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This easy Whole30 chicken tortilla-less soup is so full of incredible flavor, you won’t even mind the lack of tortillas! It’s quick and easy to make, and delightfully perfect for chilly evenings. Hearty, creamy, and made with your ideal amount of heat, not to mention Whole30-compliant, paleo-friendly, and naturally low carb. Both Instant Pot and slow cooker versions included!
For Our Non-Whole30 Readers
Looking for a more-traditional chicken tortilla soup, without any special ingredients or dietary considerations? Check out our recipe for Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup!
🍲 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It’s crazy easy – throw (almost) everything in the Instant Pot, cook for about 18 minutes, dice your chicken, then add the remaining ingredients. You’ll have a complete meal on the table in no time, and with very little effort!
- It’s creamy, filling, and spicy, making it a great one-dish meal and perfect for cold weather. You can even meal prep this Mexican soup ahead of a busy week! I love having access to this delicious soup for a quick lunch.
- It’s also low carb and keto-friendly, with only 8 grams of net carbs per serving! This Whole30 Instant Pot chicken tortilla-less soup fits a variety of diets. It’s just about as healthy as a soup can get!
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- If not on a Whole30, feel free to add some shredded cheese in there if you’d like! You can also enjoy this with a side of tortilla chips for a tasty crunch.
- Get creative with this recipe and make it your own! Stir in some spinach, kale, or chard for extra greens. You can even replace the chicken with about a pound of browned and drained ground beef!
- If you have a coconut allergy, replace the coconut milk with cashew cream. To do this, blend 1 cup of raw cashews with ¾ cup water in a high-speed blender until smooth. This coconut-free option is also Whole30 compliant!
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
🥘 Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Mexican Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (Instant Pot, Whole30, Paleo)
- Whole30 Breakfast Tacos
- Healthy Zuppa Toscana (Whole30, Paleo, Dairy Free)
- Paleo Lime Bars (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
- Instant Pot Bone Broth That Gels (Whole30 Bone Broth)
- 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Whole30 White Chicken Chili
- Easy Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy (Whole30, Paleo, Low Carb)
- Healthy Chicken Tostadas
- Whole30 Tzatziki (Paleo, Keto, Dairy Free)
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole with Eggs and Sausage (Whole30, Dairy Free, Gluten Free)
- Paleo Carbonara with Palmini
- Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas
- Whole30 Gyro Meatballs
Whole30 Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla-Less Soup (Paleo, Low Carb)
This Whole30 Instant Pot chicken tortilla-less soup is full of flavor and so easy to make! Super quick and filling, this Mexican soup is creamy, spicy, healthy, and low carb.
servings
Equipment
- Large plate
- Instant Pot
- Large wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- Tongs
- Cutting board
- large chef's knife or 2 forks, to shred chicken
Ingredients
For the Chicken Tortilla-less Soup
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts equally thick, approximately 8-10 ounces each
- salt to taste
- 2 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 14.5-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup chopped onion approximately 1 medium onion; any color
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1-3 teaspoons chipotle pepper powder see Notes
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 medium zucchini approximately 6-8 ounces each; chopped or cut into ½-inch half moons
- 1 14-ounce can unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk whisked until smooth, see Notes
Serving Suggestions (All Optional)
- fresh avocado slices
- thinly sliced red onions
- chopped fresh cilantro
- fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Place 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts on large plate. Sprinkle salt over both sides of each chicken breast, then place chicken breasts in Instant Pot insert.
- Add 2 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chiles, 1 14.5-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth, 1 cup chopped onion, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1-3 teaspoons chipotle pepper powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, and 2 medium zucchini to Instant Pot and gently stir to incorporate ingredients.
- Secure lid on Instant Pot with valve in Sealing position. Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure for 18 minutes. Instant Pot will pressurize, then cook time will begin.
- When cook time ends, Natural Release pressure for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, immediately and carefully Quick Release remaining pressure and remove lid from Instant Pot.
- Transfer chicken breasts to cutting board and set aside.
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Add 1 14-ounce can unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk to Instant Pot and stir to incorporate.
- Dice chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, or shred chicken breasts to small pieces. Once all chicken has been diced or shredded, return chicken to Instant Pot and stir to incorporate.
- Portion soup into serving bowls. If desired, top each serving with fresh avocado slices, thinly sliced red onions, chopped fresh cilantro, and fresh lime juice, then serve hot.
Video
- Chipotle Pepper Powder: The amount you use will affect the overall heat of the soup. Use 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder for a mild soup, up to 3 teaspoons for a hot soup.
- Coconut Milk: If you don’t like or can’t use coconut milk, replace it with cashew cream to maintain the creamy consistency of the soup.
To Make This Soup in the Slow Cooker
- Add all ingredients except coconut milk to slow cooker in the order listed above. Stir to incorporate.
- Set slow cooker to LOW heat for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH heat for 4 hours.
- After 6 hours on LOW or 3 hours on HIGH, check chicken doneness with internal meat thermometer. When chicken reaches 160° Fahrenheit internally, remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside 5 minutes.
- Add coconut milk to slow cooker and stir to incorporate.
- Dice or shred chicken, then return chicken to slow cooker. Stir to incorporate, then portion soup into serving bowls.
- Garnish soup as desired and serve hot.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1 serving without garnishCalories: 453calProtein: 34gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 444mgPotassium: 1431mgTotal Carbs: 21gFiber: 6gSugar: 11gNet Carbs: 15gVitamin A: 1081IUVitamin C: 36mgCalcium: 115mgIron: 5mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Family fave for a few years now! It’s seriously so easy and delicious! Thank you!!
Yay, so glad to hear that!
Just made it for Cinco de Mayo! It is delish! I subbed in crushed tomatoes and a small can of chopped chilis so it came out a little more like a creamy tomato base. I also added in a few chopped fresh jalapeños. My mom said the spices were perfect! I used a bag of frozen mixed veggies just cuz that’s what I like in soup. The chicken was already cut thin and just fell apart into savory shreds! I will be making this again!
Oooh, sounds delicious! Thanks for the review and tips!
Oh wow. This is surprisingly good in every way! It’s on the master list now. We puréed the broth. Thank you!
So glad you loved it!
I love this soup so much. I make it in the slow cooker and it comes out perfect. I have frozen it and it reheats really well (the zucchini loses it’s form a bit but I don’t mind at all, SO tasty!!). I also add black beans when I reheat it. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Thanks for the five stars! I’m glad you loved it.
can you add potatoes to it? For whole 30 my husband likes things hearty. How much time would you add to the instant pot if you add some large diced potatoes?
What is the serving size?
We would say a traditional serving size would be between eight to ten ounces.
hi – love this recipe! have recently given up meat, so I am wondering if you know how long I should cook this sans meat?
Nine minutes should be plenty of time!
This recipe is amazing. I’ve made is several times, exactly as written, and it’s been a hit regardless who I serve it to. Since my family is not following Whole 30 or Keto, we eat the soup with rice (on occasion) — simply delish!!
I have made this soup many times and tweak it often to what I have in the frig. Last night I had frozen chicken breasts, frozen cauliflower rice and baby bell peppers. I added 4 extra minutes to the cooking b/c my chicken was frozen (but make sure you separate the breasts so they cook evenly if they are frozen together). I added everything in the recipe and instead of zucchini, added in my frozen cauliflower (12oz bag) and roughly chopped bell peppers (1/2 cup). I also only had a 28oz can of fire roasted tomatoes and veggie stock. It all worked out beautifully. After it cooked I pulled out the chicken to shred and then immersion blended the chunky stuff then I added in 1/2 & 1/2 (maybe 1/4 cup) at the end b/c we have some people that don’t like coconut. Anyway, this recipe is a winner and is so flexible. Thanks for making easy one pot meals! Life saver!
Thanks for mentioning that you added 4 minutes when using frozen chicken breasts. I was wandering through the comments to find the answer to that exact question. I’ve made and loved it before with fresh chicken breasts.
No problem!
Absolutely delicious!! I didn’t have chipotle powder so used a teaspoon of cayenne instead. Incredibly easy and tasty.