Homemade pressure cooker chicken noodle soup is the best and much healthier than canned soup. Using raw chicken & herbs, this Instant Pot soup is packed with flavor.
Winter is here, the holidays are over, and there’s nothing cozier on a frosty January evening than a bowl of warm soup. My husband would beg to differ, but this isn’t his blog is it?
My husband really does just hate chicken noodle soup. But, all jokes aside, this soup is straight up delicious. Homemade chicken noodle soup in the Instant Pot is cozy, herby, low sodium, and one of the easiest soups I’ve ever made!
How do you add flavor to chicken noodle soup?
Most soups use a ton of salt in their recipes to add flavor. I just can’t justify all that sodium! Adding flavor to soups without much salt isn’t actually as hard as it sounds. Herbs like rosemary, basil, and garlic all can really elevate the flavor in your soups. Herbs and spices can add so much flavor!
In this chicken noodle soup recipe, I used fresh thyme, fresh dill, oregano, pepper, and 1 tsp of salt. The low sodium chicken broth adds a lot of flavor as well.
RELATED: 7 Homemade Salt-Free Seasoning Blends
What can you add to chicken noodle soup?
If you’re looking to add more ingredients to you chicken noodle soup, then here are some ideas:
- Herbs like rosemary, basil, cilantro, sage, dill, thyme, chives, and garlic
- Vegetables like mushrooms, cabbage, bell peppers, and tomatoes
- Greens like kale, spinach, and swiss chard
- Beans
- Corn
Try mixing it up and changing the flavor profile of your chicken noodle soup. It’s always fun experimenting with new ingredients!
What is the best pasta for chicken noodle soup?
Hands down, wide egg noodles are the best pasta noodles for chicken noodle soup. Although they aren’t high in fiber or super healthy by any means, they have the best texture and are really delicious.
This chicken noodle soup has less than 1/2 cup of dry noodles per serving, so there aren’t really a ton of egg noodles in this recipe at all. Everything in moderation!
Can you use raw chicken in soup to cook?
Yes you can! In fact, you should use raw chicken so you don’t end up overcooking your chicken and making it dry or chewy. In this pressure cooker chicken noodle soup recipe, you can use raw or frozen chicken breasts.
Just make sure that your chicken is fully cooked through before eating your soup.
Is it okay to cook raw chicken and vegetables together?
It’s definitely okay to cook raw chicken and vegetables together as long as everything is fully cooked and hot when you serve it!
In this pressure cooker soup recipe, everything is cooked together, and will reach the correct temperature if you follow the instructions carefully.
Healthy Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Homemade chicken noodle soup in the Instant Pot is so much healthier than traditional canned soup! It has less sodium, less additives and preservatives, and has more vegetables and protein!
The total sodium content of 1 serving of this pressure cooker chicken noodle soup is 428 mg. Compared to traditional canned soup at almost 900 mg/serving, homemade chicken noodle soup is much less salty!
Not to mention that traditional canned chicken noodle soup has very little protein and vegetables in each serving. This recipe has veggies and chicken in every bite, but still has a lot of that broth we all love, too!
Carrots, onion, and celery are all very traditional in chicken noodle soup from scratch, but I wanted to make it a tiny bit healthier by adding in more vegetables. I ended up adding shredded kale because it’s really cheap and also incredibly healthy and delicious in chicken noodle soup. It cooks down really well, but also gives it a nutritional boost and a bit more texture, too.
This recipe definitely saves on the sodium and is much healthier than traditional versions of chicken noodle soup.
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 274 calories
- Protein: 31 grams
- Sodium: 428 mg
- Carbohydrates: 20 grams
- Fiber: 4 grams
RELATED: Rosemary Vegetable Soup w/Ground Turkey
Freezer Friendly
Pressure cooker chicken noodle soup is completely freezer friendly.
After making your soup, allow it to cool and then freeze in airtight containers (I use wide mouth glass jars) for up to 3 months. If using glass jars, make sure to leave at least 2 inches of space at the top for the soup to expand. Otherwise, your glass will crack and your freezer stash will get ruinied!
When you’re ready to eat it, simply thaw it out enough to get it out of the freezer container. Pour it into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until warm throughout. It’s so easy!
Budget Friendly
This chicken noodle soup from scratch recipe is cheap and affordable! It comes out to be about $6.21 for the whole pot, or roughly $.78 per serving. For a healthy, quality chicken noodle soup, that’s such a bargain!
Other pressure cooker recipes:
Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments below! I would really appreciate your feedback!
Recipe
Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 celery sticks chopped
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp fresh dill chopped
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 lbs diced chicken breasts (see notes if using frozen chicken)
- 2 cups water
- 6 oz wide dry egg noodles (roughly 3 cups)
- 2 cups kale shredded
Instructions
- Add avocado oil to the pressure cooker, then hit "Saute". Add onion, carrots, and celery to the pot. Saute for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add pepper, salt, fresh thyme leaves, fresh dill, oregano, broth, and water to the pot. Stir, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, hit "cancel".
- Add diced chicken breasts to the pot. Close the lid, turn the venting knob to a natural release (sealing setting on Instant Pot), hit the "soup" setting for 8 minutes, then allow the natural release for 10 minutes.
- After the natural release is complete, open the lid, and push "saute". Add the egg noodles and kale, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 6-7 minutes until egg noodles are cooked through. Serve!
If Using Frozen Chicken Breasts:
- Follow instructions 1-2. For step 3, add your frozen chicken to the pot, close the lid, turn the venting knob to a natural release (sealing setting on the Instant Pot), then hit the soup setting and set the time for 12 minutes.
- Allow the natural release for 10 minutes. When complete, remove your chicken from the pot, shred, then add back to the pot before moving on to step 4.
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Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup will be one of your new favorite recipes, and definitely one that you should keep in your back pocket for those chilly winter days!
xoxo Megan
Babs says
I made this with a few adaptations based on what was in my house/pantry/herb garden. I used EVOO, and I sauteed the chicken, using half breast and half thigh meat. I added no salt,used unsalted chicken stock, thyme, dill, oregano and parsley from my herb garden. Also tossed in a couple of bay leaves, because my Mama always put bay leaves in her soup ;-). And a tsp of Hungarian paprika because my S/O is of Hungarian heritage and he thinks everything is better with paprika.
Used farfalle because I had it, and the market had no egg noodles!
I omitted the kale because it’s not particularly easy on the gut, and I was making this batch for my neighbor who’s down with a very severe pneumonia (not COVID).
My gardener, a young man, taste-tested for me, and said it was really good! He went on to say that his Mom can’t have salt. I said there’s none in this soup, which amazed him. Thanks for a great resource!
Sheila says
Know where I am this recipe doesn’t say what size Insta pot you should make this said I don’t even have my whole 6 cups of broth in there and it’s already up to the maximum I don’t even have the noodles in there yet you should post what size Insta pot you make this in
Megan Byrd, RD says
I’m sorry that happened! I use the standard 6-quart size. What size is your instant pot?
Monica says
I tried this tonight and LOVED IT!! I added a shake of garlic salt and two chicken bouillon cubes. It was PERFECT!! I didn’t have any fresh dill but it was great without. Next time I plan to add more veggies. So good thank you!
Megan Byrd, RD says
That makes me so happy! I need to make this one again soon too!
Marie-Adele says
Your instructions include oregano but your ingredients list does not?
Megan Byrd, RD says
Oh my gosh thank you for catching that mistake! Just fixed it and added the 1 tsp dry oregano. Thank you so much! 🙂