This Instant Pot Crack Chicken Soup is an easy and irresistible cheesy soup recipe packed with shredded chicken, bacon, and ranch flavor!
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If you’ve been around the internet for any length of the time, you’ve probably seen people mentioning crack chicken.
It’s called crack chicken because it’s an addictive mixture of chicken, bacon, ranch, and cream cheese and when I tell you that it’s good…well, that’s not doing it justice, honestly.
We make this Instant Pot Crack Chicken pretty regularly. I eat it with a fork and a side of veggies, my kiddos eat it on a bun as a sandwich. (It would also be good on our keto hamburger buns!)
But, how about just skipping the fork and/or bun and turning it into soup? Oh yeah.
Our crack chicken soup is quickly going to become a favorite in your house, I just know it!
We followed some of the similar steps in our fan favorite low carb taco soup, but switched up the flavors a bit. I love creating new recipes out of recipes that are already loved by you all – you know they’ll be good this way! 🙂
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.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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!
More Instant Pot Recipes:
- Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
- Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Cajun Ranch Chicken Soup
- Chicken Fajita Soup
Don’t forget to check out all of these keto soup recipes, too!
Crack Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 packet ranch seasoning
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 slices bacon fried and crumbled
- ¼ cup green onions
Instructions
- To make this in the Instant Pot
- Add the chicken breasts to the bowl of the Instant Pot along with the chicken broth and ranch seasoning.
- Cover and set vent to sealing.
- Cook on high pressure for 18 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes to reach pressure.
- Allow pressure to release naturally, about 10 minutes, before removing the lid.
- Remove chicken from the pot and shred. Set aside.
- Set the pot to saute and add the cream cheese. Whisk well until the cream cheese is fully melted and incorporated. See note.
- Add the cheddar and whisk until melted.
- Return the chicken to the pot. Add the bacon and green onions. Stir well to combine.
- Serve hot, garnished with extra crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, and green onion.
- To make this in the crockpot
- Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker along with the chicken broth and ranch seasoning.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred. Set aside.
- Add the softened cream cheese to the broth and whisk well until smooth and creamy.
- Add the cheddar and whisk until melted.
- Return the chicken to the pot. Add the bacon and green onions. Stir well to combine.
- Serve hot, garnished with extra crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar, and green onion.
Vera Rangos says
Even though I used the ranch dressing mix (and not the dip), it was WAY TOO SALTY! . I even used low sodium chicken broth, and it was so salty, we had to toss the whole batch. I do not recommend!
Doyennex4 says
This is a great recipe. I did “cheat” a little bit because I had some leftover rotisserie chicken that I used. So instead of using my instant pot or slow cooker, I just used my soup pot on the stove. Didn’t change any of the other ingredients – they were perfect!
Karly Campbell says
Love using a rotisserie to cheat at dinner! Thanks for sharing!
Darlene Hansen says
I receive the letter but saw no recipe. Did I miss it somewhere? Please respond….I want to try this one soon!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Darlene! I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean?
faye says
I love your dish i just make it ,only thing it was lot salt in it so i had add some more liquid to cut down on the salt
Karly Campbell says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Make sure you’re using ranch seasoning and not dip – the dip has a lot more sodium. 🙂
Beth says
My husband doesn’t say much about my cooking, but his actions speak louder than words. He went back for a second bowl! One adjustment I made was 4 cups of broth instead of 2 to make it less thick. This is a great recipe, especially as we head into the cold months ahead.
Karly Campbell says
Love it when the husband approves! So glad you enjoyed this! 🙂
Tracy Palecek says
To shred the chicken simply use a hand mixer right in the instant pot. No need to remove and shred.
Karly Campbell says
You’ll just want to be careful about the hot liquid splattering around if you do it this way.
Tracey Hibbett says
I love the look of this so will be trying it, l have type 2 diabetes. The only thing is l dont like the ranch dressing, what would be an alternative pleasr? I live in the UK.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Tracey! Crack chicken is generally cream cheese, ranch seasoning, bacon, and cheddar so I don’t really have an alternative that would stay true to the name, but you could use any seasonings you like here.
Louise says
What is recommended as a substitute for ranch seasoning? We have minimal ranch products available in Australia.
Karly Campbell says
Hi Louise! You can make your own ranch seasoning quite easily with a mix of herbs and garlic and onion powder. You can use the recipe for my keto ranch dressing and just use the spices + extra salt as needed.
Terri Joy says
So delicious!! So easy! Most definitely a keeper for these cold Idaho days!
Karly Campbell says
So glad you enjoyed it, Terri! 🙂
Linda Ralich says
Is one packet of Ranch too salty?
Karly Campbell says
As long as you’re using one packet of the ranch seasoning, we don’t find it too salty. The ranch dip mix has a lot more sodium than the seasoning though.
Phyllis Dable says
Can other vegetables be added, carrots.broccoli?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Phyllis! Probably yes, but you’ll want to be careful about how long you cook them so they aren’t over or underdone. 🙂
BJ says
Ohhhh, yum!!! You have some of the best sounding recipes! This one especially actually motivates me to use my Instant pot that just sits lonely because I am so intimidated by using it! This has ALL my favorite foods in it! Thanks so much for sharing.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, BJ! I hope you give this a try – it’s worth dragging out the Instant Pot for! 🙂