It’s officially flu season! This week my father-in-law came down with “walking pneumonia” and his doctor said meds, rest and chicken noodle soup only for the weekend. I’ve made Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch several times in the past but never with the Instant Pot so I decided to give it a try! I compiled and compared about 6 recipes and decided to use them but also venture out a little on my own.
Homemade Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
All of the recipes called for either a whole chicken or boneless skinless chicken breasts only. Neither of those options excited me. I love chicken breast and it’s usually my go to, however, in a soup like this dark meat adds SO much flavor! I just couldn’t leave it out. Chicken breasts alone was not an option. However, trying to pull out a whole chicken carcass that is so tender it’s falling apart while floating in a soup is a nightmare for me. I knew I would spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to fish out the skin and bones that slid off while I was wrestling with it. So I came up with my own method…… use chicken pieces!
I ended up getting a 2.5 lb package of skin-on bone-in chicken breast halves and 2 lb (6 total) package of chicken drumsticks. It worked beautifully and the soup is loaded with flavor and tender chicken! (And just for the record, it yields quite a bit more meat than a 5 lb whole chicken would!)
The Result……
I took a bowl with crackers to my father-in-law and went back downstairs. About 20 minutes later he texted “My mother would be very very proud of you. The mantle is passed! You are the Queen of chicken noodle soup!”
I think he liked it. 🙂
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 whole carrots peeled and sliced into ½ inch pieces
- 3 celery stalks sliced into ½ inch pieces
- 2-2.5 lbs chicken breast halves with skin and bones SEE NOTE
- 2 lbs chicken drumsticks with skin and bones SEE NOTE
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 cups water SEE NOTE
- 4 cups bone chicken broth plus more if needed after cooking noodles SEE NOTE
- salt and pepper
- 4-8 oz wide egg noodles
- ¼ cup minced fresh flat leaf parsley
- Set Instant Pot on on Saute and allow to heat up. Heat olive oil and add onions and saute until softened. About 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic, celery and carrots and saute for another minute or 2.
- Add chicken to Instant Pot along with water, chicken broth, soy sauce, 2 tsp salt and a bit of black pepper.
- Stop saute by hitting cancel/off button. Lock Instant Pot lid in place ensuring pressure valve is set to seal. Set Instant Pot to High Pressure for 25 minutes.
- Once it starts beeping (after cooking for 25 minutes) and switches to keep warm mode, turn pressure release valve to Quick Release and wait until it depressurizes.
- Carefully open Instant Pot. Remove chicken pieces and set aside to shred in a bowl.
- Turn Instant Pot back to saute mode and let soup come to a boil.
- Stir in egg noodles (use amount from 4-8 oz you are comfortable with. I use 8 oz because we like it super hearty. I do have to add chicken broth at the end to make it "soupy".). Cook egg noodles according to package (any where from 5-10 minutes).
- While noodles are cooking, remove and discard skin and bones and shred chicken.
- Once noodles are cooked, add chicken and chopped fresh parsley. And any additional chicken broth to make it as "soupy" as you like!
- Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
CHICKEN BROTH AND WATER: If you do not have any chicken broth use 8 cups of water instead of 4 water and 4 broth. Also note that I would not use more than 4 oz of egg noodles if you do not have spare broth or you may not have much of a soup. If you use closer to 8 oz of egg noodles you most likely will have to add broth after they cook to make it soupy again.