This Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup recipe is easy comfort food all year long. While I love to serve a simply perfect Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup, I love being able to create a homemade chicken soup in the pressure cooker in minutes.
Using the Instant Pot provides the extra convenience of being able to cook everything in one pot for a quick weeknight meal.
There’s nothing more nourishing or comforting than chicken noodle soup, especially during the chilly winter months! It’s like a hug in a bowl, loaded with tender chicken, veggies and noodles.
Remember your mother’s yummy chicken soup, slow simmered for hours on the stove or a slow cooker? This Instant Pot chicken soup recipe is just as delicious but much quicker.
How To Make Soup In Instant Pot
This recipe lets you take ingredients from refrigerator (or freezer) to steaming hot bowls of savory Instant Pot Chicken Noodle soup in no time at all.
To Make the Best Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup:
- Saute an onion in the Instant Pot.
- Add all remaining ingredients (except noodles) to the pressure cooker and set to high pressure 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken and shred.
- Set Instant Pot to sauté add the noodles to boil until tender.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup recipes come in different variations, including chicken wild rice soup or chicken tortilla soup. Many of these recipes call for using the whole chicken, skin bones and all. I wanted to give you something super quick and easy, perfectly fuss free for a weeknight and that’s how we came up with this chicken soup, Instant Pot style.
Can You Cook Pasta in the Instant Pot?
Absolutely, I frequently cook Instant Pot Mac and Cheese, it’s easy and wonderful. In the mac and cheese recipe, the pasta is cooked in the Instant Pot under pressure.
In this recipe, the Instant Pot cooks the chicken and veggies under pressure however it is used to “boil” the pasta using the saute setting at the end. While the noodles could be cooked under pressure in this recipe, the chicken and noodles need different cook times and the Instant Pot takes a lot of time to come up to pressure.
How To Release Pressure in the Instant Pot
If you are new to Instant Pot cooking, then you’ll need to know about the two methods to release pressure. The first is natural release meaning the pressure will naturally release over time and there is no need to touch the venting knob.
This method allows for continued cooking and also takes more time. For the very best instant pot chicken noodle soup, use quick release. It’s perfect to get dinner on the table in a hurry.
How To Quick Release Instant Pot
When making this Instant Pot Chicken noodle soup, you’ll use a quick release to stop the cooking so the chicken doesn’t overcook. When the cycle ends, just turn the venting knob to “vent” to release the steam.
Always protect your hand with an oven mitt or kitchen towel to prevent burns as the steam is very hot. Quick release will make the pressure drop in seconds instead of minutes. Once released, the lid will easily open. Never force the lid off your Instant Pot if it doesn’t open easily, it is still under pressure and should not be opened!
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Instant Pot Beef Stew – so easy
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Instant Pot Chicken Tacos (Pressure Cooker) – my daughters favorite!
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes – perfect side
- Instant Pot Minestrone Soup – a meatless meal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts 8 oz each
- 2 medium carrots sliced, about 1 cup
- 2 ribs celery sliced, about 1 cup
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cups chicken broth or stock
- 4 ounces egg noodles approx. 2 ½ cups dry
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Turn the instant pot on to SAUTE. Cook onion in olive oil until softened.
- Add remaining ingredients except noodles. Select SOUP (or MANUAL), HIGH PRESSURE and change the time to 10 minutes. The instant pot will take about 10 minutes to build pressure.
- Quick release pressure. Once cooked, remove and discard bay leaf. Remove chicken breasts and shred with a fork.
- Turn Instant Pot onto SAUTE. Once broth begins to boil, add egg noodles and allow to simmer 6-8 minutes or until tender.
- Stir in chicken and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Can I double the recipe? Will it fit in the 8 qt pot? If so, how do I change my cooking time?
It should fit in an 8qt if you double it and cook time will remain the same.
Hi! I’m very excited to make this, but how would I alter this recipe if I use frozen chicken cutlets?
Hi Jeanne, we have only made this recipe as listed but if using 8-ounce chicken cutlets the cooking time should remain the same. We do recommend using defrosted chicken cutlets but some readers have made this recipe with frozen and had good results.
Chicken was tough, chewy and bland? Hi I am not complaining about your recipe. it seemed to work for most people. I am posting this because I wondered if anyone had some tips. I took 2 large chicken breasts straight from the store to this recipe. I followed it to a T. Broth tasted wonderfyl! Meat was tough, stringy, chewy and bland! Does anyone know why this might be? Have any tips? Thanks for your consideration!
It sounds like your chicken may have overcooked in the Instant Pot. We recommend using chicken breasts that are roughly 8 ounces in size. If they are smaller you may need to adjust the cooking time to prevent them from overcooking. Hope that helps!
If the chicken turned out too tough and chewy…there are two possibilities.
Either the IP is malfunctioning, or that the chicken itself is subpar (woody, over fatty/sinuous)?
If bland,…post cook seasoning is mandatory in any soup preparation, AFAIAC.
Either way, check the seal on your instapot (they need to be replaced occasionally, as they break down over time), and beware raw chicken that appears to have numerous, parallel, fine lines that run throughout the surface of the meat. These “woody” chicken cuts are almost always subpar….
HIya! Love the ease of his recipe. Perfect for a chilly almost winter night. My house smells so good! Question: Do you leave the pot on “SAUTE” once the pasta is added? It says “simmer” so wasn’t sure if it’s on or turned off to simmer.
Thank!
The pot is left on saute as this keeps the liquid at a simmer.
I tried this recipe for a quick and hearty soup. I followed it step by step. OMG!!! Absolutely delicious! So easy to make. This one is going down as my favorite instant pot chicken noodle soup. Thank you so much for doing all of the work. My family & friends are well pleased.
My four year old has declared chicken noodle soup her FAVORITE meal, thanks to this recipe:) This is now on our regular recipe rotation!
We feel very special ❤️ So glad she is loving this recipe, Stephanie!
This sounds delicious! What about adding potatoes?
Potatoes sound like a delicious addition, Amanda!
Kids came down with cold in the last day or so and this recipe was by far the easiest chicken noodle soup I have made thus far! Didnt have alot of time… ordered and picked up groceries at Ralphs and within 1/2 hour, VIOLA, the soup was made and cooling, ready to eat! In fact, my kids devoured their bowls and said “Mom, I feel better already!” lol
I used 4 chicken thighs instead of breast and substituted FIDEO noddle’s (thin spaghetti noddle’s 1-1/2 inch cut) for the egg noddle’s.
Delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
So glad your family enjoyed it, I hope they’re feeling better soon!
Oh my goodness my kids gobbled this up so fast! So tasty and easy to make… just like original chicken noodle soup! I added two bay leaves instead of one and 1 tbsp of chicken buillon powder in place of salt. Perfect.
Delicious additions! Thanks for sharing.
I want to use this recipe but I wonder how to tweak it when using precooked shredded chicken. How would you suggest I go about that change? Thank you!
I would still follow the instructions as written (minus adding the chicken in step 2) and stir in the chicken in step 5 since it just needs to be heated up! Hope this helped!
Loved this recipe! I’ve made it a bunch of times, never fails! I did have a question though; is this something that can be prepped and frozen ahead of time? Or would it be better to just make it and freeze once it’s cooled?
Hi Emily, you could prep this ahead of time and freeze it. I would add the noodles when cooking in step 4.
This was such a good recipe. Easy to follow and it tasted as if it had simmered all day long. I’m fairly new to instant cooking as I’ve only used my pot about a dozen times and three of them were for hard-boiled eggs. This recipe will go to the top of my keeper pile. The only things I did differently were, I used 8 cups of stock and I cut the two chicken breasts into 6 long pieces which made it easier to cut into chunks in the end. I don’t care for shredded meat. Thanks for such a good and simple recipe.
This was amazing! I added 1 tsp. of Better Than Boullion instead of salt and pepper. Thanks!
This is DELICIOUS! I added 1/2 tsp. of Better Than Boullion. This will be a favorite in our house! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Sally!
Excellent soup! I did alter the recipe a bit by adding approx 1/2tsp of herbes de Provence, but otherwise kept it the same. My kids have been asking for this every week for the last couple of months. They hate soup. Thank you for an easy recipe packed full of flavor!
You’re welcome! So glad your kids love the soup so much!
I made this today. I really enjoyed this soup! This will be my go to chicken noodle soup from now on! Thanks for sharing!
You’re so very welcome Cathy!
I made this tonight. It was easy and very flavorful. I used 2 large chicken breasts as the recipe calls for but mine were probably more than 8oz each. Mine could have used another cup or 2 of broth and more egg noodles. This soup was delicious though.
sounds quick and easy. I plan to throw this together and we are going to be on a Zoom call with friends at 5:00 p.m. so I’ll turn on the IP, let it slow release and stay on warm then add the noodles when the get together is over and add the noodles to cook while I make salad. Will it get over done that way, can it possibly be overdone?
This should work just fine! Let us know how it goes!
YUM-OH! Made this today for lunch with my husband. He went heavy on the seasoning, otherwise we followed the recipe. FANTASTICO! Our IP took a while to preheat, but I made up the time by cooking the noodles while shredding the chicken. Will definitely make again!
Thank you
You’re very welcome Leslie!
Very tasty and so easy to make! Chicken came out divine! I added turmeric and ginger and some corn and peas as I like a lot of vegetables.