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.
INSTANT POT CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
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.
HOW TO MAKE INSTANT POT 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.
LOOKING FOR MORE SOUP RECIPES? TRY THESE:
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Red Lentil and Chicken Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
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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
Recipe 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.
Jay says
loved it, the soup came out very well. easy and quick! my go to for a quick dinner. healthy and yummy…
Mary says
👍
Frances S. says
This was delicious!! I just got myself an Instant Pot and this was the first recipe I tried it out with. I added a can of diced tomatoes, a splash of white wine and some more chicken bouillon to give it a richer flavor and it turned out beautifully! This is a great recipe and I look forward to using it again. Thank you!
Cathie says
I just made this today and it is awesome!. I have an 8 qt Pressure Quick Pot and I had saved the broth from 2 batches of chicken wing I had made recently. . anyway I sauteed an onion and celery in butter and some of the chicken schmaltz, Added the herbs and the I threw in some frozen cooked cubed chicken breast, frozen thin sliced carrots and some small chunks of frozen broccoli.(My other hates peas and prefers broccoli over green beans although he eats them)..items, the broth (1 quart and a pint and a half. Then I added instead of egg noodles I used 2/3 of a 1 lb box of Farfalle. and added a quart jar of water. I cooked everything on MED for 10 min on the pressure cooker setting and the noodles came out al-dente- perfect not mushy, Thanks!
Joanna Cismaru says
That’s wonderful, so happy you liked the recipe! I appreciate you letting me know!
Debbie says
This is my go-to now for a quick weeknight meal! My whole family including a 4 and a 2 year old both love it so much that my older one would request it for dinner.
I like to use bone in chicken, usually drumsticks or thighs. Using chicken breast I find is too dry and less flavorful.
jgk says
really great recipe! we just tried it. super flavorful and delicious! when adding herbs, also consider 1 t sage powder, 1 t celery seed powder, and 2-3 bay leaves. the bay leaves will need to be removed when removing chicken
Isabel says
This was quick and easy to make and tasted great. My kids tasted it! The only change I’d make is to cook the noodles separately so I can store the leftover noodles without them getting soggy.
Cathy says
I’ve made my own recipe before for this. It doesn’t freeze well but you can CAN IT PERFECTLY! I am a canner from the old school. This makes great in pint jars for grab and go lunch on the way to work on a cold morning! I will be trying your version. It looks delicious! LOVE YOUR RECIPIES!
Laura says
Made this tonight. Super good! Highly recommend. I replaced water with chicken broth and used boneless skinless. Thanks for saving me when i needed a fast recipe to take to sick neighbors. I’ll make it again
Joanna Cismaru says
Glad you liked this, Laura!
Rebecca B says
I did the same thing! I just used water and it came out just fine. I also used different noodles (but it turned out fine!). Great recipe, thank you for posting online!
Rebecca B says
I also added 2 small bay leaves for the 6 minute soup time (7 technically) and then did an 11 minute natural release. It honestly just boosted the flavor. 🙂
Holly says
AMAZING!!!!
The best I’ve ever made!!! This will definitely make it into my recipe heirloom book!!!
Joanna Cismaru says
I’m so happy to hear this!
Tiffany says
We put it on the soup setting for 7 minutes but the chicken was still raw after this. We are new to the instant pot so not sure if we did something wrong here. Were we supposed to pressure cook it for 7 minutes instead? We have the 6 qt nova plus 9 in 1 pot. We ended up eating about an hour later… and the soup was delicious but would still like to know the correct way of doing this. Any advice would be appreciated!
Joanna Cismaru says
The soup setting is still high pressure, so the chicken should have cooked during this time, unless you used a whole chicken which takes longer. It’s always best to refer to your IP’s manual for exact settings, since they could be a bit different.
hersh malik says
I’ve tried this before without noodles and turned out great. Can I replace noodles with white rice?
Joanna Cismaru says
Yes!!!
Emina says
How would he time change if i’m not adding chicken? (My boyfriend is vegetarian.) would it just be 6 mins High Pressure?
Nicole Beaulieu says
I would add some extra veggies and fresh herbs to replace the chicken so the broth has more flavor. Cook for the same amount of time, that way you’ll pull out lots of great flavor.
Tina says
Wowsers! This is fantastic! Family said it was the best chicken soup I’ve made to date, and I’ve made a LOT of chicken soup. 😂 Thank you so much for this recipe!
Tracy says
Absolutely divine & easy! We didn’t have any parsley on hand so we used 1/2 tsp of dried rosemary & 1/2 tsp of dried cilantro & added 2 bay leaves. My daughter with a culinary palette rated it a 12 out of 10 😊
Nicole Beaulieu says
That’s amazing! Herbs are great, we always love to load this soup up with them 🙂
J Meeks says
In your post of the instant pot whole chicken, you mentioned using the carcass and left over chicken in this soup recipe. How do you alter the time if the chicken/carcass is already cooked?
Nicole Beaulieu says
Still use the same time! We want to develop flavor in your broth and the more time it sits under pressure, the more flavor you will pull out.
Kattie says
How do you make sure you get all the bones out without losing all the other ingredients?
Nicole Beaulieu says
I’ve never had much of a problem with the bones coming apart while cooking. You’ll just have to ladle through it to pick out bones if that happens!