Chicken Soup in Instant Pot

I make this soup at least 2 times a month for years. It became my classic recipe for soup. 

The initial recipe I posted here: Traditional chicken soup. I made this soup in all sorts of ways: in a traditional pressure cooker, in a regular big pot but since I've got my Instant Pot, it is the only way I do it.

The soup is so versatile, it can accept all types of vegetables that are left over in the fridge like an eggplant, a zucchini or more tomatoes/bell peppers. 

The advantage of the Instant Pot is that I can cook the chicken straight from the freezer, skipping the time to defrost them. I do not even need to cut them because, in the end, the meat simply falls out of the bones and you can break them with just a simple spatula.

There is a secret ingredient that for me is a must: the lovage. You might not be familiar with this herb but its flavour fits amazingly with the soup. During the summer I enjoy the fresh lovage leaves but during the winter I use the dried version of it. In case you do not have it available, use parsley.

I am not sure if I can "advertise" more this soup.

Below is the adapted recipe for the Instant Pot.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken legs (frozen or not)
• 1/4 of a big celery root (diced)
• 3 carrots (diced)
• 2 onions (diced)
• 2 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 bell pepper (diced)
• 6 potatoes (diced)
• 150g frozen or fresh peas (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of dried herbs ( can be thyme, parsley, lovage, oregano or whatever you have)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon of dried organic chicken stock (optional)
• fresh lovage, lemon and fresh chilly for serving

Directions:

1. Put the chicken legs on the bottom of the Instant Pot pan (I use the 8qt size) and cover with 1 litre of water.
2. Start the Saute function of the Instant Pot and dice the vegetables.
3. By the time you finished dicing, the water should be boiling in the pot.
4. Add the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients, fill in the pot with water to its maximum capacity sign and close the pot.
5. Start the high pressure cooking programme for 10 minutes and do the natural release at the end  (the natural release might about 30 minutes)
6. Open the lid, put it on a serving plate or bowl, add some lemon juice, a few slices of fresh chilli pepper and a lot of lovage.

It is not necessary to have a pressure cooker for this soup but the process is simplified and the resulting soup is healthier.