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Every bit as comforting as the chicken noodle soup from your childhood but made in the Instant Pot for an ultra-easy adaptation, this soup is delicious and so nourishing for both the body and soul!
Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (Instant Pot)
Chicken noodle soup is the most comforting food ever, am I right? It has a way of nourishing both the body and soul and is 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!
This recipe is every bit as soul-feeding as the original, but because it’s done in the Instant Pot, the process takes less time and is much more hands-off — my kind of recipe!
Why use the Instant Pot to make Chicken Noodle Soup?
Instant Pot chicken noodle soup is every bit as delicious as the classic stovetop version but takes much less time and effort to pull off!
How long does it take to cook Chicken Noodle Soup in a pressure cooker?
One of the very best parts about cooking chicken noodle soup (or, honestly, anything!) in the Instant Pot is the amount of time that it saves. While regular chicken noodle soup takes up to an hour to cook on the stovetop, the Instant Pot method takes a fraction of the time!
Chicken Noodle Soup Instant Pot Ingredients
The ingredients here are no different than the ingredients for regular stovetop chicken noodle soup. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – to start, you’ll need 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil to saute your aromatics in!
- Carrots – carrots are a must in chicken noodle soup! For this one, you’ll need 5 medium carrots that have been chopped into ½-inch coins.
- Celery – celery is another classic chicken noodle soup veggie! 5 stalks of thinly sliced celery will head into the pot too.
- Yellow Onion – ½ of a diced yellow onion will provide some really delicious flavor to the soup.
- Garlic – 2 cloves of grated garlic (a microplane makes grating garlic so easy) provide depth of flavor to the finished product.
- Chicken Thighs – you’ll also want to grab 1½ pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Thighs provide delicious flavor here, but if you’d rather use chicken breasts, that’s fine too.
- Chicken Broth – 12 cups (96 fluid ounces) of chicken broth provides the liquid base for the soup.
- Salt and Pepper – a teaspoon of salt and a ½ teaspoon of pepper will be used to season the thighs before tossing them into the Instant Pot.
- Bay Leaves – for some added flavor, 2 bay leaves will hang out in the Instant Pot until it’s ready to serve.
- 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.
- Lemon – to brighten everything up, you’ll also need the juice of one lemon (about 2 tablespoons-worth of lemon juice).
- Parsley – fresh, chopped parsley will finish the soup off beautifully!
What is the best cut of chicken to use for this soup?
I personally prefer using chicken thighs for chicken noodle soup — I think they make for a more flavorful end product. Of course, if you’re partial to chicken breasts, you can absolutely use those also.
Can this soup be made with pre-cooked chicken?
Sure! You can absolutely use shredded rotisserie chicken in place of the chicken here. If you do that, you’ll only need to set the Instant Pot for 3 minutes at high pressure (vs. 7 minutes) to further soften the veggies!
What are the best types of noodles to use for Chicken Soup in the Instant Pot? Can gluten-free or other specialty noodles be substituted?
I love using rotini noodles for chicken noodle soup, but any short noodle (penne, bowtie, etc.) will work great! Gluten-free or other specialty noodles would also work well!
Should I boil noodles before adding to the soup?
Nope! Once your soup has cooked at high pressure for 7 minutes, you’ll release the pressure, set the pot to saute mode, and let the noodles boil in the open pot until cooked through.
Supplies Needed to Make this Recipe
- Instant Pot
How To Make Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
The process is so easy, y’all! Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Saute the carrots, onion, and celery – set the Instant Pot to “saute” mode and add the olive oil to it. Once hot, add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute for 3-4 minutes, until fragrant and translucent.
- Add the garlic and stir – add the garlic to the pot and stir. Then, press the “cancel” button to turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the chicken thighs, broth, salt and pepper, and bay leaves – to the pot, add the chicken thighs, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
- Pressure cook – secure the lid onto the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 7 minutes.
- Release the pressure, remove the chicken, and shred it – once the 7 minutes is up, 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.
- Cook the noodles – set the Instant Pot back to “saute” mode. Once boiling, add the noodles, and let them simmer for about 5 minutes, until soft and cooked through.
- Shred the chicken – while the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken.
- Return the chicken to the pot and add the lemon juice – 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 and serve – garnish the soup with parsley, serve, and enjoy!
FAQs for Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Below, you’ll find the most frequently asked questions for the Instant Pot version of this classic, feel-good soup.
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. 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).
YES! This recipe is written for raw chicken, so you can absolutely put raw chicken in the Instant Pot.
Of course! The stovetop version of this soup can be found HERE.
How to Store and Reheat Instant Pot Chicken Soup
Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy it within 5 days. To reheat one serving, I typically use a microwave, but if I’m heating more than one serving, I prefer to dump it into a soup pot on the stovetop until warmed through.
Does it freeze well?
It does! You can go one of two routes here: either freeze any leftover soup you have OR freeze the ingredients in a large container/bag for a busy night in the future. If you’re freezing leftovers, the noodles will have already been added to the soup, so there’s a good chance that they’ll fall apart slightly through the freeze and reheat process (it’ll still be yummy, though).
If you plan to go with the second option, all you’ll need to do is add all of the raw ingredients (except for the noodles) to a large container or freezer-safe bag, then freeze! When you’re ready to cook the soup, run the sealed bag/container under warm water until the contents are pliable enough to pop into the Instant Pot, then set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Once finished cooking, follow steps 5-9 of the recipe as written!
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 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!
Erica says
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.
Brandi Schilhab says
Erica! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! We are so glad that you all loved this soup.