Here is the situation I find myself in: apparently, I am supposed to be eating healthier and exercising, at least that is what my doctor tells me, but what do they know? Fine, I plan out healthy meals for the week and I buy the food. Perfect, I am set for the week ahead. Then one of the days I get very busy, or I struggle through the day and I find myself not wanting to cook that oven baked meal I had planned. So instead of cooking, I find myself wanting to get takeout, which again is apparently not very good for me. Of course, I know these things, but sometimes you give in, and if you are me, then you give in more than you should.
But I digress.
Trying to stick to the meal plan that I created days before doesn’t always work, sometimes you need a backup. Thankfully, I have such a backup. The Instant Pot. I kid you not, my family and I have been using this so much lately. As I have stated in the past, we are doing quite a lot of work around here at home so being able to use the Instant Pot for dinner has been so helpful.
If you don’t have an Instant Pot you need to get yourself one RIGHT NOW! I promise it is worth it!
Some of our favorite things to make in the pot are mashed potatoes, my delicious beef stroganoff, and of course soups. Soups are terribly easy and quick to make in the instant pot. One of my new favorite soups is wild rice soup. What is not to like about wild rice soup? It has vegetables, chicken, herbs and spices, and you can make it ahead of time or save it for leftovers! For someone who struggles with consistency in eating, this is a win win!
Making this chicken and wild rice soup in your Instant Pot is so easy. The hardest part is cutting the vegetables. Let me show you just how easy it is.
Prepping your mise en place, ohhh fancy!
Not really, the mise en place is simply a term for preparing all of your ingredients before you begin cooking. This means cutting your vegetables, measuring out broths and spices, and having everything in order BEFORE you even turn your instant pot on. Trust me on this, it will save you a lot of time and stress in the kitchen.
Time for the mirepoix (meer-pwaa).
I wouldn’t say this is a traditional mirepoix as you won’t be cooking them as long, but a mirepoix is a flavor profile of onions, celery and carrots, that are cooked for a period. You don’t brown them but pull out the flavors of the vegetables before adding the rest of the ingredients.
To start, set your instant pot to saute and let it heat up. Then add the olive oil and let that heat up. Remember we want our oil to be hot before adding anything to it. Since the pot was heated before you put the oil in, it should not take long for the oil to heat up.
Once the oil is heated, add the carrots, celery and onions. Stir them together and let them cook until they are fragrant, stirring occasionally. We don’t want them to brown remember, just to pull out those flavors.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Now you can begin to add the rest of the ingredients. I like to start with the garlic and give it a few stirs until that becomes fragrant before moving onto the rest of the wild rice soup ingredients. Don’t let it cook too long, you will only need about 30 seconds to one minute for the garlic. Then add the chicken, the wild rice, and seasonings. Give that all a good mix, then finally add the chicken broth.
Cook the wild rice soup.
Now you can close and lock the instant pot lid. Please remember safety first! Set the dial on the instant pot lid to sealing, and not venting. Then select pressure cook on high for 15 minutes. If you are new to the instant pot keep in mind that it takes some time for the pressure to build up, once that pressure builds up then it begins the cooking time. You will know it is cooking because the timer will start on the digital clock on the pot.
After the instant pot stops cooking.
Once the pressure cooker is done cooking it will beep loudly. The timer will then be reset to start at zero. This means that the pressure cooking is done, and now it is set to warm. DO NOT OPEN THE LID. You are going to do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes. The timer will show 10 minutes when it is time for you to finish releasing the pressure by moving the dial from “sealing” to “venting” be careful when doing this as there will still be steam coming out and it will be hot. Once the pot is completely vented there will be no more steam coming out, and the silver pressure float valve has fallen back down.
Only now can you unlock and open the instant pot lid.
Finishing touches.
The chicken will shred easily and should not take to long. Once you have shredded the chicken put it all back into the pot. At this point go ahead and taste your soup and add in a little extra seasoning if you would like more.
Serve and Enjoy!
Just give your soup a good stir and ladle it into your favorite bowls! You can make this soup ahead; it should keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Any longer then that you will want to freeze it. As you know I don’t like to keep things in the freezer for too long, but I would say you could keep this in the freezer for a month.
Instant Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This Instant Pot wild rice soup is loaded with protein and vegetables, and it is so easy to make. It is a delicious and comforting dish that is perfect for meal prep!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb chicken breast, boneless, skinless
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cup wild rice
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp thyme, dried
- ½ tsp marjoram, dried
- ¼ tsp rosemary, dried
- 2 bay leaves, dried
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Set instant pot to sautee
- Sautee carrots, onion, and celery until fragrant
- Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds
- Add the chicken, wild rice, and spices, stir together
- Add the chicken broth to the instant pot
- Close and lock the instant pot lid
- Set the dial at the top of the instant pot to sealing
- Pressure cook on High for 15 minutes
- Use natural release for 10 minutes, then manually vent
- Shred the chicken breasts, out of or inside the instant pot, your choice
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
You can add mushrooms to this if you like. I would do 1/2 to 1 cup of mushrooms.
I did not add cream to this because I felt the flavors didn’t need to add cream. You are welcome to add cream, but it will change the nutritional values, and you will want to add the cream AFTER pressure cooking. Don’t pressure cook dairy or else it will curdle. Gross.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
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