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 Instant Pot Chicken Cilantro Soup is perfect for lunch or a light dinner. Look to the variations for a vegan option, and add whichever veggies you like.
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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 flavorful and satisfying meal.
This recipe combines my mom's chicken soup and the lemon coriander soup from the Indo-Chinese restaurants 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, feel-good meal.
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 flavor-packed broth at the same time.
This is a versatile recipe that can easily be adjusted to individual preferences. It can be made entirely plant-based too, with this vegetarian cilantro soup recipe.
How to Make Chicken Cilantro Soup
- Turn the 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 the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing.
- Pressure cook for 10 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release. Open the 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 it 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 cornstarch 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.
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 tablespoons 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
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes
Did you enjoy this delicious one-pot meal? We love soups year-round and here are some of our family favorites:
Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Coriander Soup
Recipe Video
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!
Notes
- 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
- 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.
Nutrition
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Candace says
This has become one of my favorite instant pot recipes. I make it fairly often. Occasionally I will add a can of coconut cream to it in order to give it a creamy consistency,
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback! Love the idea of coconut cream. Have you tried my Mulligatawny soup? https://ministryofcurry.com/instant-pot-chicken-mulligatawny-soup/
Cheryl Fulbright says
Wow, This soup was awesome! So glad I tried it.
T shah says
Do you think this would work if I added the chicken in separately? Trying to make some for the vegetarian folks in the family without the chicken but still want to have the chicken for non vegetarians.
Archana says
yes! I do it many times when I make this recipe with tofu.
Niharika says
I just tried it. It came out fantastic
Archana says
Thank you!
Anindita says
Loved it! Awesome flavor.
Christy Henderson says
Can it be frozen and cooked later?
Archana says
yes you can use frozen chicken for this recipe. IF its easier you can also freeze ginger, jalapeño & cilantro.
Preeti says
If I don’t have chicken broth, can I use plain water? I don’t want to use Maggi cubes. I plan on using chicken with bone.
Thanks
Archana says
Hi Preeti! Yes you can use plain water, you may need to adjust salt to taste.
Preeti Kokkatt says
Thanks Archana, trying it today.
Pamela Berbos says
I am so excited to have come across this recipe!
I have made it several times and love it exactly as it is written. So very flavorful! Thank you ....it is a 5 star recipe in my book!
Kay Grace says
Did I miss something? Where is the coriander?
Archana says
There are no coriander seeds in this. In India we call cilantro as coriander. So the soup made with cilantro leaves and stems
Lisa Swedo says
I love this soup and have recommended it to many friends! Making it again today! Thank you so much, Archana!!
Purvi Modi Monga says
Loved this recipe. Super easy and everyone enjoyed it
Archana says
Thank you!
Gauri Gopalakrishnan says
Delicious soup! For those that want more of a gingery flavour, use small, organic ginger- they’re more flavorful.
Krupa Shinkre says
Hi Can i add noodles to this soup? Do i need to modify the recipe then , if yes how?
SHERENE JOSEPH says
Fantastic Soup Archana! Perfect for a cool Fall Friday evening!
Manal says
I made this today for my sis who is recovering from a surgery. Everyone loved it SO much! It will be astappe for happy/healthy days as well as sick days ❤️
Vidhi says
Hi
My IP does not have manual option... what can I do instead? Very tempted to make this
Archana says
It is same as the "Pressure Cook" option on newer Instant Pots
Saniya says
This is a very flavorful soup recepie! Love it!
Mansi Vacher says
Simply amazing ! Goodbye to restaurant lemon coriander soup for my family ! Thank you for sharing it
Ananya says
I’ve tried this soup many times and love it so much. The best soothing soup for the winter months. Absolutely delicious!
Ragini says
Made this soup and it was fantastic! My 10yr old even loved it! Thank you!!