Instant Pot Chicken Lentil Soup
As always, I tend not to have carrots or celery lying around, so here’s a chicken soup recipe that requires neither. This one is modified from Skinny Taste’s, most notably with spices from my brown lentil soup, also for the Instant Pot. Peter found it more Mexican than usual, perhaps because of the whole coriander seed which he didn’t otherwise appreciate.
Serves 3–4.
Ingredients
- ¾ lb. boneless chicken thighs
- 1 c. brown lentils
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 or more large garlic cloves, smashed or minced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 6 c. chicken broth (or less, depending on desired soupiness)
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 heaping tsp. whole coriander, optionally freshly ground
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. pure chili powder (optional)
- ½ tsp. turmeric
- ½ tsp. oregano
- heaping ¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. salt
- pepper to taste
Directions
- Saute onions and garlic on low. (You can skip this step.) Cancel.
- Toss all ingredients in an Instant Pot.
- Close Instant Pot, seal vent, and press the Soup button or set to Manual/high for 30 minutes.
- Release naturally or quickly.
- Dice or shred chicken before serving.
Serve hot.
Variants
There’s definitely enough cooking time here for bone-in thighs, even if frozen.
Add a potato, farro, barley, or wheat berries.
Toss in a bag of baby spinach after releasing the pressure.
