Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup–a creamy chicken soup with orzo and green chiles. It’s got cream cheese and avocados for creaminess and lots of flavor from diced green chiles and salsa verde. An easy dump and go recipe.
Get the SLOW COOKER Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup recipe here
Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup
This soup is super tasty! My whole family loved the creaminess of the soup but also how much flavor it had. The green chiles give lots of flavor without giving a lot of heat. The chicken gets super tender and shreds easily.
I loved how I could throw everything into the pot and then walk away. I used frozen chicken too. That is my favorite thing ever!
The diced avocados were a perfect topping. You could also add a little cilantro and grated cheddar to the top of each bowl.
More Instant Pot soup recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Instant Pot Mexican Corn Chowder
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup 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. You can also make this soup in the 8 quart Instant Pot with no changes. You can halve this recipe and make it in the 3 quart pot. Keep the same cooking time.
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Instant Pot Green Chile Chicken Orzo Soup
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 50
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
A creamy chicken soup with orzo and green chiles. It’s got cream cheese and avocados for creaminess and lots of flavor from diced green chiles and salsa verde. An easy dump and go recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup salsa verde (I used La Victoria brand medium heat)
- 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs (frozen is okay)
- 2 (4 oz) cans mild diced green chiles
- 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 8 oz cream cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Diced avocados
Instructions
- Set the cream cheese on the counter so that it can come to room temperature.
- Add broth, salsa verde, black beans, chicken, green chiles, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika to the Instant Pot.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the soup button (or manual/pressure cook button) to 10 minutes for chicken breasts and 12 minutes for chicken thighs.
- When the time is up let the pot sit for 10 minutes and then move the valve to venting and remove the lid.
- Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board.
- Add in the cream cheese and the uncooked orzo (see note) and set the pot to the saute setting. Use the adjust button to adjust the saute setting to “less.” Let the orzo cook and the cream cheese melt for about 5 minutes, stirring every minute.
- Shred the chicken or cut it into bite size pieces and add it back into the pot.
- Once the orzo is cooked through taste test and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve topped with avocados.
Notes
Another option is to cook the orzo on the stove top during the natural pressure release time. This will take less time overall but you’ll have one extra pot to wash 🙂
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. You can also make this soup in the 8 quart Instant Pot with no changes. You can halve this recipe and make it in the 3 quart pot. Keep the same cooking time.
Gluten free option: to make this soup gluten free leave out the orzo. You could substitute the orzo with cooked rice. I haven’t tried it yet but think it would also work to add a half cup of uncooked rice into the pot and let it pressure cook.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: instant pot
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If I use shredded chicken instead do I still have to remove it from the pot?
Also does it change the initial cooking time of 10 minutes?
If the chicken is cooked then you can add in the orzo and the cream cheese from the beginning. I would only use a 1 minute pressure cook time with a 5 minute natural pressure release. And not you don’t need to remove the chicken.
Just made this soup and my husband couldn’t quit making yum sounds with every bite! I also loved it. It was simple, quick, and most important, delicious. My son would also love it, but he is allergic to dairy. Wondering if it would still be good without the cream cheese? (What??) Or has anyone tried substituting the cream cheese for a vegan cheese? (Yuk!?!)
★★★★★
Maybe you could scoop out some for your son before you add in the cream cheese?
If using fresh chicken tenderloins, do we need to adjust the time?
I would just use a 5 minute pressure cooking time.
So easy and yummy! My family loves it!
★★★★
We love this one too. It’s cold here today so maybe I’ll make it!
This soup is AMAZING! I just added a bit of cayenne like I do to almost everything and I have to admit that it was difficult to talk myself out of getting seconds, My husband was impressed as well. Thank you so much for coming up with such good meals.
★★★★★
Thanks Rhonda! I’m so glad you liked it!
If I use frozen chicken breasts, do I need to adjust the cook time?
It should be fine with the stated times. The pot will just take more time to come to pressure.
This was very delicious. I added some red and yellow peppers, a little bit of red quoina that I had and some sirirachi sauce. I topped it with some cilantro and a few tortilla chips. Yumm!
Yum sounds awesome!
We just got about 6 inches of heavy wet snow. Seems like I spent the whole day shoveling. Wondered what I was going to make for dinner and saw this recipe. I had everything I needed in the house–BONUS!! Just ate a bowl full and OMG it is SO GOOD! The flavor is amazing. It has a nice little kick but doesn’t make your throat burn. The house smells wonderful as a bonus. Another winner at my house Karen. Thank you so much. Absolutely love your website and share with all my friends who have Instant Pots.
★★★★★
Oh wow! that’s a lot of snow! Where are you at?
I am about an hour south of Milwaukee Wisconsin.
🙂
Darn. The orzo didn’t cook in the 5 min on saute, nor did the cream cheese melt. The flavor is good, though.
★★
delish! UsedFF cream cheese.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Melissa!