Easy Low Carb Mexican Chicken Soup

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Published: 01/28/2019 | Updated: 03/29/2024

An easy low carb Mexican Chicken Soup that is perfect for anyone following a Keto lifestyle, with great Mexican flavor. Made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker, this delicious low carb mexican soup comes together in no time and will be a family favorite recipe!

I’m pretty new to the Keto way of eating, and to be honest, I’m probably more low carb than straight Keto. Regardless of what you call it, though, I’m working hard at trying to eliminate carbs and sugar while still enjoying my food.

Because I am a foodie and not only do I want it to taste great, but I want the rest of my family to enjoy it too! You will never find me making more than one dinner per night, so I’m always trying to invest new recipes that make all of us happy.

How to Make Chicken Soup in the Instant Pot

About an hour or so before dinner, be sure to set your cream cheese out on the counter so it can soften. You want your cream cheese to blend in completely with the hot soup and it’s so much easier to do this if you start with room temperature cream cheese.

When it’s time to make dinner, put your chicken in your instant pot. For the chicken, it is better to use skinless chicken breasts. You can also use rotisserie chicken if you have some for added flavor.  Add your can of diced tomatoes but be sure not to drain it. You want to include all the liquid as well!

Then add your chicken broth, water, taco seasoning and salsa. You can also include green chilies and jalapeno pepper for intensified spicy flavors. To keep the carbs down, I make sure to use a sugar-free salsa and a homemade taco seasoning. This recipe for taco seasoning is my favorite. I just make up a big batch and keep it stored in my cupboard for recipes just like this!

Add the lid to your Instant Pot and make sure the pressure valve is closed. I forget this ALL.THE.TIME.

Then hit your manual mode button and set the time for 12 minutes. I’ve made chicken soup in the Instant Pot and set my time anywhere from 10-15 minutes for raw chicken. 12 minutes seems to be the sweet spot, though, and it shreds so easily and stays moist and tender!

One thing to take note as you’re planning your dinner is that it does take this about 15 minutes to come to pressure. It’s hard to add that into the recipe card since there are so many variables and it will be different for everyone. I’ve made this soup about 4 times now, though, and the average seems to be about 15 minutes to come to pressure before it starts cooking for 12 minutes.

While it’s cooking, you can cube your cream cheese.

When it’s done cooking, use the quick release for the pressure valve.

Remove your chicken to a cutting board. Add the cream cheese to the Instant Pot and use a whisk to blend it into the soup. If you’re having trouble blending it in and you’re still seeing little flecks of cream cheese, set your Instant Pot to sauté to add a little more heat to melt it.

Then shred your chicken using two forks. Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot and stir to combine. I serve the soup into bowls together with fresh avocado slices and a little cheese on top. Lime wedges can also be added for added acidity and citrus flavor. The nutritional info I calculated is based on those toppings. If you add sour cream or a different cheese, your nutritional info will need to be calculated separately.

How to Make Chicken Soup in the Slow Cooker

If you want to adapt this recipe for a slow cooker , just follow all of the same steps except cook it on low for 4 hours.

Your goal is still to get the chicken to a point where it’s easily shreddable with 2 forks. You may need to adjust your time based on the thickness of your chicken breasts. I tested this recipe with pretty average size chicken breasts, though, and they were done perfectly in 4 hours on low.

Substitutions to This Recipe

Keep in mind that any substitutions made to this recipe will affect the nutritional values, so if you’re following a particular diet you want to re-calculate those.

Chicken: You can easily use frozen chicken breasts in place of the raw chicken breasts. It will take a little longer to come to pressure, but your cooking time should still be about 12-15 minutes meal prep depending on the thickness of your meat. Using leftover rotisserie chicken is also a great idea to not waste food.

You can also substitute chicken thighs if that is what you have on-hand.

I often keep bags of pre-cooked, shredded chicken in my freezer. If that is what you’re using, I would decrease your time to about 8-10 minutes.

Taco Seasoning: If you’re looking for an easy simple meal and aren’t as worried about counting carbs, feel free to just use a taco seasoning packet from the grocery store as opposed to a homemade seasoning mix.

Diced Tomatoes: I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis for a little extra spice. You can use regular diced tomatoes if you don’t want that kick. You can even up the tomatoes to a 28 ounce can. I kept the smaller can because of carb counting, but if I wasn’t worried about that I’d double the amount!

Add-ins: You can also throw in a can of corn (drained) and a can of black beans (rinsed and drained) to bulk it up some. You could also use cheddar cheese and throw a spoonful of sour cream on top. Heavy cream can also be added for a silkier and creamier feel and texture.

Easy Low Carb Mexican Chicken Soup

If you’re looking for more soup recipes, you can check this Instant Pot Soups. There are so many variations of soup that we put together, and everyone seems to have their own favorite recipe.

Looking for more Instant Pot recipes

Instant Pot recipes are a favorite around the world. They’re easy to make and usually come out tasting great. Here are some more Instant Pot recipes you may want to try.

• Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• Mashed Potatoes in Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Shredded Chicken
• Instant Pot Chuck Roast

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Easy Mexican Chicken Soup

This chicken taco soup recipe is perfect for a keto lifestyle and uses your Instant Pot! An easy recipe that lets you put dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Total Time17 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken taco soup, isntant pot soup recipe, keto soup recipe

Servings: 6

Calories: 293kcal

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken breasts boneless, skinless
• 14.5 oz Diced Tomatoes undrained
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 cup Water
• 2 Tbsp. Homemade Taco Seasoning
• 1 cup Salsa
• 8 oz Cream Cheese softened and cubed
• 1/2 Avocado for topping
• 1/3 cup Monterey Cheese for topping

Instructions

• Place chicken, tomatoes, broth, water, taco seasoning and salsa in the Instant Pot.  Set to manual mode and cook for 12 minutes on high.
• Do a quick release of pressure. 
• Remove chicken and add softened cream cheese to Instant Pot. Stir cream cheese into soup until it is melted and fully incorporated.
• Shred chicken using 2 forks and return to soup. Stir well and serve. Top with avocado slice and cheese. 

Notes

If using frozen chicken breasts, increase pressure cooking time to 12 minutes.

I did not include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure since there are so many variables for this. It took my soup an extra 15 minutes to come to pressure so be sure to factor that into your time.