Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

The ingredient worth our time. Choosing the right tomato or tomatoes for Chicken Tortilla soup is very important in my opinion. The tomatoes will be charred to create a deep depth of flavor to the soup.

Types of Tomatoes to shop for:

• Vine Ripened Tomatoes
• Greenhouse Tomatoes
• San Marzano Tomatoes (Not Traditional, but they are the very best tomatoes in the world) (Read about San Marzano tomatoes here)
• Please do NOT use Roma – Might surprise some of you to read that, but they are never the most flavorful tomatoes. Quite the opposite. They have their place in the culinary world, just not a good fit for this soup.

Vidalia Onions

• Spanish onion
• Has a sweeter flavor profile
• Not Onion flavor-forward
• Also known as Sweet onions

Yellow Onions

• Classic onion we find at the grocery store.
• Has a strong onion forward flavor profile
• Can make you cry, lol
• My selection for Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Reason — We want the onion flavor to be present.

Guajillo Chiles

• (nee, chile guajillo in Spanish) (meaning ‘big pod’) is the dried form of mirasol chili
• heat (rating 2,500 to 5,000 on the Scoville scale) is considered mild to medium
• Packed with flavor
• Works great in Salsa

Ancho Chiles

• Dried Poblano Pepper
• Overall not very hot pepper. Has a sweet flavor and aroma
• A great addition to salsa
• Puree nicely when ground into a paste

The Step by Step Instructions For Making Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Making The Chicken Tortilla Soup "Base"  & Cooking The Chicken

Going to be covering two ways of making Chicken Tortilla Soup

1. Instant Pot Method
2. Slow Cooker Method

First, place the cold chicken into a bowl of warm water in the sink for about 7 minutes to help take the chill off the chicken. This helps with even cooking. If you’re going to use the slow cooker you can skip this step. The reason is the long cooking time.

Be sure to rinse the chicken off before placing it into the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker/Crockpot.

Never cook chicken without rinsing it off first.

Cut 1 large Onion into quarters. Cut 2 large carrot into 4 to 5 pieces ( No need to peel first ) Cut 3 stalks of celery into pieces. Place the chicken into the Instant Pot / Slow Cooker / Crockpot along with all the vegetables. Add 1 large teaspoon of sea salt, plus 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.

 

Instant Pot Set the Instant Pot to Soup/Broth (Pressure cooker setting) Place on “Normal’ pressure and timer for 40 minutes. Be sure the top lid release valve is set to sealing. Slow Cooker / Crockpot The advantage of the slow cooker is you can set the timer and forget about it for hours.

Next, add the water, at least 8 cups. Add tomato paste and mix it in very well. Place the chicken in the middle of the slow cooker, add the vegetables plus one large teaspoon of Sea Salt. (Table salt = ¾ teaspoon) Cook on high for the first hour then turn down to low and cook until the chicken breast internal temperature reaches 158. Then remove the chicken and shred the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Making The Chicken Tortilla Soup “Base”

• Slice and clean onion large yellow onion
• Slice and remove the rib from one orange or red bell pepper
• Slice and remove the stem and devein one medium to large tomato.
• Two dried chiles – Guajillo & Ancho chiles – Remove all seeds and stem

Next, we are going to charr the vegetables and chiles. I like using a Cart Iron skillet for this process. Cast Iron skillets hold the heat extremely well and help with even cooking. Won’t have a hot spot versus a cooler spot.

Optional: Corn tortillas can be used as a thickening agent. Take a few tortillas and wet them. Could use chicken broth or water. The idea is to soften them for the blender. Soak for about 90 seconds. Add them to the blender to get new and smooth.

Look at that “Base” Our Chicken Tortilla Soup is going to be beautiful and full of flavor.  So healthy and bright and vibrant. At this point, the chicken is done. Remove the chicken, strain the broth/stock. Then shred the chicken while it is still hot. Once shredded add a little bit of the cooking liquid back into the shredded chicken. It helps keep the chicken nice and moist.

Then add the “Base” back into your cooker with the chicken broth/stock. We need to cut up a few vegetables.  Cut up one large onion, one red bell pepper, one orange bell pepper, and one poblano pepper.  The cut is up to you.

Think about the finished dish and how the pieces will feel in your guest’s mouth.  The peppers will be getting cooked in the cooker along with the base and broth/stock. They will soften and add an additional layer of flavor, plus it's a nice texture in the soup.

We now have the “Base”, the chicken broth/stock, and sliced vegetable ready. Add all of them into your cooker plus some fresh cilantro and the juice of one lime. #freshnessSettings:

• For Instant Pot, set to Broth/Soup, on normal pressure and the timer for 10 to 15 minutes. Longer cook time softens more.
• For the crockpot about an additional 30 minutes. You don’t want to go any longer than this or the vegetable will become too soft.

Plating

Using a ladle add some of the chicken broth/stock to a bowl. Then add the shredded chicken in the middle. Be sure to add a good bit as you want your eaters to see the chicken in an abundance. You could add anything your heart desires now. I kept it a bit Tex-Mex and added black beans, corn, favorite cheese ( I used sharp Cheddar), the crunchy tortilla strips, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

The Crunchy Tortilla Strips

• Shallow fry them in a little bit of oil on the stovetop
• Or bake them in a 325 oven for about 10 minutes (Healthier Verison) (Be sure to check on them while they cook) add a small amount of oil to help them crisp up. About 2 to 3 teaspoons.