Creamy Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup is loaded with potatoes, corn, bacon, and shrimp, finished with cream and gets a spicy kick from Chipotle chilies. This Instant Pot soup recipe is quick and easy and perfect for a busy weekday. To make the soup more of a chowder, mash some of the potatoes to thicken the soup.
Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup is one of my favorite soups. It’s so quick and easy and really hearty and filling. And it’s also thick enough that you might even call it a chowder. I love to have a bit of spice in my recipes. The Chipotle (pronounced ‘chi-poat-lay’) adds that spicy touch and is counter-balanced by the cream. Perfect.
You may be familiar with Chipotle peppers in Adobo Sauce. They’re commonly used in Mexican, Tex-Mex or Southwestern cuisine. So what the heck is a Chipotle anyway? It’s a ripe jalapeno that’s been smoked. The word Chipotle comes from Mexico and means ‘smoked chili pepper’ in the Aztec language.
The great thing is you can add as much or as little of the Chipotle as you want. The amount called for in this Instant Pot soup recipe makes it spicy, but not crazy spicy. You can always add more in at the end, so if you’re sensitive to spice, I would err on the safe side, to begin with.
Tips and substitutions
For many years I’d been buying cans of Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce, and I would freeze the leftover chilies for later use. But now I’ve discovered Diced Chipotle peppers which come in a glass jar. It’s very convenient and easy to use and keeps in the fridge for a long time.
Since shrimp can get overcooked in the Instant Pot, you’ll add it in after cooking the vegetables and let it cook in the residual heat for 10 minutes. I find the shrimp is cooked perfectly at 10 minutes. It’s also possible to add the shrimp and cook it in the ‘Saute’ setting until done. This will speed up the recipe by about 5 minutes.
You could omit the shrimp and make a delicious Spicy Instant Pot Potato Soup. I use Yukon Gold potatoes for most of my cooking, including for this Instant Pot soup recipe. I sometimes substitute salmon for the shrimp and that turns out delicious too.
Here’s another tip for you that I use all the time. Since white wine really doesn’t keep for more than a few days, I substitute dry white vermouth. It works really well if you don’t want to open a new bottle of white wine. See my Kitchen Hacks and Tips for more tips.
As for the flour that is used as a thickener, many pressure cooker soup recipes use cornstarch as a thickener after a dish cooks. I’m not a big fan of cornstarch except in Asian recipes, so I use flour just like in my stovetop version of this soup recipe, and as long as I deglaze the inner pot before pressure cooking, the Instant Pot reaches pressure just fine.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Creamy Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup.
Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup Ingredients
Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup Step-by-Step Instructions
- Instant Pot Duo: Select the ‘Saute’ function.
- Instant Pot Ultra: Select the ‘Saute’ function and press ‘Start’.
- Add bacon to inner pot of Instant Pot and saute until crisp, about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add onions, celery and garlic.
- Saute till vegetables have softened, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Press ‘Cancel’ and add white wine to deglaze the pot. Stir to remove brown bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- If not completely deglazed, add a tablespoon or two of broth.
- Stir in broth, milk, potatoes, corn, chipotle, salt, black pepper, and thyme.
Instant Pot DUO Pressure Cook:
- Close the lid and make sure steam release handle is in ‘Sealing’ position
- Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘1’ (1 minute).
Instant Pot ULTRA Pressure Cook:
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and adjust time to 1 minute (00:01).
- Press ‘Start’.
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 1 to 0; it will then switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’ or ’00 00′ and begin to count up.
Instant Pot DUO Quick Release:
- Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the knob.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Open the Instant Pot.
Instant Pot ULTRA Quick Release:
- Press down on the Steam Release Button until it locks into place, and steam begins to come out of the Steam Release Valve.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Open the Instant Pot.
- Add shrimp and cream and stir to combine.
- Close the Instant Pot.
- Allow the shrimp to cook in the residual heat for 10 minutes. *
- Open the Instant Pot and serve.
- Garnish each serving with scallions, parsley and/or crumbled bacon.
* Alternately, select the ‘Saute’ setting and cook the shrimp until done, and stir in the cream to heat through.
Creamy Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup
Creamy Instant Pot Chipotle Shrimp Soup is a quick and easy soup recipe perfect for a busy weekday. It’s loaded with potatoes, corn, bacon and shrimp, finished with cream and gets a spicy kick from Chipotle chilies.
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon chopped
- 1 cup onion diced
- 3/4 cup celery chopped
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups potatoes cut into small (1/3-inch) cubes
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 2 tsp diced canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 3/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
-
Select the ‘Saute’ function.
-
Add bacon to inner pot of Instant Pot and saute until crisp, about 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
-
Add onions, celery and garlic.
-
Saute till vegetables have softened, about 3 minutes.
-
Stir in flour and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
-
Press ‘Cancel’ and add white wine to deglaze the pot. Stir to remove brown bits from the bottom of the Instant Pot. If not completely deglazed, add a tablespoon or two of broth.
-
Stir in broth, milk, potatoes, corn, Chipotle, salt, black pepper and thyme.
-
Close the lid and select 'Manual' or 'Pressure Cook' and cook for 1 minute.
-
Do a Quick Release of Pressure (QR).
-
Stir in shrimp and cream.
-
Close the Instant Pot and allow the shrimp to cook in the residual heat for 10 minutes.
-
Garnish each serving with scallions, parsley and/or crumbled bacon.
Recipe Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- Adjust the quantity of Chipotle chilies to taste.
- Instead of cooking the shrimp in the residual heat for 10 minutes, you can select the ‘Saute’ setting and cook the shrimp until done, and stir in the cream to heat through.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips
Adapted from Cuisine at Home Weeknight Menus
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5-star rating in the comment section below and share it on social media, particularly on FACEBOOK. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
You might also like to try:
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| Instant Pot Shrimp and Grits | Instant Pot Gumbo | Instant Pot Chicken Curry Soup |
Radhika P.
It was yummy, thanks for the recipe. I’m surprised how much of a kick the chipotle added to the soup – thanks for introducing me to that little can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Radhika – congratulations, you get the prize for being one of the first to make the recipe. No prize really, just my heartfelt thank you for commenting! I love chipotle. Try mixing with mayo, yogurt (equal quantities) and lemon for a chipotle mayo as a dip or sauce for tacos.
Kelly Lee
This sounds amazing. What should I use to sub the heavy cream and milk? I can’t do dairy.
Kelly Lee
Would coconut milk from can work in place of heavy cream and milk?
Paint the Kitchen Red
I think you can substitute coconut milk, Kelly. The taste would be different but delicious I think. The chipotle will give a nice contrast to the coconut milk.
Alice
I just made this soup with coconut cream and milk, as I cannot have dairy either, and it tastes great! Thank you for this recipe for a hearty soup that’s filling enough to be a meal!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Alice – I’m glad you liked the recipe and it’s good to know that the coconut milk worked for you! Thanks for commenting.
Maya
This sounds so good, and I definitely want to try it! I was wondering if I could substitute anything for the white wine (or even omit it?) since I don’t drink alcohol? Also, would it be okay to omit the bacon as well? Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Maya – great question. Yes you can omit both and you should be just fine. However, make sure you don’t skip the deglaze step – just use broth instead of wine. And you might want the onions to caramelize a bit more since you don’t have the bacon to give it that head start.
Dani
This recipe is SO GOOD. I am a pescatarian so I used morning star fake bacon instead of real bacon and that worked well. There is just enough heat and it is very filling and quick to make. I’ll be putting this on my biweekly rotation.
THANK YOU!
Paint the Kitchen Red
That’s great, Dani – and thank you so much for sharing your substitutions, always helpful to other readers. Thanks for you comment!
Judith Rea
I’m a long-time fan of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I buy the large can, then puree the entire can in a blender and store the puree in the refrigerator to use a spoonful at a time. I’ve seen comments that this will last forever in the refrigerator, but mine never lasts that long. Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Judith, thank you for sharing your tip! What I used to do (before I started buying the jar of chopped chipotle) is buy a can of chipotle in adobo and freeze the individual chipotle peppers on a tray and store the frozen peppers in a ziploc in the freezer. I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Violet
This was excellent! Swapped out whole milk and cream for 1% milk and 1/2 & 1/2 to cut the fat a little bit–still turned out creamy and delicious–and added some kale at the end when cooking the shrimp. I’d recommend low sodium or unsalted chicken broth. Spicy, and smokey; a new fave for sure!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hey there Violet – thank you for commenting and I’m so happy the recipe was a hit! I probably should be specifying in my recipes that I use low-sodium broth; thank you for pointing that out 🙂
Alison Lehnberg
Cooked this recipe tonight. My first meal using my new instant pot. It came out perfectly! Great photos and directions. Wasn’t familiar with using the instant pot and your descriptions helped. The recipe was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DANG GOOOOOD! I loved it! 5 stars all around! 100% amazing! Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Wow – that’s one of the most enthusiastic comments I’ve gotten, Alison! Thank you, you made my day. I’m always happy when others enjoy my recipes as much as I do! If you like Indian curries, you’ll also like the Instant Pot Chicken Curry Soup.
Caroline
This was so perfect for what I needed. I did a Cajun spin with crawfish and andouille sausage (no chipotle – Cajun seasoning instead). It was just what I needed on this Mardi Gras day!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Caroline – That’s a perfect Mardi Gras substitution – I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for commenting!
Carla
Hi! Making tomorrow! Do I really let it come to pressure for 1 minute and then NPR? Seems like a short time for the potatoes. Doubling the recipe if that makes a difference. Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Carla – yes, it cooks for 1 minute, you quick release and then close it up again with the shrimp and that’s kind of like an NPR. Since the potatoes are diced to small pieces, they cook really quickly. I don’t think doubling should make a difference.
Michaline Medeiros
My husband and I loved this soup! I followed the recipe somewhat, I didn’t double it but I added just a bit more of everything except the shrimp I doubled that! It came out soooo good!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for your comment, Michaline! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Tiffany
Best soup ever! Thank you for sharing!
Paint the Kitchen Red
You’re so welcome, Tiffany – I’m so happy you liked it!
Lindsey
After finding this recipe on r/instantpot last fall, I finally had the chance to make it and it is amazing!
Loved the smoky spiciness from the chipotles, and this soup has just enough cream to give it a full, rich body without feeling too heavy.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi there Lindsey, I’m glad to hear that you liked the recipe; it’s part of our fall/winter menu rotation too!
Andi
I dont have an instant pot but would love to find the stovetop version of this recipe. Cant find it on your website. Can you send me a link, please?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi there Andi, I don’t have a non-Instant Pot version of the recipe on the blog, but you can do it in a large pot on the stove with the following changes:
– Add an extra 1/2 cup broth and 1/2 cup milk
– Cook for 15 to 20 minutes
– Add shrimp and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes or until done.
Barb
If one were to put the chipotle peppers and sauce in a sealed Tupperware container in the fridge, how long do you think they would be good for? Thanks for any insight you can provide.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Barb, I’m not sure about it, but I think they would last a while. But I am notorious for keeping things way longer than I probably should in the fridge lol! But with regards to chipotle peppers, here’s what I do: I separate them and lay them on a flat cutting board or tray lined with plastic wrap and freeze them. Once frozen solid, I place them in a ziploc bag. Then use them as needed. They defrost in a snap.
Angela
Do you think chicken could be substituted instead of shrimp?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Angela – yes, I think it would be great! You’ll have to pressure cook the chicken with the other ingredients for 2 to 4 minutes (depending on size – I use 4 minutes for 1-inch cubes). Only problem is the potatoes – they will overcook at 4 minutes. You’ll either have to cut them into big pieces or omit.
Erich
quick question……when you put in the chipotle peppers…..they come whole in the can. are you dicing the peppers prior to adding? or putting them in whole?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Erich, the recipe card mentions it; yes, I dice them pretty small. You can also get the bottled chipotle pepper that are already diced – very convenient.