Instant Pot Chicken Cilantro Soup

Bright and spicy ginger and aromatic cilantro stand out in this Indian twist on traditional chicken soup. Filled with just-cooked fresh, crunchy cabbage and carrots, this one-dish meal is perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Look to the variations for a vegan option, and add whichever veggies you like.

A healthy take on Indo Chinese Favorite

A delicacy from Indo-Chinese restaurants, Chicken Cilantro Soup has complementing flavors from lemon, ginger, and chilies, crunchy vegetables, and soft cooked chicken making it a flavor and nutrition-packed meal.

This recipe is a combination of my mom's chicken soup and the lemon coriander soup from the Indo-Chinese restaurants that I have enjoyed for years. It uses mom's chicken soup loaded with ginger, garlic, and cilantro as a base, to which I add more vegetables and chicken to make it a one-pot meal that is feel-go and packed with immune-boosting nutrients.

NOTE: Fresh cilantro in India is called coriander, this recipe does not use coriander seeds

I love the convenience of making this in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. It perfectly cooks the Chicken breasts that can be shredded in minutes and makes a healthy flavor-packed broth at the same time.

This is a versatile recipe that can easily be adjusted to individual preferences. It can be made completely plant-based too, check out my vegetarian cilantro soup recipe!

Variations

• Skip the chicken all together and follow the remaining recipe to make a perfect vegan soup. Just replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth
• Adjust the thickening, corn starch, or arrowroot powder,  to the textures you prefer. I enjoy the soupy texture, so for me, 3 tablespoon of cornstarch works well. You can adjust it from 3-6 tablespoons to get a thicker consistency
• Add more or less green chilies and fresh ginger to take the spice level up or down
• Go ahead and double up on cilantro if you have extra

Instructions

Step by step recipe to make Chicken Cilantro Soup in the Instant Pot:

• Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat oil. Add garlic, green chilies, ginger, and cilantro stems. Mix well.
• Add chicken breasts, black peppercorn, salt, water, and broth. Give a quick stir and close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing.
• Pressure cook for 10 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release. Open Instant Pot and take the chicken breasts out.

• Take a large bowl and strain the broth. Squeeze out any juices by gently pressing the stems in the strainer. Discard the stems from the strainer. Reserve the broth.
• Shred the chicken with a fork and keep aside.
• Rinse and dry the Instant Pot insert. Put the insert back and set the Instant Pot to sauté mode.
• Add the remaining oil, cabbage, carrots, and remaining ginger. Mix well.

• Add shredded chicken, reserved broth, and corn starch water. Mix well and bring the soup to a gentle boil
• Turn Instant Pot off. Add fresh ground pepper, lemon juice, and chopped cilantro. Mix well and enjoy hot

Serving

Serve this delicious soup as a light gluten-free meal for lunch or dinner. Pair it with Hakka Noodles or Kimchi Fried Rice for a hearty meal.

Storing

Any leftover soup can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days.

Meal Prepping

This soup is a good meal prep recipe. Simply pressure cook, shred the chicken and strain the broth. Add shredded chicken to the broth and refrigerate. When ready to serve, saute ginger, cabbage, and carrots for that perfect crunchy bite.

Did you enjoy this healthy and delicious one-pot meal? We love soups year-round and here are some of our family favorites:

• Low carb chicken mulligatawny soup
• EASY chicken tortellini soup
• Creamy Tomato Bisque
• Mexican chicken tortilla soup
• Vegetarian Coconut Curry Noodle Soup
• Instant Pot French Onion Soup
• Quick and comforting Lasagna Soup

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Recipe

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4.58 from 70 votes

Instant Pot Chicken Coriander Soup

 A flavorful and healthy soup with chicken, lots of fresh cilantro, cabbage and carrots packed with nutrients. 

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 6

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Archana Mundhe

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil divided
• ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic minced
• ▢ 3 green chillies sliced or 1 to 2 jalapenos
• ▢ 2 tablespoons grated ginger divided
• ▢ 1 cup cilantro stems roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 pound chicken breasts
• ▢ 12 black peppercorns
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 2 cups water
• ▢ 2 cups low sodium chicken broth we used better than bouillon
• ▢ 1 cup cabbage thinly sliced
• ▢ 1 cup carrots julienned
• ▢ 3 tablespoons corn starch or arrowroot powder mixed in 1 cup of water
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper optional
• ▢ ½ cup cilantro chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

• Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat half of the oil. Add garlic, green chilies, half of the ginger and cilantro stems. Mix well.
• Add chicken breasts, black peppercorn, salt, water and broth. Give a quick stir and close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing.
• Pressure cook for 10 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release.
• Open Instant Pot and take the chicken breasts out. Shred the chicken with a fork and keep aside.
• Take a large bowl and strain the broth. Squeeze out any juices by gently pressing the stems in the strainer. Discard the stems from the strainer. Reserve the broth.
• Rinse and dry the Instant Pot insert. Put the insert back and set the Instant Pot to sauté mode. Add the remaining oil, cabbage, carrots, and remaining ginger. Mix well.
• Add shredded chicken, reserved broth, and corn starch water.
• Mix well and bring the soup to a gentle boil. Turn Instant Pot off. Add fresh ground pepper, lemon juice, and chopped cilantro. Enjoy hot!

Video

Notes

Vegetarian Version

• Skip the chicken all together and follow the remaining recipe to make a perfect vegan soup. Just replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. If you can find enoki mushrooms, they add a great crunch too. Stir them in the end along with the carrots and cabbage  
• Here is my vegan lemon coriander soup with tofu

Variations

• Adjust the corn starch or arrowroot powder, to the textures you prefer. 
• Adjust green chilies and fresh ginger to take the spice level up or down. 
• Go ahead and double up on cilantro if you have extra. 

Storing

Any leftover soup can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days.

Meal Prepping

This soup is a good meal prep recipe. Simply pressure cook, shred the chicken and strain the broth. Add shredded chicken to the broth and refrigerate. When ready to serve, saute ginger, cabbage, and carrots for that perfect crunchy bite.

Nutrition

Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 783mg | Potassium: 468mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3945IU | Vitamin C: 23.7mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 0.6mg

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