🍲 Instant Pot Whole Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves: 6–8
Chicken: 4–5 lb whole chicken, skin-on
Total time: About 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 whole 4–5 lb chicken, skin-on, giblets removed
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth or a combination of broth and water*
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 oz egg noodles
• 1–2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional, but recommended)
• 2–3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

*Don't exceed your Instant Pot's max-fill line. You may need less than 8 cups with a larger chicken.

Instructions

1. Prep the chicken.
Remove the chicken from its packaging and take out any giblets from the cavity. Leave the skin on. There's no need to brown the chicken first.

2. Fill the Instant Pot.
Place the whole chicken in the pot. Add the yellow onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, dried parsley and bay leaves.

Pour in the chicken broth, making sure everything stays below the max-fill line.

Don't add the egg noodles yet.

3. Pressure cook.
Secure the lid and set the Instant Pot to High Pressure.

• 4 lb chicken: 24 minutes
• 4½ lb chicken: 27 minutes
• 5 lb chicken: 30 minutes

A good rule is approximately 6 minutes per pound.

When cooking finishes, allow a 15-minute natural pressure release, then carefully release any remaining pressure.

4. Remove and shred the chicken.
Carefully lift the whole chicken out and place it in a large bowl or on a cutting board. It will be very tender and may start falling apart.

Remove and discard the skin and bones. Shred or chop the chicken meat.

Remove the bay leaves from the soup.

5. Cook the noodles.
Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté and bring the broth to a simmer.

Add 8 oz egg noodles and cook until just tender, usually 5–8 minutes depending on the package directions. Stir occasionally.

6. Add the chicken back.
Return the shredded chicken to the pot. You don't necessarily need all of it—add however much gives you the chicken-to-broth ratio you like.

Let everything heat through for another minute or two.

7. Taste and finish.
Taste the broth and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

For a brighter, more flavorful broth, stir in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, taste, and add another tablespoon if you'd like. Add fresh parsley.

⭐ Leftover tip

If you're making enough for leftovers, consider cooking the noodles separately instead. Put cooked noodles into each bowl and ladle the hot chicken soup over them.

That keeps the noodles from sitting in the broth overnight and turning into little broth-stealing sponges. 😄