Instant Pot Chicken & Rice Soup with Dill
Comfort in a bowl
I told you once
I told you twice
all seasons of the year are nice
for eating chicken soup with rice!
This chicken soup is comfort in a bowl. White rice gives the broth a creamy texture, plus there's tender chicken breast, finely chopped veggies and a generous amount of dill.
If I lived somewhere cold, I’d want to eat this soup after ice skating or walking home on a blustery evening.
The preparation is simple. Chop up and saute onion, celery and carrot. Then combine the rest of the ingredients in your Instant Pot and cook for 5 minutes.
The soup starts out brothy and gets thicker the longer it sets. Leftovers are almost like savory rice porridge. You can add a sprinkle of fresh dill or pile it on, whichever you prefer.
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Instant Pot Chicken & Rice Soup with Dill
Servings: 6
Cooking Method: Instant Pot
Approximate Total Cooking Time: About 45 minutes (Prep time + 25 minutes in the Instant Pot)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil or butter
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion)
¾ cup finely chopped or thinly sliced carrot
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (optional)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or thinly sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 cups/2 quarts chicken broth
3/4 cup white rice (I use Jasmine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried dill
¼ teaspoon turmeric
½ cup finely chopped fresh dill
Ingredient notes
It’s important that the onion, carrot and celery are finely chopped because this soup doesn’t cook for very long. If the veggies are too big, they won’t cook fully.
Don’t use enormous chicken breasts that weigh more than 8 ounces each, or the chicken won’t cook fully. If you have an enormous chicken breast, slice it in half lengthwise.
Instructions
Use the Instant Pot saute function to warm the oil/butter. Add the onion, carrot and celery and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and saute 30 seconds more.
Add the next 6 ingredients to the pot: chicken breasts, chicken broth, white rice, salt, dried dill and turmeric. Stir the ingredients.
Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. When the cooking time is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes before completely releasing the pressure.
Waiting 5 minutes to release the pressure will help keep the chicken meat tender and will also help prevent too much broth from spewing out of the steam release valve. Although it’s not “officially” recommended, I lightly drape a dish towel over the steam release valve before I release it to soak up any broth that does spray out.
Take out the chicken breasts and set them on a cutting board. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before chopping it into bite-sized chunks. Season the chicken generously with salt before adding it back to the soup.
Add the fresh dill to the soup before serving (unless your kids/family aren’t crazy about dill, then leave it on the side)
Taste the soup and add more salt as needed.
Leftover soup will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It will be thicker with less broth; the rice absorbs the broth fairly quickly.
A Second Cooking Method (with firmer rice)
The texture of the rice in this soup is soft, giving the soup a porridge-like consistency. If you want firmer rice, follow this cooking method:
When the raw chicken is added to the pot, leave out the rice. Cook the chicken for 5 minutes, then let the pressure release slowly for 10 minutes (instead of 5). Release any remaining pressure, take the chicken breasts out and set aside. Add the rice to the pot, seal the lid, and cook for 3 minutes at high pressure. When the cooking time is complete, instantly release the pressure. Chop up the chicken and add it back to the pot.
Recipe Tips
For more flavor, I often add ½ teaspoon of poultry seasoning to the soup before it cooks. It’s a blend of finely ground thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg. Poultry seasoning can be hard to find in grocery stores - McCormick’s is the brand I like and see most often.
Consider adding a generous sprinkle of lemon pepper to your bowl. I don’t add it to the soup pot because my kids aren’t fond of black pepper.
For a more silky and luxurious broth, melt 2 tablespoons of butter into the finished soup.
I’ve made this soup using 4 cups of broth and 4 cups of water. This works fine, you’ll just need to add more salt.
The turmeric is added for color. You can add a little more after the soup cooks to give the broth a yellow glow. Or, you can skip the turmeric if you don’t already have it in your kitchen.
Please, Jenny, come make this soup for me and cure my cold, it sounds wonderful!
Love, Mom