Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
The best, easiest, and quickest homemade chicken noodle soup you will ever make in your pressure cooker! Tastes just like mom’s cozy, flu-fighting, homestyle soup!
I know.
I’m sorry guys. I am so late to the Instant Pot game here. I am clearly not an early adopter.
But! I tried the IP. And I LOVE IT. So can I join the IP cult now? Because I have used my IP for a month now.
And I just. cannot. stop. Mainly because Ben gets sick every other week.
So I have made this homestyle chicken noodle soup four times in the last month.
And it’s absolutely perfection.
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
The best, easiest, and quickest homemade chicken noodle soup you will ever make in your pressure cooker! Tastes just like mom's cozy, flu-fighting, homestyle soup!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 ounces wide egg noodles
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Set 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting. Add olive oil, garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in thyme and rosemary until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken, chicken broth, rosemary sprig, bay leaves and 4 cups water to the Instant Pot®. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 10 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer's directions. Remove chicken from the Instant Pot® and shred, using two forks.
- Select high sauté setting. Bring to a boil; stir in pasta and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 8-11 minutes. Stir in chicken, lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I have made this recipe many times and love it!
It unfortunately my instapot is not working correctly
Could you give me some tips for on the stove
Hands down best chicken soup ever! I love the fresh lemon juice added at the end. Such a nice addition! I put some in mason jars and keep in the freezer for when we need a warm, comforting, immune boosting meal! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
This is so good. We got fever and colds in September and I wanted chicken soup. The lemon juice really takes it up to zesty. I didn’t have celery but added cabbage and corn for more veggies. All the kids liked it, too. Thanks!
This is my favorite Instant Pot chicken noodle soup recipe.
Super comforting and delicious. Lemon and salt/pepper to taste at the end is key. Made this twice in a month and going to keep it in the rotation.
I’ve made this a bunch of times – it’s wonderful – and so easy during the week. The only thing I’ve changed is to use 8 cups low sodium chicken stock instead of 4 cups stock/broth plus 4 cups water. For me it’s a little too bland with the water but that’s just me (and my family and friends who’ve also made this). Making this again tonight.
This is my go-to chicken soup for cold nights. I make it on Sunday night and eat for lunch throughout the week. It is delicious! I use frozen chicken and use poultry seasoning as well.
What if I use rotisserie chicken?
Delicious! I did not have rosemary, but this still turned out great. I followed the comments and did 4 cups water and 4 cups broth. To make the broth a little richer I added a little ghee for that creamy mouth feel. Great recipe!
Great, classic recipe. Love that it uses thighs rather than breasts- so much flavor in that cut.
One suggestion- please add the 4 cups of water to the ingredients list. It’s too easy to miss and an easy fix for folks reading a bit too fast… (especially since the ingredients list ask for “4 cups broth” but the directions only say “add broth” and but then go on to say add “4 cups” water. Too easy to assume the 4 cups is referring to the broth if not reading carefully enough).
Best chicken noodle soup ever! The lemon at the end is magic!
Delicious. Had some fresh lemon thyme and added that too. Will be making this again.
Great recipe!! Very happy with results !!! Thank you for sharing !!!
This is my go-to recipe for weeknight chicken soup. I’m making it tonight because it’s finally feeling like fall and I’m ready to put soups back in the rotation.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I had begun to feel kind of ho-hum about chicken noodle soup over the years, as so many versions just seemed rather insipid. Although I make lots of soups, I never have made a chicken noodle soup, as I didn’t want to deal with a carcass, and I was afraid of cutting corners and ending up with just the same kind of insipid flavoured watery broth creation I was running from. This recipe is so easy, yet I can’t believe the rich flavour it yields. The lemon is an absolutely necessity and should not be skipped. It made such a difference! A few subtle tweaks to my own seasoning preference at the end (and, honestly, I added very little since it was near-perfect) and I was in heaven. I haven’t even finished the one pot yet and I’m already planning to make it again next week.
Thanks so much for this recipe! I recently discovered it and have already made it three times. So easy and everyone loves it.
I loved this recipe! Very flavourful. I used 2 chicken breasts instead of thighs as I prefer white meat and it was very tender. The family enjoyed it!
What brand of egg noodles are the best?!
This recipe is absolutely perfect as is! Thank you! I have made chicken soup from scratch for many years. Mine emphasizes dill. But, I love the rosemary and thyme. In fact, as I do with all spices, I upped the amounts of those. But, this recipe was stellar! Thank you!
how can you make this with frozen chicken thighs?
Great recipe!! Maybe wait to add noodles until serving – make them separate. But everyone loves this recipe. I double It then save it – freezes well too!!
Fabulous, but needed more broth I’ll increase to next go round!!
My family is in love with this recipe ! It is easy to follow and very delicious . I love all your recipes !
This soup was excellent and the recipe easy to follow. I used chicken legs and my only change was to add 2 more cups of chicken broth, we like more broth than noodles, and a can of Green Giant sweet corn, liquid and all after cooking noodles and adding parsley. It was a definite success. I made the soup in my 6qt instant pot ultra.
Just made this on a cold day & having a cold. Perfect. I did cook the noodles separate in chicken broth, as I find they suck up all the soup. Broth back in soup. Very Good! Thank you.
Question:
Am I supposed to 4 cups chicken broth and 4 cups water?
I only added chickeb broth.
Glad I’m not the only one wondering this.
Love this recipe! The lemon juice is like a secret ingredient that takes it to another level for me! I found it too watery with 4 cups of water so all broth here too!
My toddler has been sick for a few days, so I made this last night to hopefully get her better, and hopefully keep us well! And it turned out perfect! I added about 2 extra cups of broth, since I think I actually had about 10 oz of noodles, but it was so good! Plus, extra broth & noodles means more soup, so who wouldn’t want that? I’ll be eating the leftovers for lunch today, and definitely saving this recipe to cook again.
First time using my new hot pot.
Absolutely delicious chicken noodle soup
First time using my new instant pot I got for Christmas.
Thank you.
Valerie
Thank you for this recipe, Chungah!
Rosemary is the star of this recipe. An entire sprig (plus dried!) is a bold choice, and I love bold choices. Your soup will have a distinct rosemary fragrance to it. Reduce or omit the sprig of rosemary for a less fragrant soup.
YOU NEED 8 CUPS OF LIQUID. 4 cups of broth and 4 cups of water. This is to account for boiling the noodles at the end. I used all chicken broth which made for a very rich soup, I think half broth and half water (per the recipe) would be just fine. (Chungah: consider adding the water to the ingredients list, I nearly missed it.)
The rules of soup apply: remove the rosemary stalk and bay leaves before serving. Skim fat off the top of the soup when boiling the noodles. (Trimming the fat off the chicken thighs helps a ton, too.)
An entire lemon’s juice ended up being too acidic/lemony for my tastes. Add lemon to your taste.
Vegetables will be mushy. Kind of hard to avoid with instant pot. Still tastes great, and some people prefer that anyways. If you want less mushy vegetables, cook the noodles separately (but reduce the overall liquid in the soup to 4-6 cups).
Love the choice of chicken thighs. They just add so much flavor to the soup; Chicken breasts should work just as well at the same cooking time.
Home sick this week and my boyfriend bought me my first Instant Pot – this was my very first recipe I tried with it! OMG – amazing! So easy, delicious, and healthy. Only substitution I made was adding extra low-sodium chicken broth. I’m not a big fan of cooking as I get frustrated when something does not come out perfect, but this will give me the courage to try so much and enjoy it! Thank you 🙂
This really was damn delicious! I used all chicken broth, no water and added a tablespoon of chicken bouillon, cut up two small potatoes and added them, but basically I followed your recipe and it was a hit. We all loved it, we have plenty for tomorrow and I will be making this again.
This ends up being delicious, good on its own or in tortillas, but burns in the instant pot every time. Have made it 3 times now and it burned each time, even on the last attempt with double the liquids from the recipe. I’d imagine it would cook well in a skillet or dutch oven on the stovetop.
So good! The modifications I made were that I seared the chicken thighs in olive oil, salt and pepper, no water only 8 cups chicken broth and a tsp of better than bouillon paste, and along with the dry rosemary and thyme I added a tbsp of turmeric. I almost chose not to add the lemon juice but am SO glad I decided to…that took it to another level of goodness! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I really loved the soup before I added the lemon juice at the end. I thought it threw the savory taste off. I will definitely make it again, but skip the lemon juice.
So good ! I added one potato and from reading the comments 4 cups of chicken broth (2 boxes) No water.
I made this soup and it was delicious. The only thing I would do is add more garlic and then it will be super medicinal.
Are you adding raw chicken into to the pot? How long did it take for your instant pop to finish the preheating cycle?
Yes, raw chicken. The instant pot will cook it just fine in 10 minutes. With 8 cups of liquid it will take a little while to come up to pressure. I’d say at least 10 minutes.
I am now making this my go-to chicken soup! It’s simple yet so delicious! I add 1/2 a turnip in cut up in little cubes, love it! Thank you for this fantastic easy recipe!
So incredibly good! I altered recipe slightly, used 8 cups chicken broth (instead of 4 broth; 4 water), added a Trader Joe’s concentrate chicken broth and potatoes. Just because I really like potatoes. Can’t get enough, so full but I’m about to get a second bowl, thanks for sharing!
This is easy to make and very tasty. I made only a few changes. I used chicken thighs and seared them in IP prior to sautéing the vegetables. I also added Better than Bouillon to mixture. Otherwise, I followed recipe directly as suggested. Next time I may try orzo or brown rice. Great recipe!
! am new-ish to the instant pot but want to try this for a neighborhood gathering. If i am doubling the recipe, how would this affect the cooking times? Thank you!
I’m by no means an expert but I would think it probably wouldn’t matter cooling time wise but your limitation would be how much liquid you can use in your instant pot at a time.
I made this for my sick boyfriend tonight and we both LOVED IT!
I agree with some of the other comments – I will add an additional cup or two of chicken broth next time. I used gluten free (brown rice) noodles. The flavors were really on point. Damn delicious!!
Pretty sure this is one of the best soups I’ve ever made!!
We love hearing that, Megan!
My family loves this recipe and it’s very quick and easy to make, but I use THREE times the amount of broth (12 cups) and honestly it would still be good with FOUR times the amount (16 cups). I think part of the reason it needs so much more broth when I make it is because I use gluten free noodles (Barilla GF rotini works well) and they might soak up more of the broth. Even with regular noodles though I can’t imagine 4 cups being enough broth. Just wanted to post in case this helps anyone with the recipe. With the right amount of broth it’s delicious!
Sorry just realized it says 4 cups of broth and 4 cups of water (total 8 cups of liquid). It needs more like 12-16 cups of liquid and I think it would be bland with a broth/water mix, but 12 cups of broth with no water works great.
This recipe was so good! I made it with cabbage instead of noodles. My family said it was their favorite chicken soup recipe I’ve ever made!
How much cabbage did you add? That’s sounds liked a great alternative.
When do you add the spaghetti? I am guessing you cook it in the instapot with the chicken?
Hi Denise! The spaghetti is added in step #3:
3. Select high sauté setting. Bring to a boil; stir in pasta and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 8-11 minutes. Stir in chicken, lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
This looks amazing! I’d love to swap quinoa for noodles. Would it be best to add cooked quinoa, or could I rinse and add to the soup as it cooks?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
Try it with fresh thyme, rosemary and orzo ❣️
I also make my own stock from a chicken that I roast and mostly pick clean except for the wings and little bits of chicken that stick to the bones. If you don’t want to make stock, the Better Than Bouillon is better than canned stock.
I could eat my weight in chicken soup. I also love making chicken noodle soup into avgolemono by tempering in 2 eggs at the end then cooking a few minutes.
I made this as written tonight. It was good, but I think next time I think I’ll use chicken thighs instead of breasts, add more broth, and use shorter noodles.
Thanks for sharing!
This soup is very good! I believe this is the best homemade chicken noodle soup! The only change I made was I added 2 more cups of chicken broth and 1 chicken bouillon. Otherwise I followed the recipe! The chicken was tender and it was just very flavorful! I am currently sick with a cold and this hit the spot! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I can’t wait to see more pressure cooker recipes from you!
I saw you this morning on the Today show!
Thanks, Jennifer!
My husband and daughter loved it. I substituted thighs for breasts and it gave it a little more flavor. Do NOT omit the lemon juice, it makes a huge difference. I think that’s part of what makes it better than other chicken noodle soups.
I used gluten free pasta when I made it for a friend with the flu. Now she and her husband make it all the time.
Great recipe!!
Delicious! I added bouillon for extra flavor & spoon of butter for sautéing the veggies. Would have liked more broth, would add a cup of extra water next time.
Sounds yummy!
Made this tonight and was very impressed!
Great!
Has anyone tried doubling the recipe?
Best i ever had. Apologies to my mother in law and wife.
This was a hit in our house last night! It is a keeper and plan to make it again. It is kid-approved (they asked for seconds) so thank so much for putting this together and posting!
Made this three times now, so i’m obviously a fan! I’ve created it with regular chicken breasts, ones with bone, and frozen chicken. I definitely increase the broth to water ratio if not using chicken with bones, since it doesnt get as flavorful by itself.
Thank you for sharing your recipe and tips at the end!
Great modifications!
Best soup I’ve ever had.
So good I felt confident enough to give to a friend who had surgery. She loved it too
That’s great!
Another excellent recipe. Tastes like grandma’s chicken soup! I used the white meat from a rotisserie chicken to save even more time. It was delicious and a perfect comfort food. Thank you for sharing your talent with us!
This was a hit at my house. The spaghetti noodles were a great idea! I had to use powdered garlic, celery, and other herbs. I added Trader Joe’s 21 salute seasoning and some Herbs de Provence. It was so flavorful.
That’s great, Michelle!
First time using the fast pot. The chicken soup came out great.
This was simple and delicious!! Next time I will use egg noodles instead of spaghetti noodles per my hubby’s request but this is a keeper recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us all! 🙂
Just got my instant pot. First recipe I made was the chicken soup recipe. Outstanding!
Thank you.I am hooked.
Amazing! Let us know when you try other ones!
Can this be made with frozen chicken breasts? If so would cooking time and/or amount of liquid need to be adjusted? Very excited to make this!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I just posted a comment on the Korean Beef recipe that you have and I realized that I also recently made your Chicken Noodle soup recipe, as well. It was great. When making it next time, I will slice the carrots instead of dicing them and will use a shorter pasta. But the flavour of the soup and the texture of the shredded chicken were excellent! Saving this recipe too and can’t wait to try some of your other ones.
Thanks so much for sharing with us!
I made this tonight (with no-yolk egg noodles instead of spaghetti, because we had them on hand) and it was *so delicious*. The lemon juice (from one whole lemon) really gave it a nice tanginess to go with the savory goodness. Great for fighting this icky sore throat and bronchial nonsense that’s been laying me low, too.
Feel better! Glad our recipe can be of help! 🙂
Can’t wait to try it easy one pot recipe. Chicken soup is always a must as the weather gets cooler.
Not good very blah. Might have made a mistake on your recipe it’s asking for 4 cups of water making this soup very blan.
how long should this take? my instant pot never left the on stage… I may have stopped too soon… It seems like prep pre heat 10 min to cook chicken and another 10 min for noodles . is about a hour… Not so instant to me…
Between prep and cook time, this recipe takes about 45 minutes.
My kids loved it! Can’t wait for more instant pot recipes!!!!
Thank you!
So happy to hear it! Thanks!
I added 2 sprig rosemary,so delicious !!!! Thanks !
Love that!
Hi there,
How do you prevent the chicken from being dry? Everything turned out delicious except the chicken breast was dry after shredding.
Oh no! Did you make sure your Instant Pot wasn’t venting during the cooking process?
Made this last night and both my husband and daughter had seconds. This soup is delicious and super easy to make. I used a normal pot as i didn’t have an instant pot and still turned out yummy. The herbs blended in nicely and vegs were all fresh, nice and healthy. Definitely will be making this again. Love your recipes Chungah!
Thank you so much Trisha! Glad you whole family enjoyed it!
Just got my instant pot on my birthday. I’m trying to cook this soup right now. I’m lost on step 2 when it says “select manual setting…” which setting is that? Sauté? Soup/broth?
There should be a “MANUAL” button on the Instant Pot interface.
Your Instant Pot will most likely have a “Pressure Cook” button if there is no “Manual” button. I struggled when I got mine for Christmas in 2017 because all the recipes I found used terminology that does not apply to the newer models interface. “Pressure Cook” is just the newer interface!
My family and I LOVE this recipe! Thanks so much for posting it! The only change we make is to double the liquid (total 16 cups) – we’re all about the broth in our house!
Thank you
It’s only my third time trying to instant pot so I figured you would know better than I
Delish. I used chicken thighs and seared them in IP first. I also added Better Than Bouillon-roasted chicken paste. Otherwise I followed recipe exactly. Next time I will try orzo pasta. Definitely a keeper!
If I add white potatoes and cut them smaller would they cook in the same amount of time?
Yes, it should stay relatively the same, but as always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Now I have to buy an IP. Gonna need a bigger boat.
LOL! Me too.
You said 4C water, but you also said 4C chkn broth but did not say when to add the broth. So, 4C water and 4C broth?
Please refer to step #2. Both the broth and water is included in this step.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken, chicken broth, rosemary sprig, bay leaves and 4 cups water to the Instant Pot®.
Did you mean you stir in precooked pasta that you made on the side or literally cook the pasta in the ip at the end? If so wouldn’t the soup become cloudy bc of the starchiness.
The pasta is cooked in the Instant Pot – that’s the beauty of the Instant Pot! As far as “cloudiness”, the soup should look as pictured here.
Thanks for the recipe! If I don’t plan on cooking the noodles in the soup, should I decrease the amount of water in the recipe? I want to add the noodles later, after warming up the soup again.
If you add the noodles later, you can still keep the amount of water the same. Hope that helps!
As unusual, your recipes are amazing and do not disappoint! I made this tonight and it came out phenomenal. Thank you for sharing and helping others, like me, plan my meals!
I love your blog and so glad you have Instant Pot recipes! I made this tonight, but I think I did something wrong. Normally, I feel like I have the whole Instant Pot timing down too. The chicken came out perfectly. But after I took the chicken out to cook the noodles, I noticed that I needed more water. So I added more water…but then as the noodles started cooking, the water kept getting absorbed. At the end it turned into a pasta vs. soup. All of this was on the sauté function too. Followed directions completely. Any tips?
Oh no – how much liquid did you use? The recipe calls for 4 cups broth + 4 cups water. There should be a total of 8 cups liquid.
Just have to chime in and say I, too, will be happy to see lots more Instant Pot recipes. I love mine but haven’t got that many good recipes for it yet. TIA
Your photography of the chicken soup is amazing. This should be used as point of purchase somewhere it would sell tons of soup! So happy you have found the instant pot. I discovered it a few months ago in BC when my sister in law was using it. Will try the soup for sure. Have you tried doing boiled eggs in your’s ? Even farm fresh eggs peel like you have never had before. Looking forward to more instant pot goodies.
I smiled when I saw that comment “What is an Instapot”, and then I remembered that as of 3 weeks ago I didn’t know either! Ron
So glad to see you are loving your Instant Pot. I was wondering if you were going to ever be using one. I will look forward to your recipes. I made the most amazing chicken broth recently. Just dumped in carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, onion skins, chicken bones (I save all the veggie discards when chopping, chicken bones, skin & put in freezer) added roasted chicken wings. Cooked 45 on high pressure, quick release.
Forgot 8 cups of water.
I make something Very similar!!! Isn’t it easy in the IP and delish
Can I use frozen chicken breast in this recipe?
Yes, you can but cooking time will have to be adjusted as needed.
I doubled the recipe and used half frozen thighs and half frozen bl/sl chicken breast and I cooked it for 16 minutes and it turned out perfectly!
Your instructions state to add 4 cups of water, but there is no mention of water in your ingredients. So am I to assume that you are adding 8 cups of liquid? By the way, I love your recipes. They are some of the best I’ve tried.
Yes, that is correct. I typically do not add water to my ingredient list.
Cooks like me need to know that … would be helpful.
this simple folk
OK so you add 4 cups water in addition to the listed amount of chicken broth? I also wasn’t sure if the chicken was cooked or not. It would be very helpful if you could consider a beginner audience when sharing recipes.
Yes, that is correct. The chicken cooks in the Instant Pot. Recipes will specify if something needs to be cooked beforehand. No need to overthink, Jen! 🙂
Sounds yummy! Can this recipe be adjusted for stove top cooking instead of instapot?
You can try this stovetop recipe instead!
https://damndelicious.net/2014/04/25/lemon-chicken-orzo-soup/
What is an instapot?
The Instant Pot is a brand of electronically controlled, combined pressure cooker and slow cooker. You can read more about it here: https://instantpot.com/.
Can you do this recipe if you don’t have an Instant Pot – what would be your recommendation in the directions?
You can try this stovetop recipe instead!
https://damndelicious.net/2014/04/25/lemon-chicken-orzo-soup/
I hope this means that we’ll be seeing more IP recipes in the future!
Yay!!! Welcome to the Instant Pot Cult! Your recipes are my favorite – I literally have tried at least 30 of them and have yet to find one that my family has not liked! So excited for your IP recipes to come 🙂
Can you freeze this soup?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
You could freeze before adding the pasta. The freeze/thaw cycle turns pasta to mush.
You can freeze the soup but i would recommend taking the chicken and veggies out and freezing those separately. I freeze my soups all of the time (even use it as chicken broth for cooking other things).
What size instapot do you use?
I use a 6-qt.
Look at this! Beautiful colors! Yummy! Thank you for the recipe!