Take Care Soup–warm, comforting, and bursting with citrusy goodness Instant Pot or Crockpot lemon chicken rice soup is a delightful twist on the classic chicken soup and is perfect to make for anyone who is feeling under the weather.
Take Care Soup
Greg hasn’t been feeling great the past few days. He starts the day off okay but by the end he is worn down and ragged. I made this soup to ease some of his flu-like symptoms. He loved it and now I’m wishing I would have doubled the recipe!
This is a wonderful choice to make for someone who is sick. The warmth and comfort of chicken soup, combined with the refreshing citrusy notes from lemon, can be soothing and provide a sense of nourishment. The broth is hydrating, and the ingredients like chicken and vegetables add both flavor and nutrients.
This soup can conveniently be made in your Instant Pot or Crockpot. It is a true dump and go recipe with no sautéing steps. Even if everyone is healthy this soup is the perfect choice for cold days, when you need a cozy and flavorful meal to lift your spirits (any day in January or February I’m looking at you).
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon* chicken base
- Chicken tenderloins–or cut up chicken breasts/thighs
- Minced dry onion
- Carrots
- Converted rice–or long grain white rice, jasmine or basmati
- Cabbage–or 2 ribs of celery, chopped
- Garlic powder
- Dried parsley
- Dried thyme
- Dried rosemary
- Dried sage
- Kosher salt
- Butter
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting so it can start heating up while you add in the ingredients. Add in the broth, chicken, onion, carrots, rice, cabbage, garlic powder, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, salt and butter. Turn off saute setting.
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.
Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Break up chicken into smaller pieces.
Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with French bread and a side salad.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- This recipe can easily be doubled. Double all the ingredients and pressure cook on the soup button for 4 minutes.
- If you don’t have a soup button pressure cook on low pressure.
- If you like a brothy soup then only add ¼ cup of rice instead of ½ cup.
- If you want to use chicken breasts instead of tenderloins just cut them into pieces before adding into the pot.
- This soup is gluten free.
- 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 lemon zest are passport chicken and lemon rice.
More Instant Pot Recipes with Lemon…
Instant Pot Lemon Butter Garlic Salmon with Homestyle Vegetables
Flaky wild Alaska salmon is steamed on the top of red potatoes and carrots in your electric pressure cooker and topped with garlic, fresh lemon juice and butter. A one pot meal that is healthy and delicious!
Instant Pot Skinny Honey Lemon Chicken
A fast and easy chicken breast recipe with a light lemony sauce.
Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Romano
Seasoned and sauteed chicken tenders with Romano cheese and creamy lemon sauce.
Simple Man’s Lemon Garlic Chicken (Instant Pot or Crockpot)
An easy Instant Pot or Crockpot recipe with lots of lemony flavor. Serve over rice to sop up all the delicious sauce!
Instant Pot Honey Lemon Chicken
Bites of chicken and green beans in a lemon-honey sauce. An easy dump and go recipe!
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.
Take Care Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Warm, comforting, and bursting with citrusy goodness Instant Pot or Crockpot lemon chicken rice soup is a delightful twist on the classic chicken soup and is perfect to make for anyone who is feeling under the weather.
Ingredients
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins
- 1 Tbsp minced dry onion
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup uncooked converted or long grain white rice
- 2 cups chopped cabbage
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting so it can start heating up while you add in the ingredients. Add in the broth, chicken, onion, carrots, rice, cabbage, garlic powder, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, salt and butter. Turn off saute setting.
- 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.
- Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Break up chicken into smaller pieces. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add broth, chicken, onion, carrots, rice, cabbage, garlic powder, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, salt and butter into slow cooker.
- Cover and cook for 4 hours on low, or until rice is cooked through.
- Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Break up chicken into smaller pieces. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*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.
I LOVE this soup! So kind to my gut when acting up. The carrots get pretty soft though. I like them as firm as possible especially for freezing. Can I lower the cook time to maybe 4 minutes and the NRT to 4 minutes also?
yes that would be fine
If I use thighs with bones is there a different cook time?
I would pressure cook for at least 10 minutes. Maybe 12. But the rice may get overcooked. So maybe pressure cook the chicken first by itself in a little broth. Then do the rest of the recipe and add in the cooked chicken.
This soup looks yummy. What does the soup button do? Is it just high pressure for 5 minutes?
It cooks it more gently so that the broth stays clear.
Haven’t tried it yet but planning on it!
I hope you love it!
This sounds great! Just wondering why doubling the recipe uses less time under pressure.
Because the larger amount takes longer to come to pressure and it is also cooking that extra time.
Ah—that makes sense! Thank you.
yep that is correct!