Easy Chicken Instant Pot Soup

Maybe I’m lazy. Maybe it’s exhaustion from a full day of work or because I’m hoping to get a jump start on cooking. Maybe it’s habit. I don’t really know. All I know is that every time I go to Trader Joe’s I always pick up their container of Mirepoix.

What is mirepoix? The french word, mirepoix, doesn’t actually translate to anything in English. However, the italian word for mirepoix is Soffritto which means “to sauté” or “stir fry”. The term is also know as the “Holy Trinity” of cooking but to us in the good ol’ US of A… it simply means chopping carrots, celery and onion.

Each region seems to have it’s own special blend for this mix but I prefer the french base and a hefty amount of olive oil to get a nice even browning coat.

You’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this. To start, I think it’s really fun to learn about food in different parts of the world. I think it’s also fun to cook and I’ve already started to get back into old habits by cooking on the weekend to prep for my week ahead. My goal is to make nice warm home cooked meals that I can easily heat up at the office or at home after a long day. One thing I crave during winter is soup.

Soup and I haven’t always been friends. So I thought. Turns out canned soup and I aren’t friends. When I discovered homemade soup… man-o-man. Homemade soup is like pure joy in a cup!

How did I uncover this delicious soup? Well, I made it up. This is one of those kitchen sink recipes that turned out to be a nice little surprise at the end of a long day. I had chicken breasts in the fridge that I needed to use up before it went bad. I also had a package of mirepoix, black beans, chicken broth (lucky me!) and rice. Those are the 5 main ingredients you need to get this party started.

I was so lucky to have made this days before I got hit with a nasty cold. I honestly don’t know what I would have eaten if I didn’t have this soup to heat up. Everything happens for a reason, right?

Now that we’ve learned a little French and a little Italian, I’m going to share this recipe. I’d love to know what everyone else thinks and if you make it!

Easy Chicken Instant Pot Soup

16 oz chicken breast
14.5 oz mirepoix (approx. 2 whole carrots, 1/2 onion, 4 whole celery)
15 oz black beans, canned (one can)
1/4 cup white rice
32 fl oz chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper
oregano
garlic powder (optional)

step one // Set Instant Pot on “sauté” and heat a nice helping of olive oil. Allow a minute to heat up and then add mirepoix mix. Add in garlic, salt and pepper once you see the mirepoix starts to brown. If adding garlic powder too, feel free to add now. Stir to prevent over browning. Feel free to add more olive oil if it looks too dry.

step two // Once onions begin to look transparent, add the black beans to the mix and stir. Then add the chicken right on top and then add the chicken broth. Add the rice, oregano, any extra salt and pepper. No need to stir.

step three // Finally, turn off sauté feature. Close the lid to your Instant Pot and hit the “soups” button. Set the timer to 20 minutes.

step four // When the timer goes off, remove the chicken from the soup and set it on a plate or in a bowl. Give the soup a stir. The chicken will very easily shred. I use two forks to make sure I get even shreds of chicken. Add chicken back to the soup.

step five // Stir the soup and start ladle out. Eat and enjoy!

** You can also make the recipe completely from scratch. It will take additional time to obviously cut everything up, and to make your own chicken broth.