Last updated on November 4th, 2018 at 02:38 pm
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup made from scratch and in a fraction of the time. Delicious and hearty, loaded with noodles and chicken, this soup will warm the cockles of your heart.
I wished for snow for Christmas and my wish came true tenfold. While it was beautiful while snowing, now I don’t wish for it anymore, but I’m stuck with it. That and the temperature, because it’s been very cold. Nothing’s better on a cold winter night than a bowl of comforting chicken noodle soup. Especially when you have a cold. Not me, but hubs does.
Which is why I decided to make him a chicken noodle soup, in the instant pot because you guys have been emailing me for more and more IP recipes. While I have some coming over the next few months, I thought now would be the perfect time for a chicken noodle soup.
The secret to good chicken noodle soup is to make the broth from scratch using chicken with skin and bones. My mom always made her soup with a whole chicken, lots of carrots, onion, celery and sometimes a parsnip for more flavor. The end result is always the best and tastiest broth and my favorite part was always the noodles. Oodles of noodles, the more the better.
This Instant Pot chicken noodle soup is similar but it takes a lot less time and the soup is just as incredible, loaded with tons of flavor.
I did not use a whole chicken, it’s not necessary, but you’ll need about 2 lbs of chicken with skin and bones. You will want at least one chicken breast, so that you have some to shred after to add back to the soup. The biggest advantage of using the Instant Pot to make this soup is of course time. It takes 7 minutes to cook the chicken for that delicious broth.
Someone asked me if the food cooked in the Instant Pot is bland and I think the exact opposite is the truth. I find the flavors richer and much deeper. When you open that lid after cooking and the aromas hit your nose, you won’t be able to wait till you have a taste of this soup.
One thing to note is I didn’t cook the noodles with the chicken on the soup cycle and that is because I didn’t want to end up with mushy noodles, noodles cook quick anyway, so I didn’t think it’s necessary.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 tsp thyme dry, 1 tbsp if using fresh
- 1 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp oregano fresh, chopped, 1 tsp if using dry
- 4 cups chicken broth no sodium added
- 2 lbs chicken with skin and bones, use at least 1 chicken breast
- 4 cups water
- 5 oz egg noodles uncooked, (about 2 cups)
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer's guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute for 3 minutes until the onion softens and becomes translucent.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the thyme, parsley, oregano and stir. Pour in the chicken broth. Add the chicken pieces and add another 4 cups of water.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Soup setting and set the timer to 7 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the soup and shred with two forks.
- Add the noodles to the soup and set the Instant Pot to the saute setting again. Cook for another 6 minutes uncovered, or until the noodles are cooked.
- Turn off the Instant Pot, by pressing the cancel button. Add the shredded chicken back to the Instant Pot, taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Garnish with additional parsley if preferred.
Video
Notes
- What is an Instant Pot: An IP is a multi-cooker, it's like seven different appliances all in one! It does the job of a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, etc.
- I don't have an Instant Pot, can I still make this soup: Absolutely, you would follow the exact steps except it would take a bit longer to cook the chicken in the broth. Or you can see my Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup or Crockpot Chicken Noodle soup recipe for the crockpot version.
- Can I use boneless skinless chicken breast: Yes, of course but cooking the chicken with the skin and bones will give you a deeper more delicious broth.
- Can I use chicken drumsticks or thighs: Yes, you can. Any part of the chicken can be used, as long as you have enough chicken meat to add to the soup after you shred it.
- Can I use frozen chicken: Yes, you can. The time can vary depending on how big your chicken pieces are but I would start with 10 to 12 minutes and go from there.
- Why use chicken broth, can I just use water instead: Yes, you can absolutely replace the chicken broth with an additional 4 cups of water.
- Can I freeze this soup: If you plan to freeze the soup, hold off on adding the noodles. Wait to add the noodles when you take the soup from the freezer and reheat it. The noodles won't hold up very well when defrosted and reheated.
- Nutrition: Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
Why do you use 4C of water rather than another box of broth? If I’m using boneless skinless breasts would you recommend all broth to help with the flavor?
If you’re using boneless skinless skinless breasts you can use all broth then.
The soup turned out exactly the way you explained it would! My family really enjoyed the soup and it tasted delicious! Thank you so much for the thorough explanation you gave! It was wonderful!! 🙂
Made this soup yesterday. Only my second mea in the IP. Flavor was good. Used chicken thighs. I also didn’t use water as another reviewer wrote and just Used 8 cups broth. I didn’t put noodles in during the cooking time. I didn’t have any on hand. My only complaint is that my soup came out very greasy. Not sure if there’s a way to fix that.
Delicious best instapot chicken noodle soup after trying several! Made it with skinless boneless chicken breast tenders and it was juicy perfection! Also omitted all the seasoning except for salt and it was perfect for my 7 year old. My family loved it! Thank you!!
Even my kids liked it!!! So good
I have boneless skinless chicken breasts I need to cook. Any suggestions on using them with this recipe?
Yes, you can. I have used boneless skinless chicken breasts as well and it turned out great. Same time.
Do you have any timing suggestions if you use a whole chicken?? I found a small 3.5 lb chicken at the store and thought that would work 🙂
If you use a whole chicken it will take about 20 to 25 minutes if thawed.
Actually, I had the Instant Pot already going when I wrote that comment (I got nervous when I realized I was cooking a whole chicken, and not chicken pieces). I found a 3.6lb chicken and it actually cooked through in 7 minutes!!! This recipe is amazing! I added some leek to it and it turned out beautifully. Thanks so much! I’ve already shared it with my friends!
I’m so glad it worked out for you! Interesting that it cooked in 7 minutes. Just curious, did you do a natural pressure release?
I did a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then did a quick release. I have an 8 qt Instant pot, and the chicken fit in there with all of the veggies (I even did 1.5x the recipe because I had 3.5 lbs of chicken) so I’m guessing 7 minutes was sufficient becuase it was a REALLY small chicken!
That plus the natural pressure release helped as well. 🙂 Glad it turned out for you!
I just made this & it’s the first time I didn’t dissolve the bones while making chicken soup in my IP. (I don’t like the taste when that happens.) Next time I make it I will cut down the oregano. Other than that small change, based on personal taste, it’s perfect.
Made this last night and it was so delicious! I wish I would have listened to the reviewer that said not to doubt the amount of noodles. I did the exact opposite and doubted the noodles. 🙂 It looked like not enough at first, so I dumped in the rest of the bag, but after several minutes the noodles soaked up most of the broth. I just added some more boxed chicken broth. I do love noodles so I can’t complain. 🙂 Thanks for the great recipe!
This recipe is scrumptious! I only altered two little things. I used Chicken Better Than Bouillon instead of chicken broth and a soup noodle instead of egg noodles. The first time I made it I got them at Walmart and I can’t remember the name of them, something that sounds Polish… The second time I was at HEB, so I picked up what they had there. Kluski Noodles.
(Heh, again, it sounds Polish.)
They don’t turn out slick like egg noodles and really compliment the soup, I think.
OH, and if you choose to use the Better than Bouillon, just skip adding the salt. It’s perfect that way!
When I put in 7 then press soup, the time disappears and it just says “on”. I’m confused about what to do. I’d love some guidance. Thanks!
Please refer to your IP’s manual!
It’ll say “ON” until it gets up to pressure. then it cooks under pressure for 7 minutes. I’ve got an 8 quart and it took about 20 minutes to get to pressure. After the 20 minutes, the valve shut, and it cooked for 7 minutes. Then I did the 10 minute slow release.
It is set to the 7 minutes you just can’t see the count down for it. It will
Complete in 7 minutes though, because it will beep. Hope that helps!
I was about to give up on the instant pot; I just ordered one and my basmati (cooked exactly to instructions in the recipe book), and lime boneless chicken breasts were terrible. And while I didn’t have all the ingredients as shown above (I used Italian seasoning instead of the herbs shown), the technique did work out very well for me. The breasts shred easily after cooking, and the veggies were not hard, but far from mushy. Very good.
Made this for dinner tonight and everybody LOVED it!! I used 4 thighs with skin and bones and 2 breasts which was plenty. I have an 8qt IP and a large family (6) so I used 3 carrots & 3 celery, added 2 extra cups broth (6 total), 1 extra cup water and doubled the amount of noodles (next time I’ll use more noodles). It was so flavorful and delicious!! Will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
What size instapot is this designed for? I’m wondering if I can double the recipe in an 8 at pot
We did this in a 6 qt. It might be a bit too much to double it.
This recipe is so amazing! It is identical in taste to my mother’s homemade chicken soup growing up. I would have to beg her to make this as it took all day long to make! I do have one question, what is a serving size related to the listed nutritional information?
So glad you like it! A serving here is about 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
I have made this twice over the last three weeks. Great flavor.
So happy you like this! 🙂
EXCELLENT RECIPE!! Don’t doubt the amount of noodles in the recipe . I added more then had to make more broth! I prefer chicken thighs bone in.
I have also tried this with partially frozen thighs and timed the insta pot for 12 mins. I agree with adding the noodles at the end!