Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon
You’re going to love this one-pot Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup recipe that is healthy, nourishing, and so easy to make! This soup is full of hearty fresh vegetables and tender cooked chicken. Rice makes the soup creamy and fresh lemon adds a burst of bright flavor.
There’s just nothing like a warm bowl of chicken rice soup on a cold day. This easy recipe is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner, and will surely warm you up from the inside out.
Recipe Highlights
- With lots of vegetables and other anti-inflammatory ingredients, chicken soup is perfect for those times of the year when cold and flu viruses are running rampant.
- A generous amount of fresh lemon juice squeeze into in this Instant Pot chicken soup just before serving even provides for a decent amount of vitamin C. Don’t miss my other immune-boosting tips for when you’re fighting a cold, including my Ginger Shot.
- This Instant Pot Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup is perfect for meal prepping because it’s easily re-heatable and can even be frozen to serve in the future.
- 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.
Key Ingredients
Chicken tenders or boneless, skinless chicken breasts are key to this recipe. Cut them into bite-sized pieces so they cook in the same time as the rice.
Chicken broth makes the base of this Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup and is also nourishing and flavorful.
Long-grain rice gets cooked perfectly and is tender with a nice texture. See my related recipe for Instant Pot Basmati Rice.
Celery, carrots, and onion are classic ingredients for chicken soup. They are also known as “aromatics” and add flavor, fiber, and nutrition to the soup.
Recipe Steps
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 Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon.
Recipe Steps
Step One
Chop all of your vegetables and rinse your rice. Chop the chicken into small pieces, about 1-inch in length. Add all of your ingredients to a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot.
If you’re new to using the electric pressure cooker, be sure to read my guide on how to use the Instant Pot Duo.
Step Two
Lock on the lid and set the cooking time to 7 minutes at high pressure. This will be enough time to cook the chicken through, but not overcook the rice.
Step Three
When the cooking time is up, let the pressure come down naturally for about 5 minutes. Then, use the quick-release to get rid of any remaining pressure. Carefully remove the lid and stir in the fresh lemon juice.
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.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- I recommend cutting your chicken into small pieces, at the most 1/2-inches in length. That’s because we don’t want to overcook the rice, but we want to make sure the chicken gets cooked through.
- 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.
- Please see the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact measurements and storage tips.
FAQs
No, because the chicken will get overcooked. It’s best to use a long-grain white rice for this recipe.
Yes, this soup freezes really well for up to 2 months. Defrost and re-heat before serving.
Yes, you can. You might also like my recipe for Instant Pot Pork Chops and Rice.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes You Might Like
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Red Lentil Dal
- Instant Pot Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili
- Instant Pot Vegetable Soup
- Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
Also, if you’re looking for more easy Instant Pot chicken recipes, then don’t miss my Instant Pot Chicken Recipes round-up, featuring all gluten-free and dairy-free options.
I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.
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Print
Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup with Lemon
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
You’re going to love this one-pot Instant Pot Chicken Rice Soup recipe that is healthy, nourishing, and so easy to make! This soup is full of hearty fresh vegetables and tender cooked chicken. Rice makes the soup creamy and fresh lemon adds a burst of bright flavor.
Ingredients
- 1.25 pounds chicken tenders or boneless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 6 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup white basmati rice, rinsed
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 2 lemons, juiced
Instructions
- In the base of a 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot, combine the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, salt, pepper, rice, chicken broth, and water.
- Lock on the lid and set the time to 7 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the cooking time is complete, let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes. Quick release the remaining pressure and carefully remove the lid.
- Stir in the lemon juice and serve immediately.
Notes
- Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat before serving.
- Or, you can freeze the soup for up to 2 months in a tightly sealed container.
- Use a long-grain white rice for this recipe, as opposed to a short-grain rice.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Healthy
Keywords: instant pot chicken soup, instant pot chicken and rice, chicken and rice soup
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Yummy and super easy. But next time I’ll put half the rice, this wasn’t really soup.
I found the same thing and will try half the rice next time.
Can I just increase the ingredients for 8/10 people. And what would the cook time be?
yes you can double the recipe. The cook time stays the same.
Thank you! I can’t wait to make this for dinner tomorrow
Thank you for the recipe. It Looks delicious! I have some wild rice already cooked that I would like to add after the soup is done. How much should I reduce the liquid and cook time? Thank you.
So you are just going to cook the chicken without the rice? You will just need one cup of liquid and the cook time should be between 6-10 minutes depending on whether you are cutting up the chicken or cooking whole breasts.
I used 6 cups of broth, did not do the 2 cups of water added oregano 2 bay leaves. Didn’t have lemons so used about a 1/4 cup of real lemon juice. and only 1/2 cup of long grain rice. high pressure for 8 minutes and full natural release. Oh yes I had purchased a pkg of pulled rotisserie chicken that had been in my freezer from Costco — so I used a part of that … Very good will make again.
I’m glad you enjoyed the soup, Linda!
I made this today. Not sure what went wrong, but the rice was way over cooked and turned to a gooey mess. I followed the directions exactly and used the basmati rice you recommended. Oh, well, the dogs will be happy when it’s cool enough for them to eat.
★
Darn! I did not have that experience with this recipe. It’s actually one of my favorites.
I made this for my family tonight, and it was well received! The only change was we used more chicken breasts, and more Thyme. This is delicious!
★★★★★
Definitely 5 stars!!! This soup is amazing! Not only is it easy, with basic ingredients but is so flavorful and makes a lot! The only tweak I made was I zested both lemons and added the zest with the other ingredients before cooking.
★★★★★
Thanks, Peg. I love your idea of zesting the lemons!
Ok- I may have just discovered the issue- I’ve never used basmati rice before and I rinsed it like I rinse everything- simply running water through it in a strainer. I’ve now learned it needs to be rinsed several times by full submersion in order to prevent it from getting mushy. I’ll try that next time.
I was wondering if you can use brown basmati rice instead of white basmati rice
You can’t because you would have to add so much cooking time that the chicken would be wayyyy overcooked.
What would be the cooking time if you were to make this on the stovetop?
Great question! You’ll need at least 20 minutes or so for the rice to be cooked and tender. The chicken will be done by that time too!