Ingredient Notes:
Chicken – We prefer white meat and use chicken breasts, but thighs would also work.
Broth – Chicken broth, bone broth, or chicken stock will work fine here. Use what you have on hand.
Cheese – We’re using both cream cheese (to thicken and add richness to the broth) and cheddar cheese (for sprinkling over the top).
Bacon – Fry it up and crumble it.
Ranch Seasoning – Make sure to grab a packet of ranch seasoning and not ranch dip mix, as the dip is much saltier than the seasoning blend. Both come in packets in the salad dressing aisle of the grocery store.
Why We Love This Recipe:
There is a reason it is called crack chicken. And I’m pretty sure that mostly has to do with all the cheese, ranch seasoning, shredded chicken, and bacon. It’s an irresistible combination!
The Instant Pot, as usual, makes everything super simple. It’s a quick and easy recipe that’s ready in about 30 minutes.
How To:
Prepare the Chicken – This crack chicken soup recipe needs some tender, juicy chicken so that’s where we’ll start! Add the chicken to the liner of your Instant Pot and then pour in the chicken broth and sprinkle on the ranch seasoning!
Pressure Cook – Cover the Instant Pot, set to sealing, and cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally before removing the lid. You can now remove the pressure cooked chicken (leave the broth!) and start shredding. Set it aside when finished.
Add the Cheese – With the chicken removed from the Instant Pot set it to sauté and then add in the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Whisk it well until the cheese has fully melted and mixed in with the chicken broth to form a creamy, cheesy soup.
Combine – You can now finish things up by returning the shredded chicken to the pot with the cheesy soup and then mix in the crumbled bacon and the green onion. Stir it up well to combine all that good stuff and now you’ve got yourself some Instant Pot crack chicken soup! Just one thing left to do…
Serve – This crack chicken soup is pretty great all by itself but I’ve never met a soup that couldn’t be improved with some sort of topping! We like to serve this soup with extra toppings like crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, and green onion. You can add whatever low carb toppings you like!
Helpful Tip!
No Instant Pot? No problem! Use your slow cooker instead. Cook the chicken, broth, and seasoning on low for 4 hours and then remove the chicken and shred. Whisk in the cream cheese and cheddar until you have a smooth broth. Stir back in the chicken, bacon, and green onions.
FAQ’s:
How do I store leftover soup?
Place your leftover soup in a bowl with a lid and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Like most soup recipes, this will taste a bit better on the second day after the flavors have sat a bit.
Can you freeze soup?
Some soups freeze well, though I haven’t tested this one in the freezer. I’m not sure how well the broth (thickened with cream cheese) would hold up or reheat after being frozen.
How to soften cream cheese?
You can do this easily in the microwave in short bursts to be sure it doesn’t melt, you just want to soften it up some. You can also just leave it on the counter sealed in the foil packaging for an hour or two if you’ve got the time.
Why is it called crack chicken?
The term crack chicken applies to many recipes that have a mix of chicken, cream cheese u0026 cheddar cheese, ranch seasoning, and bacon. It’s an addictive and irresistible mix of ingredients that people love!
