This Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup is THE BEST chicken noodle soup I have ever had and it’s one of the easiest I have ever made. Tender chunks of chicken in a rich homemade chicken broth with big hearty veggies. Homemade Instant Pot chicken noodle soup from scratch in less than an hour.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
If you have been on the fence about buying an Instant Pot, this is the recipe that will make you an Instant Pot lover! I am talking the most delicious homemade chicken broth you have ever had. This soup is so flavorful and rich, you won’t believe that this starts with just a whole chicken, veggies and water.
If you are just getting started with your Instant Pot, or are thinking of adding one of these handy electric pressure cookers to your kitchen, this Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup is a great recipe to get started with! It’s easy to make, and you won’t believe how delicious it is.
Start by using the Saute function of the Instant Pot to saute the onions and veggies. One of the greatest features of the Instant Pot is that it is truly a one-pot wonder. You can saute veggies and brown meat right in the pot.
Then add the whole chicken to the pot. Mine was about five pounds. Make sure you have removed any giblets.
Add 8 cups of water, soy sauce, salt and pepper. The soy sauce is the secret ingredient to this rich and flavorful chicken broth. You can’t taste the soy sauce, but it enhances the meaty flavor of the broth. Lock the lid in place and set the Instant Pot to High Pressure for 20 minutes.
The Instant Pot will take 15-20 minutes to come to pressure, then it will start the count down from 20 minutes. After the countdown is complete and the Instant Pot switches to keep warm function, Quick Release the pressure and carefully remove the lid once all the pressure is released. Remove the chicken and set aside to shred.
Turn the Instant Pot back to Saute and let the chicken broth come to a simmer. Add in the noodles and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. While the noodles are cooking, shred the chicken. Once the noodles are tender, add the chicken meat back to the Instant Pot and stir in the parsley. The soup will be very hot, so be careful when serving.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 5 carrots peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 2 celery sticks sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 whole 5 pound chicken giblets removed and discarded
- 2 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 8 cups of water
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 4 ounces of extra wide egg noodles
- 1/4 cup of minced fresh flat leaf parsley
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Set Instant Pot to Saute function.
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Heat olive oil and onions until onions start to soften and become translucent, 2-3 minutes.
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Add garlic, carrots and celery and saute for another minute.
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Add whole chicken to Instant Pot, followed by water, soy sauce, 2 teaspoon of salt and several turns of freshly ground pepper.
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Turn off Saute function, lock Instant Pot lid in place, make sure pressure valve is set to sealing and set Instant Pot to High Pressure for 20 minutes, via manual mode.
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Instant Pot will take 15-20 minutes to come to pressure, then will countdown from 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes at high pressure, Instant Pot will beep and switch to keep warm mode.
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Turn pressure release valve to Quick Release pressure.
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Carefully open Instant Pot, keeping lid angled away from you to avoid very hot steam.
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Remove wole chicken and set aside to shred.
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Turn Instant Pot back to Saute function and let chicken broth come to a boil.
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Stir in egg noddles and let cook for about 5 minutes.
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While noodles are cooking, shred chicken into bite sized pieces discarding bones and skin.
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Once noodles are cooked, stir in chicken meat and fresh parsley.
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Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook
This chicken noodle soup is pure comfort food!
I can’t wait for you to try it!
The Instant Pot is really a must-have kitchen tool! I’m excited to share more recipes soon!
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- Quick to make
- Light on your budget
- Easy to clean-up
- and...most important...absolutely DELICIOUS
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it. We have had our IP for a few months, but haven’t made soup yet. I definitely will be giving this a try! Thanks!
Thanks, Kelly! I’d love to hear how it turns out!
What size IP are you using for this recipe?
Hi Anna!
I’m using the 6qt.
Just made this and it is wonderful! My wife started coming down with a cold last night. From shopping bag to bowl in less than 2 hours total, including vegetable prep.
Looks yummy Melissa. I got my IP last month but haven’t tried soup yet. Will give it a try this week.
made this tonight and it was delicious!!! thanks for the great, easy recipe
Just tried this today. Love it as a starting point, but the broth could be a little more complex for my tastes. I boiled the carcass for broth after shredding the meat and it turned out wonderfully!
Love the simplicity of the recipe. I’m going to play with the seasoning a bit to see if I can “spice it up!” Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the chicken soup recipe. Just got an instant pot. I left out the soy and put in some sage, rosemary and thyme for flavor – very awesome. Hubby, tween and me loved it. Was not expecting quite the size of volcano when I released the pressure. We have vaulted ceilings and it still hit the lights. Must be the altitude – 6000 ft. Didn’t even dawn on me to adjust for that. 🙂
This soup is absolutely amazing! I had alot of chicken /veggie broth and used that instead of the water and WOW! I didn’t have a whole chicken, so I used 5 lbs of chicken thighs… I’m already on my 2nd batch in less than 24 hrs!! 🙂 Thanks again!
This was very tasty! I used two three pound organic chickens, so I used the 8 quart IP. It was simple to prep for and quick to put together as well. Clean up was super fast too, which is almost as important as the rest of it. Thank you for the great recipe!
I make chicken noodle soup all the time, but wasn’t sure how to transfer it to the IP. I was worried about making the veggies too mushy. I will have to try this!
I made this soup for dinner tonight and my husband said it is the best Chicken Noodle soup he has ever had.
This sounds wonderful. I think I’ll have to do a head-to-head (or is that stove-top-to-instant-pot) comparison with my go to, world’s greatest and easiest One Hour Chicken Noodle Soup recipe from Kevin at Closet Cooking. I don’t know if the “Closet” kitchen has an Instant Pot, but I am loving mine!
This was the very first thing I made in my Instant Pot and it was amazing. I’ve never ever made chicken soup this quick and deliciously good. Thank you for sharing.
Just made this, but also added fresh ginger, a squeeze of fresh lemon, a 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, and whole peppercorns
Made the chicken soup tonight and it was perfect!! Followed the recipe exactly. We all loved it.
Does this soup freeze well?
I haven’t tried to freeze it yet. Once thing I’ve noticed is that noodles cooked in the broth tend to get mushy when freezing. If you plan on freezing, maybe consider cooking the noodles separately and then adding them to the soup. Hope that helps!
Good suggestion about freezing. I make turkey soup after Thanksgiving every year, and don’t add any noodles, since I freeze portions in pint jars. I add noodles when I thaw some of the soup to serve. Found out about mushy noodles the 1st time I tried freezing a batch that had noodles in it.
If you’re going to freeze soup it’s best to leave the noodles out. Just make some quick noodles while you’re heating up your frozen soup or add rice instead.
Made this yesterday! Delicious!
I made this and it was quick and easy as promised! However, I definitely had to refrigerate and skim the fat before we could eat it, so we had it the next day. I’m just curious to know how others have dealt with the tons of fat that a whole chicken leaves behind? I’ve had this issue making chicken soup the conventional way, as well.
That was the first thing I thought of when reading this recipe. Traditionally, I would skim the ‘foamy stuff’ in the beginning, then again in the end of cooking. I think what I would do here is carefully remove all of the ingredients, leaving the broth. Then skim and replace with chicken, noodles and veggies. Another way is to refrigerate the broth at which time the fat will start to solidify making it easier to remove. You want some to remain for flavor though.
I use a fat separated, it works great. No need to refrigerate it, just pour it in the separates and give it about 10 minutes
Planning to make this today, but I’m thinking I’m going to cook the chicken with the water, salt, and pepper first (no veggies) so I can skim some excess fat from the broth. Then I would have the broth in a separate container while I sauté the veggies, add the broth and chicken meat, and the noodles, and cook until done. I’ll let you know how it turns out 😁
I’m not sure I understand why you can’t skim a broth with veggies. I just did so with no issue. You want the veggies in there during broth-making to get the flavor!
How did it turn out?
I put my chicken in thinking it could be placed in there’s still partially frozen but when the timer went off I took it out and outside looked fine but was still blood you on inside. Next time I’ll have to thaw first. I put it back I need for another 20. Hopefully it won’t overlook the veggies.
Hi Kimberly! I’m sorry the frozen didn’t work out. I recommend using a fresh or thawed chicken. Hope you were able to save the soup!
I already made this recipe once, and it was DELICIOUS! I’m making again and was wondering what the time adjustment, if any, would be for a frozen chicken….any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!thank you!
Hi Jen! I’m sorry, I’ve never made it from frozen. Please let me know if you do and what timing worked for you! Good luck!
I wouldn’t recommend throwing a rock-solid bird in whole. The inside will cook a lot slower and I’m pretty sure that by the time the interior is done, the outside would be overcooked to shreds. That said, I don’t think it’s an absolute requirement to perfectly defrost it, an ice chunk here or there won’t hurt. If you’re using parts like legs and thighs, I think it’s less of an issue.
This was the very first Instant Pot recipe I tried and it turned out great. Thank you!
Thanks, Julie!
Sounds wonderful, but I am trying to reduce my salt intake. Anything else I can use instead of the soy sauce?
Try low sodium soy sauce!
Bragg’s liquid aminos!
Coconut aminos have a similar flavor, but 90 mg of sodium per tsp. My lite soy sauce has something like 530 mg. sodium per tbsp. So that looks to be about half for the coconut aminos.
you can also try an few dried mushrooms (porcini, for example) or a T or two of tomato paste – they’re both able to up the umami factor….
I am making this tonight and I’d love to use rice instead of noodles. Would I treat it the same as the noodles?
I cut the recipe in half for my 3 quart IP but used the time and pressure stated in the recipe. It was perfect. This is the most full flavored chicken noodle soup I’ve ever tasted. Thanks!
I just tried making this in the 6 qt using 5 lbs of chicken leg quarters, and 6 cups of water brought it to the ‘full’ line. Hopefully it will still turn out – it’s in the pot now!
Fantastic recipe! It’s our new favorite! However we didn’t even have a 5lb chicken and 20mins was not enough to cook the chicken through.
I just made this soup for the second time, and I love it. The broth for this soup really turns out nice. I use a 3 qt. Instant Pot, so I have to cut all the ingredients in half, with one change. Instead of 4 cups of water, I used 3. I used 4 the first time I made this soup and had too much liquid in the pot come time to release the pressure (not good unless you like broth spraying through the air). When it was done cooking and time to boil the broth for the noodles, I added 1 cup of chicken broth. This brought the liquid back up to the proper amount. And I was skeptical of the soy sauce the first time, but after adding it this second time, I have to agree that it makes a (good) difference. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
This was a wonderful recipe except this is a lot of chicken! I used two bone-in chicken breasts and two leg quarters (equalled less than 5 lbs total) and I didn’t use half of the meat. Not bad to have extra cooked chicken but next time I will probably use 1/2 the amount.
This is delicious! I have a 6 qt., could only fit 6 of the 8 cups of liquid (all stock) to get to the max line-just added the other 2 after removing the chicken.
Made this for dinner tonight, it was great, so easy, chicken was done perfectly. I used a 5.6lb whole chicken, it was the smallest I could find, it was a lot of chicken
actually too much. I used the frozen type egg noodles, The only thing I would do different next time would be to add a bay leaf or two, I love bay leaves in my soup flavoring. Thanks for sharing.
I used your recipe as a nice guide and to get me started but I substituted 3 whole pheasant – I cooked them separately putting them in the pot frozen for 50 minutes on high pressure with clarified onions, celery, pepper, and chicken stock. I retained the remaining stock and used it as a base for my soup. The pheasant actually worked very well in the instant pot – they certainly were cooked all the way through, shredded nicely and were moist. I saved about 1 bird for pheasant burritos in a day or two. There are not a lot of recipes for instant pot and wild game but I have been finding that following poultry recipes for pheasant and beef or lamb recipes and substituting venison have been very tasty alternatives and it’s giving me new alternatives to making game tasty and keeping it moist.
I really enjoyed it!! Thank you!!
I’m so glad! Thank you!
This was fantastic. I use chickens from the farmers market that are very high quality and flavorful, but pretty tough. 20 minutes plus a slow release had the meat falling off the bones, which I’ve never managed to make happen with normal simmering. The soy sauce is a great trick, you’re absolutely right that you can’t taste it but it adds depth. I left out the celery because my wife doesn’t like it, and I didn’t feel anything was missing.
One note, there’s really no need to peel the carrots. Just a quick wash will do, and it’ll lend a tad more flavor with a bit less effort.
This turned out great! I’ve had a few IP fails pressure cooking noodles, so I really like that you add them in at the end. We’ll be making this again!
Just made your recipe. Kids loved it! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Awesome! Thank you, Jessica!
Do you use the soup/broth setting or the pressure cook setting when making this soup.
Love this recipe, but want to be able to skim more fat. Is the refrigeration method the best way?
Hi! I would love to try this recipe. My daughter is a type 1 diabetic so I need the serving size and total carbs per serving. Could you please provide?
Is it possible to use chicken breasts,boneless, instead? I have an Instant Pot Mini so not sure any size whole chicken would work.
Any suggestions on adapting for a crock pot?
Sauté function did not cook noodles, tried 8 mins. Had to pressure cook again for 5 more mins
Hi, this recipe looks great and I plan to make it later this afternoon. My question is, when I make turkey soup I load it up with veggies. Can I add more veggies here too without changing the cooking? I love good, hearty soups.
Can I just use chicken breasts? Would in be the same time? This looks great!!
If I already had cooked, shredded rotisserie chicken to use w this soup how would I adjust the time on the instant pot??? Any idea?
Delicious! I wasn’t sure about adding the soy sauce, but I prepared the recipe as directed (with the exception of the type of pasta) and I wasn’t disappointed! I’m curious – do you have the nutrition information for this soup? If not, I can calculate it myself.
This recipe is perfect. I used a half of a freshly butchered chicken as it was hugh. Only change I made is I always use frozen Raeman egg noodles. They are the only thing that comes close to my mother’s homemade noodles. I swear I could eat the whole pot. But have to share with the gal that have me the chicken.
I’m new to using my instant pot. I like to add potato chunks to my chicken soup. Do you think they’d be ok to add with other veggies and not end up as mush? I can boil separate and add at the end, but of course it would be easier to add with all the rest.
I’ve made this recipe many times, & I absolutely LOVE this soup… so does my daughter and anyone else *lucky* enough to get some. I always make just as you state. Today, fhough, I need to make a batch for my sick kiddo and I already had some chicken breasts thawing to make something else. To save time and use what I have on hand, I’m going to use the breasts. My question is, should I decrease the cook time or keep it at 20 minutes? I know it won’t be as flavorful without the bones to enhances the broth, but I need it quick and shredding the whole chicken takes longer than I want to wait. Im going to use chicken broth instead of water, but do you have any other suggestions to deepen the flavor?
I’m not sure if anyone will see this before I make this on Wednesday next week but for those who have used Reames frozen egg noodles, did you change the liquid/cook time any differently? How much noodles did you put it? I plan on using these instead but had been planning on cooking the shredded chicken/broth/vegetables on their own a second cycle and making the noodles separate. I would love to make it easier!
I’ve been making this recipe every Sunday for four weeks straight. 😂 I eat it for dinner throughout the week. I added bay leaves and sometimes use Worchester sauce in place of the soy. It’s the perfect way to warm up in winter! Thank you!!
This is the most delicious chicken noodle soup recipe I have ever had and very simple! I used frozen veggie mix to cut down on time. My chicken was too big and wasn’t cooked thoroughly. I shredded/cut what I could and threw everything back in the pot for 5 minutes. Next time I will probably use breasts and thighs instead of the whole chicken – just because there was so much. If you are wanting to freeze the leftovers (assuming you have some) use a little less liquid and make the noodles separate when you are ready to eat it.
Just made the chicken noodle soup, I’m not good at soups, and this was easy and tasty… I used bow tie paste, a fresh chicken and put it on the steam rack so it would be easy to remove… I will be making this recipe again and trying more soup recipes in my IP… mahalo for sharing this recipe…