It’s soup season. Or at least it would normally be soup season, if it weren’t for the fact that we haven’t gone below 80 degrees in weeks. Yesterday it hit 87. It’s almost October and the lowest daytime high in the 10-day forecast is 79. It’s supposed to be in the high 80s again by this weekend. But it’s like a timer goes off in my body every late September. I want soup for lunch and none of y’all can stop me. Plus, everyone I know is getting a head cold right now, and I figure this can either fry the germs out of my sinuses or help clear them out if I catch one.
Every summer we have a garden, and every summer the only thing we end up with a ton of is jalapeños. My husband is the jalapeño whisperer. We’ve probably gotten at least 40 so far, and more are still growing out there. I can’t let them go bad, so I’m making a lot of jalapeño-based recipes. This one only uses two fresh jalapeños for garnish, but that’s two less in my fridge now. I used canned jalapeños for the contents of the soup, because it saves time and doesn’t really compromise on flavor. Plus, I have extra cans from when I sent my husband to the store for canned green chiles and he came back with jalapeños. Oops.
The base of this soup is a pound of chicken breasts and four cups of chicken broth. Those 32-ounce cartons of broth are perfect for this, because you can just dump one into your Instant Pot without having to measure anything. Toss in your chicken breasts along with it. You can do it directly from frozen if you want, just add five minutes to the cook time. I did it this way and it worked fine. To that, add your drained 4-ounce can of diced jalapeños, and a teaspoon each of salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin. Then put the lid on your Instant Pot, and set for pressure cook on high for 15 minutes if using fresh chicken, and 20 minutes if using frozen. After the cook time is complete, let it release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release the rest of the way. During that ten minutes, fry up three slices of bacon and mince two fresh jalapeños. Make sure to wear food-safe gloves!
Open the lid again and remove the chicken, letting it cool on a plate. Set the pot to saute and whisk in an entire 8-ounce brick of cream cheese that’s been cut or torn into chunks. When the cream cheese has mostly broken down, pour in a half cup of heavy cream and whisk some more, then add a cup of shredded pepper jack and a cup of shredded sharp cheddar, working in 1/4 cup increments. Make sure each handful of cheese has fully melted into the soup before you add more, otherwise you might get clumps. Once you’ve added all the cheese, turn off the Instant Pot. Shred the chicken with forks and stir it into the pot. Pour the soup into bowls or meal prep containers, and garnish each one with crumbled bacon and minced jalapeños.
Instant Pot Jalapeño Popper Chicken Soup
Equipment
- Instant Pot or other pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 4-ounce can diced jalapeño peppers drained
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 8 ounces cream cheese cubed
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese
- 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 3 slices cooked bacon crumbled
- 2 fresh jalapeño peppers minced
Instructions
- Add the chicken, broth, drained jalapeños, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin to the Instant Pot. If using fresh chicken, set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. If using frozen, set it for 20 minutes. Once the cook time has completed, allow it to naturally release for 10 minutes, then use the quick release method to finish venting.
- Open the Instant Pot, remove the chicken, then set it to saute. Whisk in the cream cheese cubes and continue whisking constantly until it's mostly broken up. Add the heavy cream and continue whisking, then add the pepper jack and cheddar in 1/4 cup increments, making sure that each handful is fully melted before adding more. Once the cheese is melted, turn off the Instant Pot. Shred the chicken with forks and stir it into the pot.
- Pour the soup into six bowls or meal prep containers, and garnish with the minced jalapeños and crumbled bacon.
- Macros per serving: 450 calories, 5 grams net carbs, 30 grams protein, 34 grams fat.
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