Tag: pressure cooker

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

A bowl of rotisserie chicken and wild rice soup in a deep bowl.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 37 grams of protein in one bowl, from a generous share of a whole rotisserie chicken.
  • Skin off, low-sodium broth, no cream, and wild rice in place of noodles make it a heart-friendly soup; the vegetables bring potassium and about 4 grams of fiber.
  • The trade-off: rotisserie chicken is seasoned with salt, so even with low-sodium broth this is a moderately salty soup. The card shows the amount, and the notes show how to lower it.

Onion, carrot, and celery softened in the pressure cooker, then wild rice, thyme, a bay leaf, and low-sodium chicken broth, cooked at high pressure until the rice bursts open and turns tender. The meat of a whole rotisserie chicken, skin removed and pulled into pieces, goes in at the end to warm through, with lemon juice and a handful of parsley.

It makes six large bowls and is better on the second day.

Why This Soup Is a Full Protein Meal for Keeping Your Strength After 45

A bowl of soup is usually a small protein meal: a can of chicken noodle carries about 7 grams. That was fine at 25, when 20 grams at a meal was enough to set muscle rebuilding going.

By the mid-forties the amount a meal needs has risen to about 35 to 40 grams, and a meal that falls short of it does little for muscle, no matter how healthy the rest of the bowl is.

Lunch is the meal most adults leave short.

Built to Reach the Number

This soup is built to reach the number. A whole rotisserie chicken across six bowls puts about 37 grams in each one, most of it from the chicken and a little from the wild rice. It is a soup that counts as a meal for muscle, which most soups do not.

The research behind the 35 to 40 grams, and how to set your own figure from your body weight, is in How Much Protein in One Meal Builds Muscle After 40.

Heart-Friendly by Design

The chicken skin comes off, which removes most of the saturated fat. The broth is low-sodium, there is no cream or flour, and the rice is wild rice, an intact grain that digests slowly and carries more protein and fiber than white rice. The carrots, celery, and onion bring potassium, which helps blood pressure. Nothing in the pot is there for show; each choice takes something off the heart’s plate.

The one thing the recipe cannot fix is the salt in a rotisserie chicken, which is injected before roasting. The soup is still moderate in sodium per bowl, and the notes give a lower version with a plain roasted chicken.

The Rotisserie Chicken Does the Work

A rotisserie chicken is the cheapest cooked protein in most stores and the fastest, and one bird yields about four cups of meat. Pull it while it is still warm, when the meat comes off the bone easily, and discard the skin. The carcass can go into a bag in the freezer for stock another day.

Two chickens make a double batch, which freezes well in single portions for two months.

A bowl of rotisserie chicken and wild rice soup in a deep bowl.
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Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Onion, carrot, and celery with wild rice, thyme, and low-sodium broth cooked under pressure, then the pulled meat of a whole rotisserie chicken stirred in with lemon and parsley. Heart-friendly and about 38 grams of protein a bowl.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American
Keyword: heart healthy soup, high protein soup, instant pot chicken wild rice soup, pressure cooker soup, rotisserie chicken soup, wild rice soup
Servings: 6 bowl (about 2 cups)
Calories: 325kcal

Equipment

  • 6-quart electric pressure cooker
  • Ladle

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 3 medium carrots sliced
  • 3 celery stalks sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup wild rice rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 whole rotisserie chicken (about 2 pounds) skin removed, meat pulled into pieces (about 4 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • salt to taste added at the end

Instructions

  • Set the pressure cooker to sauté. Cook the onion, carrots, and celery in the oil until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and stir 1 minute.
  • Add the wild rice, thyme, bay leaf, and broth. Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook at high pressure for 25 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the rest.
  • Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the pulled chicken, lemon juice, parsley, and pepper and let it sit 5 minutes to warm through. Taste; add salt only if it needs it.
  • Serve about 2 cups a bowl. Keeps 4 days refrigerated or 2 months frozen in single portions.

Notes

Lower-sodium version: use a plain roasted chicken or 1 1/4 pounds of cooked chicken thighs in place of the rotisserie chicken, which cuts the sodium by about a third. On the stove, simmer the rice in the broth covered for 45 to 55 minutes, until the grains burst, then add the chicken. Frozen mixed vegetables can replace the carrots and celery. The wild rice will keep absorbing broth in the refrigerator; add a splash of water when reheating.

Nutrition

Calories: 325kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 7.3g | Saturated Fat: 1.7g | Sodium: 430mg | Potassium: 892mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 2.3mg | Magnesium: 85mg | Phosphorus: 459mg | Choline: 90mg

Gluten Free

Wild rice is naturally free of gluten, as are chicken, vegetables, and lemon. For people with celiac disease, three labels need a check. The rotisserie chicken should list no wheat in its seasoning or injected broth; a plain roasted chicken from the meat case avoids the question. The broth should list no wheat or barley-derived flavoring.

The wild rice bag should carry a gluten-free mark, since some is packed on shared lines. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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Instant Pot Beef and Vegetable Soup

A bowl of beef and vegetable soup with pasta, and a smaller child's bowl beside it in a ramekin.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 27 grams of protein and 5 milligrams of iron in one adult bowl, from the beef, the beans, and the tomatoes together.
  • The tomatoes are doing more than flavor. Their vitamin C helps the body absorb the iron in the beans and the beef.
  • The trade-off: canned tomatoes and beans make this a moderately salty soup. The card shows the amount, and the notes show how to lower it.

Ground beef browned in the pressure cooker with onion and garlic, then canned tomatoes, low-sodium broth, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a can of kidney beans, oregano, and a bay leaf. Five minutes at high pressure, a handful of small pasta stirred in to cook in the hot soup, and dinner is on the table about 35 minutes after the beef hit the pot.

It is the soup most children already know, and it freezes well. A big pot is two dinners and a week of lunches.

Why This Soup Is Great for a Table With Toddlers and Teenagers

Iron is the nutrient children most often fall short on, and the shortfall shows up at two ages. Toddlers between one and three are growing fast and often drinking a lot of milk, which carries no iron and crowds out food that does.

Teenage girls need more iron than any other group at the table once their periods begin, and they are the group most likely to be eating less meat.

A soup carries iron to both of them without anyone noticing. The beef supplies heme iron, the form found in meat, which the body absorbs well on its own. The beans and the vegetables supply plant iron, which absorbs far better when a vitamin C food is eaten in the same meal. Here that food is the tomato base the whole soup sits in.

Why the Tomatoes Are Not Optional

Vitamin C roughly doubles the amount of plant iron the body takes up from a meal. The tomatoes put the vitamin C in the same spoonful as the beans. Milk with the meal works the other way for toddlers, so serve water at dinner and the milk at another time.

How much iron each age needs, and which other family dishes carry it, is in One Dish, Two Plates: Feeding Adults and Children From the Same Recipe.

One Pot, Two Plates

The adult bowl is the soup as written, with black pepper and a spoon of grated Parmesan. The toddler bowl is a ladle of the same soup with most of the broth left behind. That makes a spoonable pile of soft beef, beans, pasta, and vegetables that cools fast and does not slosh. Cut any large vegetable pieces in half.

A teenager’s bowl is the adult bowl, larger, with bread beside it. Nothing is cooked separately, and everyone eats the same food.

The Pressure Cooker Does the Waiting

A soup like this simmers for an hour on the stove to get the beans and vegetables soft and the flavors together. Under pressure it takes five minutes, plus about ten to come up to pressure and ten to release. A Dutch oven works too; simmer it covered for 45 minutes and add the pasta for the last ten.

A bowl of beef and vegetable soup with pasta, and a smaller child's bowl beside it in a ramekin.
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Instant Pot Beef and Vegetable Soup

Ground beef, canned tomatoes, kidney beans, frozen mixed vegetables, and small pasta, cooked in a pressure cooker and on the table in about 35 minutes. About 26 grams of protein and 5 milligrams of iron an adult bowl.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American
Keyword: beef vegetable soup, family soup, freezer soup, instant pot soup, pressure cooker soup, toddler dinner
Servings: 6 adult bowl (about 2 cups)
Calories: 352kcal

Equipment

  • 6-quart electric pressure cooker
  • Ladle

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 90 percent lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes with their juice
  • 4 cups low-sodium beef or chicken broth
  • 1 bag (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
  • 1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium kidney beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste at the end
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup small pasta such as ditalini or small shells
  • Grated Parmesan for the adult bowls (optional)

Instructions

  • Set the pressure cooker to sauté. Add the oil and the beef and brown, breaking it up, about 6 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Spoon off any pooled fat.
  • Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, frozen vegetables, beans, oregano, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir and scrape the bottom so nothing sticks.
  • Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the rest.
  • Remove the lid and the bay leaf. Stir in the pasta, put the lid on loosely, and let the pasta cook in the hot soup on the keep-warm setting for 10 to 12 minutes, until tender.
  • Taste and add salt if needed. Serve adult bowls with pepper and Parmesan; ladle toddler bowls with less broth and let them cool.

Notes

Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added tomatoes and beans and skip the added salt, which cuts the sodium by about a third. To freeze, leave the pasta out, freeze the soup in portions up to 3 months, and add cooked pasta or rice when reheating. Canned beans are convenient; a pound of dried kidney beans cooked ahead and frozen in 1 3/4-cup portions replaces the can, costs less, and skips the can lining. Ground turkey works in place of beef.

Nutrition

Calories: 352kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 3.8g | Sodium: 561mg | Potassium: 988mg | Fiber: 8.9g | Sugar: 5.3g | Calcium: 109mg | Iron: 5.1mg | Magnesium: 70mg | Phosphorus: 340mg | Choline: 77mg

Gluten Free

The pasta is the one ingredient with gluten. For a gluten-free soup, use a gluten-free small pasta or leave the pasta out and add a cup of cooked rice at the end. For people with celiac disease, also check the broth, the canned beans, and the canned tomatoes, since a few brands add wheat-based thickeners or barley-derived flavorings.

People who avoid gluten by preference can use any small pasta or a gluten-free one.

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