Summary:

This soup is bursting with flavor, yet incredibly easy to make with simple ingredients like chicken and salsa. Cream cheese adds a creamy richness to the soup, which is then finished with avocado and shredded cheese.

Salsa Chicken Soup

5 from 24 votes

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Prep: 5

Cook: 30

Yield: 7 servings

INGREDIENTS

▢ 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (Note 1)
▢ 3 cups low sodium chicken broth (Note 2)
▢ 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese (Note 3)
▢ 1.5 cups mild salsa (Note 4)
▢ 4 teaspoons taco seasoning mix (Note 5)

Toppings:

▢ 1 avocado, thinly sliced or diced
▢ 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
▢ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Soften Cream Cheese: Cut cream cheese into 8 cubes. Set aside to soften while you work on the next step.
Pressure Cook: Stir together chicken broth, salsa, and taco seasoning in pressure cooker pot (Note 6) until well-mixed. Submerge chicken breasts in mixture. Secure and seal lid (Note 7). Cook for 25 minutes (Note 8) at high pressure, followed by quick pressure release.
Thicken Soup: Uncover and transfer only chicken breasts to plate; set aside. Whisk together 1 cup of hot liquid from pressure cooker with softened cream cheese in heatproof bowl or liquid measuring glass until smooth, a few minutes. Pour cream cheese mixture into pot, stirring it in.
Shred Chicken: Turn on saute mode for medium heat. While waiting for liquid to boil, finely shred chicken using two forks and return chicken to pot. Boil soup for a few minutes to combine flavors, stirring frequently, then turn off saute mode.
Serve (Note 9): Ladle soup into bowls, and top with avocado, cheddar cheese, and cilantro.

NUTRITION

Makes 7 Servings

Amount Per Serving (1 cup):

Calories 290 (59% from fat)
Total Fat 19g	30%
Saturated Fat 9g	45%
Cholesterol 83mg	28%
Sodium 810mg	34%
Net Carb 6g
Total Carb 9g	3%
Dietary Fiber 3g	12%
Sugars 3g
Protein 21g

Vitamin A 19% · Vitamin C 10% · Calcium 11% · Iron 8%

PHOTOS

closeup of salsa chicken soup with cheese

spooning shredded chicken from soup bowl

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Chicken Breasts. I use fresh chicken; if yours is frozen, defrost in the refrigerator overnight until thawed. You can also use already cooked shredded chicken. I haven’t tried chicken thighs, but that should also work well for this recipe.

(2) Chicken Broth. I use low sodium broth to avoid an overly salty soup.

(3) Cream Cheese. I use regular, full-fat cream cheese by Philadelphia. This is the key ingredient that lends a thick and smooth consistency to the soup.

(4) Salsa. I use homemade salsa or the fresh kind that you can find in the refrigerated section of a grocery store. Not the shelf-stable jarred or canned salsa. Note that salsa is not the same as pico de gallo; salsa is thinner and pico de gallo is chunkier. I recommend buying mild salsa if this is your first time making this soup. The taco seasoning will provide the heat and you don’t want to end up with soup that’s too spicy to enjoy.

(5) Taco Seasoning Mix. You can find this in the spice aisle of your supermarket. I use Trader Joe’s taco seasoning mix, and I find that 4 teaspoons provides an adequate level of spiciness. If you can’t handle spices well, use 3 teaspoons or less. Homemade mixes also work well.

(6) Pressure Cooker Equipment. I use a 6-quart Instant Pot. Other sizes of electric pressure cookers should also work as long as all ingredients fit within the maximum capacity.

(7) Sealing Pressure Cooker. Before cooking, remember to seal the pressure cooker by turning the pressure knob from “venting” to “sealing,” otherwise the pot will not pressurize.

(8) Pressure Cooking Time. If you scale the ingredients up or down to accommodate a different number of servings, the pressure cooking time remains the same.

(9) Serving. In addition to the serving suggestions mentioned in the recipe — avocado, shredded cheese, cilantro — you can add toppings like sour cream, crumbled Mexican queso fresco, a squeeze of lime juice, chopped fresh tomatoes, or sliced fresh jalapeños. Note that the soup is also fantastic as-is, without any toppings. Serve this for lunch or dinner alongside appetizers like fried jalapeño slices or bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. If you have leftovers, cover and refrigerate for up to a few days. Reheat in the microwave until warm.

(10) Nutrition. The estimated nutrition information includes the 3 toppings listed in the ingredients.

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newest oldest most voted

Lisa

I always have a hard time whisking cream cheese in even when it is super soft. This time I added some hot soup liquid to it in a large measuring cup and blended it with my immersion blender. Perfectly blended cream cheese in seconds!

johanna d begeman

Thank you for sharing this recipe! It’s a wonderful treat in the cold winter months. Made it exactly as described but used Greek yogurt cream cheese.

Caroline

I have been struggling to find good recipes for the instant pot, I got so used to the slow cooker. This was beyond amazing!! My fiance and I ate it for dinner and lunch, we couldn’t get enough of it! So much flavor, very easy, and chicken turned out perfect. Thank you!!

Cris Richards

I made the salsa chicken soup last night. Absolutely delicious. I like a lot of heat so I used hot salsa and added a couple jalapenos. My favorite keto recipe so far!

Loren

Making tonight, how long should I cook if the chicken is frozen?

Sarah

Does this freeze well?

Dawn

Cream cheese does not freeze well. It becomes grainy.

Yesenia Connally

Yes !! Just tried it turned out great but keep the crème cheese unfrozen

Lauren BLASCHKE

This recipe is soooo good! My family and I have it often in the fall/winter but we even sneak it in during the warmer months too. It’s so easy and completely delicious! (I use a crockpot instead of the instant pot.) Thank you so much for this recipe.

Leana Cuthbert

Great and very easy recipe. Thank you. We loved it. Wouldn’t change anything

Donna Maas

I have made this twice and both times it was delicious. Both times I added a drained can of black beans, the second time I added some diced smoked sausage. It was soooo good. This would also be good with shrimp. Will be making this on a regular basis.

Kyle

Omg I just love this soup … I also added at the end after I dished it out sour cream tastes fabulous I’m definitely going to make this again…

Kandi

I just finished making this, it’s so easy and the flavor is beyond amazing. I will for sure be making it many times again. Thanks so much for the recipe!

Melissa

I made this tonight using frozen chicken breasts and it was amazing! Thank you for such an easy & delicious recipe

Tonya

If you don’t have a pressure cooker what do you recommend cooking the chicken?

Julia

This recipe can be adapted for the stovetop. Use a large pot and follow the directions, keeping in mind that the pressure cooking and stovetop cooking time estimates are going to be different.

Blue

Think this recipe would be just as good in a reg pot on the stove? Lol I cannot figure the insta pot out (palm to forehead)!

The Instant Pot is just an electric pressure cooker and any other brands would work as well. I think this recipe would also work in a regular pot on the stovetop, except that you would need more liquid (pressure cookers are very good at retaining liquid compared to stovetop) and you would have to increase the cooking time. Hope that gives you a start!

Danielle

So delicious! I made this for dinner and I love the creamy flavor. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Fara

If I want to make this in a crockpot, do you have a recommended cooking time?

I would probably try 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Essentially, the chicken needs to be cooked long enough so it’s easy to shred.

Nancy

OMG just made this in my brand new instant pot. It is DELICIOUS!

antashia

I do not have an instant pot can I make this in a crock pot?

I haven’t tested this in a slow cooker so I can’t say what the cooking times would be, but I think it could definitely work.

Amelia

I made this last night and it was delicious! I was meal prepping, so I haven’t tried it with all the fixins’ yet, but just the flavor of the soup is wonderful.

I wanted to stretch it a little further so I added a lot more chicken stock. Didn’t end up super thick but once I add toppings and reheat on the stove I’m sure it will be a-ok.

Amanda

Thank you for this amazing recipe! I added beans and corn along with my own taco blend. We also like to add a tiny bit of liquid smoke. I’ll definitely be making again and again! 😋

Norma

This is a good recipe! I use ground chicken sometimes instead of the breasts. I use a deep bowl and an immersion blender to smooth the cream cheese into the 1c. of soup.

Carol Aguilar

Made this last night, but also made my own taco seasoning with just a 1/4 tsp salt to cut down even more on the sodium. It was awesome, topped with avocado.

Tina Spring

Yummy, easy and surprised me how good it was for summer. Give it a try, you won’t be sorry.

Ginny Berkey

Great and easy. I added some chopped fresh tomato on top and my non-keto husband sprinkled crushed taco chips on top.

Love this recipe! We make it often. I like to add some cooked orzo and corn in at the end to give it more substance. We also crush tortilla chips on top like crackers.

Instant Pot Salsa Chicken Soup