Instant Pot chicken and rice soup is an easy soup recipe made with wild rice and hearty vegetables! It’s a cozy and comforting meal any time!
Looking for an easy meal to make in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker? Look no further, because I’ve got you covered with this deliciously creamy Instant Pot chicken and rice soup!
It’s hearty, creamy, brothy, and full of flavors like fresh thyme, sage, and garlic. This Instant Pot chicken soup also has wild rice and parmesan cheese for a deliciously satisfying flavor!
No matter if you’re a soup person in the fall, winter, or all year long, this is the perfect soup recipe to make on a cold and cozy day at home!
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What does Instant Pot chicken and rice soup taste like?
This chicken rice soup has a lot of herby flavor from sage, fresh thyme, and basil leaves. It’s also creamy and rich because of the added parmesan cheese and heavy cream. It pairs perfectly with a loaf of french bread for dipping, crackers, or even a side salad!
Not only that, but it’s also really filling with wild rice and chicken thighs, making it an entire complete meal all right in your Instant Pot.
Ingredients
Oil – Use the oil to saute the vegetables and make them a nice texture in the soup!
Onion – A basic vegetable that adds a ton of flavor to this chicken and wild rice soup. Don’t neglect to add the onion!
Carrots – Full of vitamin C and a slightly sweet flavor, the carrots in this soup recipe help to make it hearty and healthy!
Celery – Celery is often an overlooked ingredient when it comes to flavor, but celery adds a really nice flavor and texture to most brothy soups.
Garlic – Garlic is essential for this Instant Pot chicken soup and adds a ton of flavor, but make sure to use fresh garlic if possible!
Flour – Flour helps to thicken this soup and make it more creamy without adding a ton of extra calories. Flour is a natural thickener for soup recipes!
Chicken broth – The base of this chicken soup recipe, make sure to use a lower sodium broth to avoid an oversalted soup.
Wild rice – This adds a really natural, earthy, and hearty element to this soup recipe, and it’s so delicious, too!
Frozen corn – The last vegetable, it just adds a great texture and another color to your bowl of soup.
Fresh thyme – Fresh thyme is much more flavorful in my opinion than dried thyme. I love the way fresh thyme leaves look and taste in this chicken and rice soup.
Dried sage – Dried sage is a big flavor component for this chicken soup. Did you know it’s the main flavor in sausage? Adding it gives the soup a really nice deep flavor that can’t be replicated with any other herbs.
Dried basil – Just because I love basil and it just pairs so well with the other flavors in this recipe.
Salt – I tried to make this chicken rice soup without the added salt, and it just came out kind of flat and bland. I would definitely recommend adding the salt to bring out the other flavors.
Chicken thighs – Make sure to use boneless and skinless chicken thighs for this recipe, you don’t want to be picking chicken bones out of your soup!
Heavy cream – This soup is creamy because of the heavy cream. It doesn’t take much for this soup to go from extremely brothy to really cozy and creamy!
Parmesan cheese – Just for a final touch of flavor, parmesan cheese melts perfectly into the other ingredients to create a finished, delicious, and flavorful Instant Pot chicken wild rice soup.
Substitutions
Flour – I like to use whole wheat flour for thickening my soups, but you can also use gluten-free flour if you want to keep this soup completely free of gluten. You can also eliminate it altogether, but the soup may come out a touch thin.
Chicken broth – Feel free to use vegetable broth or chicken broth, both work great! If you’re sensitive to salt, use lower-sodium broth.
Wild rice – You can use white rice, brown rice, wild rice, or even forbidden rice in this recipe with no issues.
Frozen corn – Canned, fresh, or frozen corn all work great in this recipe!
Fresh thyme – If you don’t have fresh thyme, use 1 tsp dried thyme instead.
Chicken thighs – One pound of chicken breasts would also work in this soup, just make sure to use boneless and skinless chicken.
Instructions
- In your 6qt Instant Pot or larger, press the “saute” button and heat the oil on high. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add the broth and deglaze the pot, scraping up any brown bits.
- Press “cancel”, and add rice, corn, thyme, sage, basil, and salt. Stir until well combined, then nestle the chicken thighs into the pot, making sure they are covered in the liquid.
- Close the lid and set the venting knob to “sealing”. Pressure cook for 12 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure. After the 12 minutes of cooking time is over, allow the Instant Pot to sit untouched for 5 minutes (this is called a natural release). After 5 minutes, release the pressure using the venting knob. When the pin drops, open the Instant Pot lid and remove the chicken.
- Cut or shred the chicken, then return it to the Instant Pot.
- Add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, and stir until the cheese is melted and everything is combined.
- Serve hot!
Storage and Freezing
This chicken and rice soup will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days, but the rice may absorb some of the liquid as it sits so you may need to add a little more broth if eating it a couple of days later.
To freeze, I like to use quart-sized wide-mouthed mason jars, filling them with the soup about 2 inches from the top to allow the soup to expand as it freezes. You can also freeze the chicken soup in freezer-safe zip lock bags or any other airtight container for up to 3 months!
Tips & FAQ
For this chicken soup with rice, you don’t need to cook the rice beforehand. The wild rice cooks right in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker with all the other ingredients, making it extra flavorful.
The key to having perfectly cooked rice in soup is to not add it too early in the cooking process. Follow the recipe and you should end up with soft but not mushy rice in your Instant Pot chicken and wild rice soup.
Absolutely you can! This cooking method ensures that your chicken doesn’t dry out and absorbs the flavors of the other ingredients as it cooks. Just make sure to remove the chicken thighs and cut or shred them before returning them to your Instant Pot.
Yes, it is totally possible to overcook soup in the Instant Pot if you aren’t careful. If you cook this chicken and rice soup for too long, the vegetables and wild rice will become mushy and your chicken thighs may dry out as well. It’s best to follow the recipe to avoid overcooking your Instant Pot soup.
Nutritional Info
This Instant Pot soup recipe is healthy, full of vegetables and chicken, and really high in protein. It’s also very low in sodium for soup, making it a great choice as an alternative to canned soup.
When looking at the nutritional information for this recipe, keep in mind that these are very hearty servings. You can easily split this into 6 smaller portions, but as a complete meal, dividing this recipe into 4 servings is the way to go.
If you’re looking for a lighter soup, try this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup instead.
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 529 calories
- Total Fat: 24 grams
- Protein: 31 grams
- Sodium: 408 mg
- Carbohydrates: 51 grams
- Fiber: 6 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Pricing Info
This is what I personally paid to make this recipe:
- 1 tbsp avocado oil: $0.27
- 1 medium onion: $0.11
- 3 carrots: $0.39
- 3 celery stalks: $0.54
- 4 garlic cloves: $0.04
- 1 T flour: $0.01
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth: $3.19
- 1 cup wild rice: $1.39
- 1 cup frozen corn: $0.33
- 2 tsp fresh thyme: $0.20
- 1 tsp dried sage: $0.31
- 2 tsp dried basil: $0.20
- ¼ tsp salt: $0.01
- 1 lb chicken thighs: $2.97
- ½ cup heavy cream: $0.49
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese: $0.74
The total comes out to be around $11.19 or roughly $2.80 per soup serving!
Sides
Here are some side ideas for this Instant Pot chicken and rice soup:
- French bread
- Garlic bread
- Dinner rolls
- Acorn squash salad
- Your favorite crackers
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Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments below! I would really appreciate your feedback!
Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 carrots chopped
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 T flour
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 2 tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 lb chicken thighs boneless & skinless
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In your 6qt Instant Pot or larger, press the "saute" button and heat the oil on high. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the broth and deglaze the pot, scraping up any brown bits.
- Press "cancel", and add rice, corn, thyme, sage, basil, and salt. Stir until well combined, then nestle the chicken thighs into the pot, making sure they are covered in the liquid.
- Close the lid and set the venting knob to "sealing". Pressure cook for 12 minutes. It will take about 15 minutes for the Instant Pot to reach pressure.
- After the 12 minutes of cooking time is over, allow the Instant Pot to sit untouched for 5 minutes (this is called a natural release). After 5 minutes, release the pressure using the venting knob.
- When the pin drops, open the Instant Pot lid and remove the chicken. Cut or shred the chicken, then return it to the Instant Pot.
- Add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese, and stir until the cheese is melted and everything is combined. Serve!
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Nutrition
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Instant Pot chicken wild rice soup is hearty, filling, and you’ll love making it any time of year in your pressure cooker!
xoxo Megan
mydeliciousmeals says
Had it for lunch today, it was delicious, thank you! kids finished their bowls too! Used brown basmati and added corn at the end.
Megan Byrd, RD says
That sounds so good! I’m glad you all loved it!
Kris says
Megan, Would you cut down the cooking time if you are using chicken thighs that are already cooked?
Megan Byrd, RD says
No I wouldn’t, you want to make sure the wild rice gets cooked all the way through. If you have chicken thighs that are already cooked, I would chop them ahead of time, then add the chicken when you add the cream, and cook until they’re heated through. Hope that helps!
Susan R. says
I have a 2 qt Duo instant pot – should I just cut the recipe in half, but use the same cooking times?
Megan Byrd, RD says
I think that would work just fine! You may even be able to cut the cooking time by a few minutes, too!