This Instant Pot chicken noodle soup recipe is every bit as comforting as the chicken noodle soup from your childhood – its rich, flavorful broth is loaded with juicy chicken, tender veggies, and of course, lots of noodles – but this chicken noodle soup cooks in a fraction of the time.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Recipe Tips
- How to Serve
- How to Store and Reheat
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe Recipe
This recipe is…
Chicken noodle soup is the most comforting food ever, am I right? It has a way of nourishing both the body and soul. It’s always my go-to dinner dish when someone in my family is feeling under the weather or just needs an extra hug in the form of good ole comforting food!
Unlike the original, this Instant Pot version has the power of pressure behind it. Acting like a wonderful infuser, the Instant Pot transforms a 30-minute broth into one that tastes like it’s been simmering for hours.
Intriguing? Check out what else the Instant Pot can make quick work of, like this super flavorful Instant Pot barbacoa or these fall-off-the-bone rustic Instant Pot short ribs that cook in 1 hour. Want to know more about the Instant Pot? We’ve got you covered with these guides to help you decide which Instant Pot model is right for you and how to keep your Instant Pot clean.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s rich and flavorful – utilizing the infusing capabilities of the pressure cooker this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup is deeply flavorful.
- It’s got the perfect noodle to broth ratio – this soup is loaded with veggies, chicken, and noodles – “the good stuff” – not just broth. I just don’t love SUPER brothy (read: lacking in “good-stuff”) soups, so I can really appreciate the “good-stuff” to liquid ratio here.
- It’s quick and easy to make – because all of the cooking happens in the Instant Pot, this recipe is practically a set and forget. Once the lid goes on, you won’t have any pots to watch, so you can get about your business.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
Just a handful of ingredients – flavorful chicken thighs, some chopped vegetables, a few aromatics, broth and a couple finishing touches – takes this Instant Pot chicken noodle soup to the next level. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Chicken Thighs – I can’t overstate how much more flavor chicken thighs pack than the usual boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this chicken noodle soup recipe. But, if you really prefer white meat, chicken breasts will make a perfectly delicious soup, too.
- Noodles – chicken NOODLE soup has to include noodles! You’ll need 12 ounces of noodles (gluten-free rotini is pictured here) for your soup. Any small shape (think: rotini, penne, bowtie, etc.) will work great.
- Chicken Broth – store-bought works great, but if you want to go the homemade route, we’ve got you covered. Check out this recipe for homemade chicken broth.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use rotisserie chicken – you can easily skip cooking the chicken and add shredded rotisserie chicken to the soup later. You may lose a little richness in flavor, but it’s a tasty shortcut worth a try.
- Make it gluten-free – gluten-free noodles will work just as well as regular noodles in this chicken noodle soup. Just follow the package directions for the correct cooking time.
- Use homemade broth – swap store-bought chicken broth for homemade broth – or even homemade bone broth – for added flavor.
- Kick the flavor up a notch – if you’re looking to put a fun spin on traditional chicken noodle soup you could add a couple tablespoons of your favorite red pepper sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot)! My mom actually does this sometimes, and it’s really yummy. You could also stir in a dollop or two of pesto for another fun take (again, thanks mom!).
How to Make Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
This basically hands-off recipe can be made from start-to-finish in the Instant Pot. To find out how to make it yourself, follow along below.
Step 1: Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and set on saute mode. Once hot, add the carrots, onion, and celery to the pot and cook until fragrant and translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 2: Stir in the garlic, and turn off the Instant Pot (press cancel).
Step 3: Add the chicken thighs, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Secure the lid and set the Instant Pot to high pressure. Cook for 7 minutes.
Step 4: Once the timer goes off, leave the Instant Pot alone and let the pressure release naturally. Once the Instant Pot has depressurized, remove the lid and transfer the chicken thighs to a large bowl to cool slightly.
Step 5: Set the Instant Pot on saute mode. Once boiling, add the noodles and let them simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes. While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken.
Step 6: Once the noodles are cooked, turn off the Instant Pot and add the chicken back to the pot. Then, stir in the lemon juice, ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with parsley, and serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Get to know and love the saute function on your Instant Pot. This one feature allows you to sweat your vegetables and cook your noodles without having to dirty an additional pan.
- To naturally release the Instant Pot pressure, all you have to do is leave the Instant Pot alone after the timer runs out.
- If you want to make ahead and store for later, wait to add the noodles until you reheat the soup to keep them from overcooking.
- Portion the soup into individual servings before freezing so that you can reheat just what you need.
How to Serve
Serve piping hot with a garnish of parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a crusty piece of bread.
How to Store and Reheat
To store: You can go one of two routes here: either freeze any leftover soup you have, OR make a double batch and freeze an entire batch for a busy night in the future. If you’re freezing leftovers, the noodles will have already been added to the soup, and there is a chance that they’ll fall apart slightly through the freeze and reheat process (it’ll still be yummy, though). The soup will keep frozen for 5 months.
Otherwise, this soup will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To reheat: Pop the frozen soup into an appropriately sized pot and heat over low to medium-low heat on the stovetop until completely thawed. Then, bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. If you need to cook the noodles, add the noodles and cook according to the package directions. Garnish and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to overcooking the soup, that’s not likely to happen during the pressure cooking process (before the noodles are added in). You can, however, overcook the noodles, so be sure to taste test them for doneness after they’ve simmered for about 5 minutes.
You can! We actually have an entire article on how to cook frozen chicken in the Instant Pot that you can find here: How to Cook Frozen Chicken Breast in the Instant Pot. Know that if you choose to use frozen chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, you’ll definitely need to pressure cook the soup for longer (25 minutes vs. 7 minutes).
Of course! The stovetop version of this soup can be found here: Classic Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe.
More Favorite Instant Pot Recipes
If you tried this Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 medium carrots, chopped into ½-inch coins
- 5 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 12 cups (96 fluid ounces) chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 ounces rotini noodles
- Juice from one lemon, about 2 tablespoons worth of lemon juice
- Fresh parsley, optional, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot to the “saute” mode and add the olive oil to it. Once hot, add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute for 3-4 minutes, until soft and translucent.
- Add the garlic to the pot and stir to combine. Then, press the “cancel” button to turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the chicken thighs, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaves to the pot.
- Secure the lid onto the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Once the 7 minutes is up, either let the pressure release naturally or do it manually (by turning the pressure valve to “venting”). Remove the lid and transfer the chicken thighs to a large bowl to cool slightly.
- Set the Instant Pot back to “saute” mode. Once the soup is boiling, add the noodles, and let them simmer for about 5 minutes, until soft and cooked through.
- While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken.
- Once the noodles are finished, press “cancel” on the Instant Pot to turn it off, and return the chicken to the pot. Then, stir in the lemon juice.
- Garnish the soup with parsley, serve, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Use rotisserie chicken – You can easily skip cooking the chicken and add shredded rotisserie chicken to the soup later. You may lose a little richness in flavor, but it’s a tasty shortcut worth a try.
- Make it gluten-free – Gluten-free noodles will work just as well as regular noodles in this chicken noodle soup. Just follow the package directions for the correct cooking time.
- Use homemade broth – Swap store-bought chicken broth for homemade broth – or even homemade bone broth – for added flavor.
- Kick the flavor up a notch – If you’re looking to put a fun spin on traditional chicken noodle soup you could add a couple tablespoons of your favorite red pepper sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot)! My mom actually does this sometimes, and it’s really yummy. You could also stir in a dollop or two of pesto for another fun take (again, thanks mom!).
Nutrition
My family, including young kiddos, gobbled this up. The only edits I made were leaving out the lemon and instead adding in a can of coconut milk. I will be going go back to this recipe again and again. It’s perfection.
YUM! The coconut milk sounds like a delicious addition! We are so happy your family loved it! Thank you so much for taking a moment to share, Andrea!
My family really loved this soup! I have tried several other recipes, but this is the winner! Adding the noodles after cooking everything really helped our GF noodles stay together. Brilliant!
And this is a generous recipe, so I am freezing some for later. Thank you for adding notes about freezing it, using frozen chicken (I did!) and using basic ingredients that I typically have in my pantry and fridge.
Erica! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! We are so glad that you all loved this soup.