Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

By
Laurel Randolph
Photo of Laurel Randolph
Laurel Randolph
A fervid lover of the culinary arts and all things Instant Pot, Laurel has been writing about food for 10 years. One of her cookbooks was the #2 cookbook of 2017.
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Updated on 06/6/22
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

The Spruce / Laurel Randolph 

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Pressure Build/Release: 40 mins
Total: 65 mins
Servings: 6 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
370 Calories
17g Fat
15g Carbs
42g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 370
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 22%
Saturated Fat 6g 32%
Cholesterol 203mg 68%
Sodium 472mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 15g 5%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 42g
Vitamin C 11mg 55%
Calcium 56mg 4%
Iron 3mg 15%
Potassium 700mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Chicken noodle soup is the perfect cold-weather dish. It's warm, savory, and full of delicious chicken, vegetables, and noodles. It'll cure what ails you—even if it's just hunger.

The homemade version is so much better than the canned kind that it's not even a contest. Luckily, it's easy to make chicken noodle soup at home, especially if you have an Instant Pot. The pot shrinks down the cook time while still producing a flavorful dish with minimal clean-up. We recommend adding the noodles after pressure cooking to prevent soggy, sad egg noodles. It only adds a few minutes of cook time, anyway.

Tweak this soup recipe to make it your own by using your choice of fresh or dried herbs. You can make it using chicken breasts, too—just decrease the pressure cooking time by one minute.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter, or oil

  • 1 yellow onion, diced

  • 2 stalks celery, diced

  • 2 carrots, peeled and diced

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless skinless

  • 1 (32-ounce) can low sodium chicken broth

  • 3 cups water

  • Salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste

  • 6 ounces egg noodles, about 3 heaping cups

  • 1/2 lemon, juiced

  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph

  2. Turn on the sauté function on the Instant Pot (medium heat). Once hot, add the butter to the inner pot and melt. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté for a few minutes, or until the onions are turning translucent.

    Saute the onion, carrot, and celery
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph 

  3. Add the garlic and oregano and stir; turn off the sauté function. Add the bay leaf and the chicken thighs in a single layer. Add the broth and water and season with salt and pepper. Secure the lid.

    Add the chicken and broth
     The Spruce / Laurel Randolph

  4. Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes and use a natural release. Depending on your model of Instant Pot, don't forget to close the steam release valve before pressure cooking.

    Cook for six minutes in the Instant Pot
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph

  5. Once the pressure has released naturally, remove the lid. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the chicken to a plate. Remove the bay leaf. Shred the chicken and return to the pot. Turn on the sauté function (medium heat).

    Shred the chicken and add back to the pot
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph 

  6. Once simmering, add the egg noodles and stir to submerge. Cook for about 5 minutes, uncovered, or until the noodles are cooked through. Carefully remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and add the parsley and lemon juice. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

    Add the noodles and simmer
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph

  7. Serve hot.

    Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
    The Spruce / Laurel Randolph 

Recipe Variations

  • Make this recipe with chicken breasts. Add two pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes instead of 6.
  • Make this soup vegetarian by using vegetable broth and replacing the chicken with a can of rinsed and drained beans and chopped vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, bell pepper, corn, peas, and mushrooms.
  • For extra nutrition and color, add greens like baby spinach or baby kale at the end of cooking just until wilted.

Tips

  • Some Instant Pot models take longer to release pressure than others. If your's hasn't naturally released all of the pressure in 30 minutes, use a controlled quick release to release any remaining pressure.
  • Soups are always better with homemade broth, and making broth is easier and faster in the pressure cooker. Combine chicken bones and/or wings, a large onion cut into quarters, two roughly chopped carrots and celery stalks, and a bay leaf in the inner pot. Season with salt and add water just until all of the ingredients are covered. Cook at high pressure for 1 hour and use a natural release. Extra broth freezes well, too.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.