Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Soup

This creamy tomato soup is packed full of chicken and veggies for a healthy, comforting, delicious bowl! A large, filling portion is so light... there's even room to pair with a grilled cheese if you want!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Soup/Chili

Cuisine: American, Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword: carrots, chicken, cream cheese, creamy, kale, onions, parmesan, soup, Tomato, zucchini

Servings: -10

Calories: 197kcal

Author: Lillie

Ingredients

In the instant pot

1.5 lb 680 g FROZEN chicken tenderloins (may use thawed of course)*
2 zucchini chopped (365g)
1 onion diced 250 g
2 cups carrots chopped 195g
5 cloves garlic
2 tbs tomato paste I love the tubed option from Trader Joe's for easy storing
2 tsp salt *this has been edited from 1.5 tbs! Apparently I like things a little saltier than some. Ha.
A few grinds of black pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Big pinch of red pepper flakes
2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes undrained

In the Blender

12 oz cauliflower steamed
2 MORE 14.5 can diced tomatoes undrained
18 g basil paste in a tube from the produce section, or 3 frozen cubes or 1 tbs fresh minced basil
6 tbs 66g whipped greek cream cheese* (if you can't find it, see note below)

After all combined

2 cups chicken broth I use Kirkland boxed
3 oz kale chopped remove big, hard, miserable stems
Parmesan and fresh basil for topping
*May sub 66 g reduced-fat 1/3 less fat cream cheese. It will add an additional 7 grams of fat to the entire pot and reduce carbs by about four. TINY difference in your bowl.. so I wouldn't worry about it!

Instructions

Instant pot

Add frozen chicken, zucchini, onion, carrots, garlic, tomato paste, seasonings, and TWO cans of the diced tomatoes to your instant pot.
Set pressure cooker to manual high pressure and cook for 10 minutes, making sure the steam valve is closed. When the timer goes off, I always let mine release naturally for 10-15 minutes but if you're in a hurry, release the steam valve and open as soon as it lets you.
Remove chicken with a slotted spoon or tongs and shred with two forks or throw in the Kitchen-aid with the basic paddle attachment to shred like I do. If you used tenderloins, it should be very tender and easy to shred.

Blender

Add steamed cauliflower (I just microwave a 12 oz bag of fresh from Trader Joe's as directed), two more cans of diced tomatoes, basil paste, and greek or low-fat cream cheese to the jar of your blender. Blend 'till smooth. Throw in a pinch of salt and pepper for good measure.
Combine
Add your shredded chicken back into the instant pot. Pour in the blender mixture. Add the 2 cups of chicken stock, and 3 oz or two huge handfuls of chopped kale. Stir it all together and close the lid and let it sit for at least ten minutes for the kale to wilt. If it's not wilty enough for you, turn to the sauté setting and let it get really hot for a few minutes.
Enjoy immediately or let it sit on warm until you're ready to eat! Top each bowl with a little extra shaved parmesan, and some fresh basil.

Add-ons

I love to do homemade bread on a soup night. This easy french bread from Your Home Based Mom is our favorite!
I like to cook a separate pot of pasta or tortellini for the kids to throw in theirs. If I want more bulk, I'll cook extra broccoli or cauliflower or even sautéed mushrooms to throw into mine.
Grilled cheese is a great addition of course.
Or we love to just do some broiled parmesan toasts for dipping or big croutons for topping.
YUM.

Notes

Breasts vs tenderloins: I always prefer tenderloins... I just find them to turn out so much more tender. Never ever weird and bouncy. But of course breasts work just fine. Increase time to 12 minutes for breasts.
Thawed chicken?: *I wanted to make this as easy as possible meaning, you don't even have to remember to thaw your chicken! But of course if you've got thawed, that works great too! Reduce time to 8 minutes.

Slow Cooker instructions:

Add first set of instant pot ingredients to the crock pot PLUS one cup of the chicken broth. Cook on low for about 4 hours- till the chicken shreds easily.
Follow original blender step from above.
Remove chicken, shred, and add back to slow cooker. Stir in blended cauliflower mixture, chicken stock, and kale. Cover and let sit until the kale is as wilted as you like.

*Macro-count disclaimer: That sounds so official... but just know, there could always be some variation in our final count depending on if you cook your soup longer or shorter causing more or less moisture evaporation. But dealing with such lean protein and low calorie items overall... the margin of error is not too dangerous.

Nutrition