Instant Pot Crack Chicken Soup–a creamy soup flavored with ranch dressing mix and packed with chicken, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, cream cheese and bacon. Like crack chicken but in a soup form!

Instant Pot Crack Chicken Soup
Ever heard of crack chicken? It’s a recipe all over the internet that is basically chicken with cream cheese, bacon and ranch dressing mix. It’s delicious and by the name you can tell it’s addictive. It’s also quite rich.
Today I took that idea and made a soup out of it. It’s got the same flavors but it’s also got some healthful ingredients like carrots, celery, potatoes, onions and spinach. It’s got lots of flavor and I think you’ll really love it!
We had 8 people at dinner and we still had leftovers. So it does make a lot! You can easily freeze the leftovers for another day or you can halve the recipe. The leftovers taste just as good or better than the first day.
Related: You may also like Instant Pot Crack Chicken Chili
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Bacon–you can also use a package of bacon crumbles
- Diced onion–fresh or frozen
- Celery
- Carrots
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Potatoes
- Garlic powder
- Dry ranch dressing mix–I like the Hidden Valley Brand
- Black pepper
- Chopped cooked chicken–or raw chicken that has been cut into bite size pieces
- Cream cheese
- Cornstarch
- Spinach–or kale
Steps
- Fry the bacon: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the bacon and cook until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Saute veg: Drain all but 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease. Add in the onion and celery and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Add ingredients: Add in the carrots, potatoes, garlic powder, ranch, pepper, chicken and cream cheese.
- Pressure cook: Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the soup button to 5 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. If you don’t have a soup button then use the pressure cook/manual button on low pressure for 5 minutes.
- Thicken the soup: Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Then stir the slurry into the pot and let soup thicken a bit.
- Serve: Turn off saute setting. Stir in the spinach and bacon. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with breadsticks, biscuits or cornbread and a side salad.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 quart pot. Halve the recipe in a 3 quart pot.
- This recipe makes a lot! You can freeze half for another day. Or you can cut the recipe in half…use the same cooking time.
- This recipe is gluten free (just make sure your broth is gluten free).
- If you’re trying to make this recipe low carb try using cauliflower florets in the place of the cubed potatoes.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with dry ranch dressing mix are Instant Pot Parmesan Ranch Potatoes and World’s Best Casserole.

More Instant Pot Soup Recipes to Love…
Instant Pot Tuscan Tortellini Soup
Instant Pot Tuscan Tortellini Soup is a creamy tomato based soup with white beans, tortellini, spinach and tender bites of chicken. Take one bite of this soup and you’ll quickly agree that this soup rocks the house.
Instant Pot Bob Evan’s Soup
Bob Evan’s Chicken-N-Noodles Soup is a copycat version of the homey, comforting soup that can be made at home in your Instant Pot or Crockpot!
Instant Pot Loaded Beef Enchiladas Soup
A fast and easy soup recipe with ground beef, beans, corn, enchilada sauce, tomatoes and green chiles. It’s topped with tortilla strips, cheddar cheese, sour cream and cilantro for a beef enchilada in a bowl meal.
Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Soup
A creamy tomato soup with tender chunks of chicken, pasta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. All the flavors from chicken parmesan in a bowl!
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Instant Pot Crack Chicken Soup
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8–12 1x
Description
A creamy soup flavored with ranch dressing mix and packed with chicken, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, cream cheese and bacon. Like crack chicken but in a soup form!
Ingredients
- 7 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 Tbsp dry ranch dressing mix
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 (8 oz) cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch + 3 Tbsp water
- 2 cups chopped spinach
Instructions
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the bacon and cook until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Drain all but 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease. Add in the onion and celery and saute for 4 minutes. Add in the broth and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking.
- Add in the carrots, potatoes, garlic powder, ranch, pepper, chicken and cream cheese.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the soup button to 5 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Then stir the slurry into the pot and let soup thicken a bit.
- Turn off saute setting. Stir in the spinach and bacon. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
If you’d like you can also use raw chicken. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces before adding it into the pot. Use the same cooking time (5 minutes).
- Category: Soup
- 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 is another great recipe. Thank you so much
★★★★★
Thank you Donna!
I made this yesterday, and it is SO GOOD! I had no celery so used celery salt and it worked out fine. Otherwise I followed the recipe. I think next time I will add some Parmesan or Italian cheese, but it was delicious as is! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
I love the idea of parmesan!
This looks so good, and I have all the ingredients. I’ll be making this in the next couple of days!
Enjoy!
I’ve got leftover chopped turkey in the freezer. Would it be ok to use that or would it mess up this recipe?
I think that would be amazing!
Hi there–curious if/how you would make this in a crockpot?
Here is how I would do it in the slow cooker:
Cook the bacon until crispy on the stove. Use a slotted spoon to move the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
Drain all but 2 Tbsp of the bacon grease. Add in the onion and celery and saute for 4 minutes.
Add onion and celery to slow cooker
Add in the broth, carrots, potatoes, garlic powder, ranch, pepper, chicken and cream cheese.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth. Then stir the slurry into the slow cooker and cook on high for 10-20 more minutes..
Stir in the spinach and bacon. Ladle into bowls and serve.