning since it doesn't add artificial ingredients. For keto use almond milk or cream in place of the milk.
You can skip adding the spinach if you prefer, the soup is super delicious without it!
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 453Total Fat 25gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 157mgSodium 1446mgCarbohydrates 6gNet Carbohydrates 6gFiber 0gSugar 3gProtein 47g
MerePrize says
I made this soup last night and my husband and I both loved it! He's on a low carb diet, so it's always nice to find a low carb recipe that we both like. The only changes I made were using closer to 3lbs of chicken breast and adding cauliflower. We will definitely be making this again!
Amanda March says
This is really good! And easy to make! My husband suggested adding some broccoli to add some crunch to the soup. What do you think?
FSethman says
Making this next week. I hope this turns out as tasty as the regular crack chicken, it’s my husbands favorite meal. I think I’ll cut bacon up and cook under sauté function, will that change anything?
WholeLottaYum says
That won't, just make sure to scrape up the bacon bits so you don't get a burn signal. Enjoy! I hope your husband loves it!
Cindy says
This was really, really good!!
Next time will nuke the cream cheese first. Even though I had let it set out, I still ended up with lumps. Added a few sprinkles of Umami seasoning and a handful of shredded Parmesan in the end. New to pressure cooking and it was easy to follow.
A wonderful comfort food to share with others. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you so much, Cindy! I'm glad you enjoyed the crack chicken soup! Microwaving the cream cheese for 15-30 seconds is a lot easier than leaving it out for an hour or so. We almost always nuke it too since we realized how quick and easy it was!
Kristen says
Can I use rotisserie chicken that I've already shredded? If so, how to I adjust the time? Would I just go from adding the ranch packet to keeping the Instant Pot on sauté and adding the cream cheese?
Sheri says
Spinach is not listed in ingredients. How much are you using? Is it fresh or frozen? Possibly i overlooked it in the instructions?
WholeLottaYum says
I'm so sorry about that, Sheri! It's 4 cups of baby spinach, it's been added to the recipe card ingredient list.