Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Chowder–this chowder is definitely a party in your mouth. With corn, chicken, bacon, cream cheese, potatoes, carrots, red bell pepper and more it’s chock full of tastiness. You’re going to be saying “let’s make this again next week” once you try it.
Get the SLOW COOKER chicken bacon chowder recipe here
Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Chowder
Every bit of chopping and prepping was worth it. This chowder is really good. My mom and dad, kids and husband all agreed that it was a perfect dinner. The flavor is spot on thanks to the bacon and the cream cheese. There is goodness is every single bite.
A few notes about the ingredients…
Chicken–I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and used kitchen shears to cut off the fat and then I cut them into 1 inch cubes. If you’re not a fan of dark meat you can use chicken breasts. The chicken needs to be thawed and cut so that it will cook at the same rate as the potatoes.
Corn–I used a bag of frozen corn. I haven’t tried this yet with canned corn, but I bet it would be fine. Just drain the corn first before adding it in.
Bacon–to make it easier on myself I just used a bag of real bacon bits. I find this next to the salad dressings at the grocery store. They provide great flavor without the hassle of cooking the bacon.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Creamy Potato Hamburger Soup
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Chili
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Chowder I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Chicken Corn Chowder
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings 1x
Description
This chowder is definitely a party in your mouth. With corn, chicken, bacon, cream cheese, potatoes, carrots, red bell pepper and more it’s chock full of tastiness. You’re going to be saying “let’s make this again next week” once you try it.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 carrots
- 3 celery ribs
- 3 large Russet potatoes
- 1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
- 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
- 1 (3 oz) package real bacon bits
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 green onions
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the diced onion. Saute for about 4 or 5 minutes. Pour in the broth. Let the saute setting stay on while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
- Cut excess fat off of your chicken. Cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes. Peel and slice the carrots into ½ inch rounds. Dice the celery. Peel potatoes, if desired. Cut them into 1 inch cubes. Add chicken, carrots, celery and potatoes into the Instant Pot.
- Add in the frozen corn and the green chiles. Stir.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure the valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 5 minutes (if you don’t have a soup button then use the manual or pressure cook button).
- Dice up your bell pepper and green onion. Lay the cream cheese on the counter to get a little soft.
- When the time is up let the pot sit there for an additional 5 minutes (L0:05) and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the bacon, cream cheese, red pepper and onions. Once the cream cheese is melted test the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and enjoy!
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this in the 8 quart Instant Pot. You can halve the recipe and make it in the 3 quart Instant Pot. Keep the cooking time the same.
This recipe is gluten free. Just make sure your chicken broth is gluten free.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
This was a hit in my house! I am going to try it again with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving instead of chicken – how would you recommend changing the cooking time?
★★★★★
Yum that sounds wonderful! I may have to make an extra turkey just so we have leftovers! I would just use the same 5 minute cooking time with the cooked turkey. It will be great!
This was the first recipe I tried in the Instant pot and it is a huge hit! This has become my new go to recipe for lunch guests and giving to those in need of comfort food. I added a few dashes of organic sriracha sauce in place of the chilli peppers the second time around and a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach. I also use 1/2 sweet potatoes and 1/2 baby potatoes. Pretty much whatever is left over in the fridge gets thrown in lol 😂
Thank you so much for sharing 🙏🏼😊
★★★★★
I like all those ideas Teresa! Thanks for the five star review!
Can I add extra chicken stock to the recipe? I prefer mine with a lot of broth.
Of course! Should be just fine.
I absolutely despise cream cheese. Can this recipe be made without it. It sounds so good with everything else. Maybe a slurry or more cream. Thank you
Yes you could try that! I would try cream or half and half.
So…stuck at home cooking on the IP comes back. I made this a year ago when I was single. Made it today and it was a hit again. Put creme cheese in anything, add bacon and it works.
I agree with that statement.
This is hands down my favorite instant pot recipe. I’ve tried many of your recipes for the instant pot and they are all fabulous, but this one was so good I had to leave a comment! All I changed was I left out the yellow onion and subbed it for onion powder. Turned out soooo good!
★★★★★
Karen, I love this recipe. Do you have the nutrition value, Calories, etc. I
need this to tell how many points a serving is on Weight Watchers. so far
I have made two of your recipes and love them both. I purchase a instant
pot in January. I watch your video’s on You Tube. Thank you for Sharing
your wisdom. Going to try your million dollar spaghetti next.
Hi Don, yes the nutrition facts are listed at the bottom of this recipe! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Can you store this in the fridge or freezer? I am a one person household but I do batch cooking because of limited time due to work.
Yes definitely in the fridge for up to a week. Not sure how the freezer would work with the dairy and potatoes.
Ok Karen. I tried it, even though I don’t like cream cheese it red peppers. It was delicious! My husband loved it, my grandson loved it. Now I think I can brave enough to try your other recipes that have cream cheese in it.
★★★★★
Susan! this is great news!!!
I made this and it was delicious. I used regular bacon instead of bacon bits. The cream cheese added a nice touch. Perfect recipe for a cold, rainy day.
★★★★★
So glad to hear this Julie!
I want to try this pronto. Would canned corn work as I have a lot of them to use up?
Yes canned corn works great!
Karen, I just read the recipe a second time to be sure. Is the olive oil used to saute the onion, as I mentally “saw” it as I read the recipe, since it’s not added elsewhere?
I plan to make the chowder soon, sounds great, so it’s our kind of meal. But then, every one of your recipes that I’ve made has been: fast, easy, delicious, with one pot cleanup. What more could I ask for? Thank you. So glad I found you.
yes that’s right. Sorry I just corrected the recipe so it’s right now!
THIS…WAS…SO…GOOD!!!
I am starting to wonder if any soup with cream cheese and bacon is going to be a winner. It seemed like the pot was full to about 2″ below the top, so added another 1/4 cup of broth. The crunch of the bell pepper really added to the experience.
Since I have a whole jug of Montreal Seasoning (thank you Costco) I used that instead of pepper and salt.
Yay Ken! I’m glad you tried it!!!
So delicious! Hubby and kiddos loved it! I was also skeptical because of lack of spices. Very wrong! Added to our list of favorites. Thank you for sharing!
Hooray!!! It’s a keeper for sure.
I was just wondering why you add the bell pepper at the end uncooked, is it crunchy? Would it get too mushy adding at the start of the cooking process? Can’t wait to try this!
I was worried about it being too hard and crunchy at the end so I chopped mine in fine slivers and it gave just a slight extra texture so that your whole bite of soup isn’t mushy.
Yes it gets too mushy. I loved a little tiny bit of bite in my soup.
I just made this for dinner tonight. The only alteration I made was to add a dusting of cayenne powder in when I put in the cream cheese (about 1/4 tsp) because I was nervous about whether it would have flavor. We each added a small dash of salt to our individual bowls. This was TERRIFIC. My husband asked me to keep this recipe to make again.
★★★★★
It was surprising to me that it didn’t need more salt and pepper and seasonings too!
Made it last night, boy was it good! Ate a bowl, then a second, then why not, a third!
My wife thought that I used cream in it, she loved it. What’s surprising is there are no seasoning in it. Will make it again, multiple times no doubt!
Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Mark!!! The bacon seasons it really well. Oh and cream cheese helps too 🙂
Skipped the bacon bits and used 4ozs of pancetta I had on hand. Slow cooked that first to render the fat out. Sauteed all the veggies together in that fat, except the potatoes, green onions, and bell pepper. I added those as the recipe suggested. When given a choice I will always opt for the chicken thighs. So much more flavor. Because of the lack of seasoning and herbs in this recipe I was concerned that maybe the flavor would be a little on the flat side. Boy, was I wrong. Great flavor as is. Very little salt was necessary. Get all of your prep work done up front and this comes together really nice.
★★★★★
I know I was nervous too but the bacon and cream cheese add a lot!
I’m surprised it’s not already listed.
To get a better idea of how large or small a serving will be, I know it says the serving size is one tenth of the recipe, but approximately how many ounces make up that one tenth or one serving?
It sounds very tasty.
It makes about 10 cups of soup. So 1 cup would be a serving.
Sounds yummy.
★★★★★
It is Sherri!
Just made this tonight. Everyone really liked it. Thanks for the recipe!
I left out out the red bell pepper and the green onion.
I left the boneless skinless chicken thighs whole, but I browned them for a long time while I chopped the veggies and then cooked it for 7 minutes which (as was mentioned) made the potatoes a little mushy. But it still stated great. Browning the chicken like that, I probably could have cooked everything for just 5 minutes and the chicken would have been done and the potatoes would have been firmer. I’ll try that next time.
I treid to double the recipe in a 6 qt. Instant Pot, but realized after I cut up the potatoes that there was no way it was going to fit.
Thanks for sharing Bill! Yeah it was pretty full in the 6 quart!
Could you fresh fried bacon, like 3 or 4 pieces, then chop them up?
Totally!
Do you think this would freeze and reheat ok? It sounds so yummy!!!
I *think* it would be okay but I personally haven’t tried it yet.
Looks yummy, can you let us know how to also make in a regularcrock?
-Alisa
yes! here is the slow cooker version: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/slow-cooker-chicken-bacon-chowder/
Karen, wondering if it would still be good if shrimp was substtuted instead? It’s ok to say “don’t do it”. I am Just trying to figure out what to make on “fish Friday”
I would add the shrimp after it’s been pressure cooked. Shrimp will cook very quickly in the hot boiling soup.
This sounds soooooo good! Getting the ingredients together and will be making it tomorrow. Thank you so much for this soup that seems like a corn chowder, a potato soup and creamy chicken.:)all in one .
Hope you like it! We loved it!!!
This looks great but I only have a slow cookers, could you tell.me how long I should cook in that?
yes here is the slow cooker version: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/slow-cooker-chicken-bacon-chowder/
Many, many thanks for the tips about using a 3 quart IP. We really love your recipes, yet they don’t work in our MiniLux as I often have to leave out something and stove cook the ingredients, folded them back into the whole at the end of cooking time. Please keep including ways to adjust yummy recipes for the 3 quart size Instant Pots. A big KUDOS!!!!!
Thanks Tina!!!
My husband can’t eat potatoes. Can I leave them out and add more carrots?
SURE!!!
To make this keto, would leaving out the potatoes, corn and carrots make a huge difference?
Could you add in sometimes like cauliflower?
Sounds delicious! I’ m surprised that 2 cups of broth (and no milk or half’ n half) will yield 8-10 servings! Love getting your recipes daily. Thank you!
There’s a lot of stuff in it. I was surprised at how much it made.