Name: Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 37 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: gluten free
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter or ghee; 1 onion, chopped; 3 carrots, chopped; 6 celery stalks, chopped; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1.25 pounds chicken tenders or boneless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch pieces; ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 cup white basmati rice, rinsed; 4 cups unsalted chicken broth; 2 cups water; 2 lemons, juiced

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You’re going to love this one-pot Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice recipe that is healthy, nourishing, and so easy for a quick lunch or dinner!

Easy Instant Pot Chicken Recipe

My friends at Instant Pot asked me to re-create a childhood favorite dish that could be made so much easier in the Instant Pot. My mind immediately went to the chicken soup my mom used to make when I was growing up. Her version included noodles, but I used rice to make the recipe gluten-free. I’ve also added fresh lemon juice for brightness and extra flavor.

I remember that it used to take my mom hours to make her chicken soup on the stove. She would make an enormous batch to make her efforts worthwhile and I remember eating the leftovers for months on end. If only she had had a pressure cooker, then she could have made this one-pot nourishing chicken soup in just about 40 minutes start to finish!

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice Ingredients

One of the best parts about this recipe is that the rice and the chicken and veggies all get cooked together in the same pot. Aren’t one-pot meals just the best? You can thank the Instant Pot for that, too, since you can sauté in the same pot you use for pressure cooking.

The ingredients for this Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice are so basic.

You’ll need:

chicken, cut into 1/2-inch pieces so they cook quickly
white basmati rice
onion
carrots
celery
lemon juice
broth

Sometimes the simplest ingredients are all you need to have a delicious, hearty meal. Let me show you how easy it is to make this dish. I’ve included a how-to video below too.

How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice

Since the Instant Pot makes it so easy to sauté right in the pot, that’s how we start to make this dish. You can use butter, ghee, or your choice of cooking oil to cook the chopped celery, onion, and carrots. Don’t skip this step, it adds a lot of flavor to the final dish.

You’ll also see that I recommend cutting your chicken into small pieces, at the most 1/2-inches big. That’s because the rice only needs 7 minutes cooking time, and we want to make sure the chicken gets through at the same time as the rice is cooking.

I used white basmati rice for this recipe, I don’t recommend a short-grain variety for this particular recipe. You’ll also need to rinse the rice before you add it to the pot.

Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Rice Steps

Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and add your cooking oil.
Add the chopped carrots, celery, onion, dried thyme, salt, and pepper and let them cook for a few minutes. Add the chicken and cook everything for a few more minutes.
Add the rinsed rice, broth, and water, and lock on the lid.
Set the time to 7 minutes on high pressure.
Remove the lid, stir in the lemon juice, and serve hot.

I think you’re really going to love how hearty, creamy, and flavorful this chicken soup is. The fresh lemon flavor really jumps out and adds so much brightness. I’m pretty sure this dish is mom-approved!

By the way, you should also check out my authorized Instant Pot cookbook, the Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook: No-Fuss Recipes for Nutritious, Ready-to-Go Meals!

Recommended items for this recipe (some affiliate links included):

If you’re looking for more easy Instant Pot chicken recipes, then don’t miss my Instant Pot Chicken Recipes round-up, featuring nearly 50 gluten-free and dairy-free options.

Here’s the printable recipe for this easy and nourishing Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Soup with Rice recipe: