Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup

This Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup is a cozy, freezer-friendly meal that’s perfect for cooler nights! It’s packed with fresh ginger, garlic, plenty of vegetables and brown rice for a well-rounded, seriously delicious soup. 

While air fryers are just all the rage right now, they can’t make soup. Or at least, they can’t make an 8-10 cup vat of soup. Soups belong in the Instant Pot, or the stovetop (like my Red Potato Chicken Soup!), obviously.

This soup is everything we need right now. Cozy, anti-inflammatory, full of veggies, chicken and rice. I saw rain every single day in the 7-day forecast, so I set out to make this one perfect.

I am not a soup queen, but when I make one, I make it GOOD.

Watch how to Make Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup Recipe (1 minute 9 seconds):

What are the ingredients in this Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup?

This soup is seriously full of veggies, but the main star is ginger. If you don’t like ginger, you will not like this soup. #warning

Let’s have a look at the ingredients with all my comments!

• avocado oil – I prefer using avocado oil to saute my veggies because of the high smoke point and neutral flavor.
• onion, carrot, & celery – AKA mirepoix. You want about 3 cups total of this diced mixture (a little more is okay too).
• garlic – Someone shared with me the phrase “measure garlic with your heart” and I think it is the most appropriate for soup. 
• fresh ginger – I used just over 3 ounces of fresh ginger root before peeling. Use a spoon or a veggie peeler to remove the peel. Slice and then roughly dice up the ginger in a similar size as the garlic.
• chicken broth – I use the low-sodium variety from Costco.
• chicken breasts – You can use fresh or frozen chicken breasts here, I tried both! I would suggest skipping chicken thighs, they may come out a little too overdone.
• brown rice – I tried two kinds of brown rice and they both worked great: long grain brown rice and quick cooking brown rice. However, I would suggest sticking with brown rice, as other kinds of rice have different cook times in the Instant Pot.
• dried parsley – Optional skip the dried parsley and add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley after cooking. Sometimes I have it on hand, sometimes I don’t! 
• dried basil & thyme – Soup flavors that I don’t usually have fresh around my house, so using dried is just fine (don’t hate me).
• sea salt & fresh ground black pepper – Fresh ground black pepper is best black pepper! Add these ingredients to your preferred taste.
• dried red chili pepper flakes – This soup needs a little heat backbone to soothe the spice level of the ginger, and I think red chili pepper flakes do the trick! They are optional if you don’t like it spicy, but they aren’t too hot. It’s more of a flavor thing. Just a pinch.
• frozen cauliflower rice – This seriously blends right in with the veggies and the brown rice, you’ll hardly notice it. Add the frozen bag in after pressure cooking. The heat from the hot hot soup will warm the cauli-rice perfectly. Learned this trick from Tastes Lovely!

How do you make this SUPER COZY looking soup?

First step is to saute the veggies – onion, carrot, & celery, and later add the ginger and garlic. Softening these veggies and releasing the aromatics is vital to the flavors of this recipe!

Next step is to add remaining ingredients except the cauliflower rice into the pot, give it a stir, and then pressure cook. You’ll do 15 minutes of high pressure, followed by 10 minutes of natural pressure release.

After you’ve safely opened the lid, fish out the chicken breasts and shred them up. Add them back to the pot, along with the bag of frozen cauliflower rice. Stir the soup until the cauli-rice has softened and everything is well mixed.

And it’s ready to serve! I like to top this kind of soup with fresh parsley for a fresh flavor, but it’s not required.

Can I use white rice or a different kind of rice?

I would suggest sticking with brown rice for this recipe. Other kinds of rice have different cook times and may be over cooked or undercooked with this recipe.

Both long grain brown rice and quick cooking brown rice work for this recipe.

Which instant pot model do you use?

For all of my Instant Pot recipes, I previously used my Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Qt (affiliate link!). I recently upgraded to a 6-quart Duo Evo Plus for the sous vide function.

However, I still recommend the Duo Plus or basic 7-1 Instant Pot – they do the job just fine!

I have not tested this recipe in a mini or 8-quart Instant Pot. 

Is this Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup freezer friendly?

Yes! This soup will freeze and reheat well. See below for instructions.

How can I meal prep this Instant Pot Ginger Chicken & Rice Soup?

1. Partial prep & cook later: Chop all the veggies, measure out the spices, and make sure everything is ready to go up to 48 hours ahead of time. Then, when dinner time rolls around, make the recipe as written.
2. Complete prep & store: Make this soup ahead of time and store in individual portioned airtight containers in the fridge. Reheat as needed throughout the week!
3. Complete prep & freeze: Freeze portions of your soup and keep them in the freezer until you need a meal. I prefer to freeze soup in my 2-Cup Souper Cubes Trays (affiliate link!)! More info below.
4. Do a combination of 2 and 3. I usually eat a serving, portion a couple servings for the week, and freeze the rest.

How to store this chicken soup:

Store in individually portioned containers or one large airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 4 days.

How to freeze this chicken soup:

Use Souper Cubes Trays (2-Cup Souper Cubes Trays (affiliate link!) pictured) to freeze individual portions of soup in cubes. Store in the trays or transfer to another airtight container. Best enjoyed within 4-6 months. 

How to reheat this chicken soup:

Reheat from the fridge: Cook in a microwave safe container for about 2 minutes, or until steaming hot. Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan on the stove until steaming hot (about 10 minutes).

Reheat from the freezer: Place cube in a saucepan and heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until completely thawed and steaming hot (about 15 minutes).