Chicken Noodle Soup (Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipe) - Day 4 of My 7 Day Soup Challenge

Photography by Aleksey Zozulya
I received a Duo Crisp 8 Quart Instant Pot/Air Fryer for Christmas at my request - and am determined to get comfortable using it. The device offers 11 different cooking techniques, so replaces many pots.  BUT I needed to push past the learning stage to be fully comfortable using it.

I took an online cooking class a month ago that had me debone an entire fryer chicken. I put the carcass with bits of meat attached in the freezer to make chicken soup one day.  Today was that day. While this 7 day challenge is more about making unusual soups, this is my first time using a pressure cooker this way, so i made an exception.

The recipe below came from the Instant Pot website.  I didn't have the whole chicken, so my version wasn't as meaty as it should have been, but such is life.  I also had to skip the Lemon Pepper and fresh dill as I didn't have any and wasn't about to run to the store on Jan. 1st. 

To be honest, the freedom to adapt recipes is part of the beauty of cooking.  As much as possible I try to make a recipe as written the first time around, but that just wasn't an option today. However, I knew from experience a few small changes wouldn't ruin the soup. There are no hard and fast rules with most soups. 

This soup was
SHOCKINGLY easy and fast to make. 10 minutes to pressure cook the raw carcass (plus heating up time) with the onion, garlic an seasonings.  Then only another 5 minutes of pressure cooking (plus heating up time) to cook the vegetables.  The noodles are cooked separately and added to the bowls just before serving so they don't get soggy.

It was a great meal pulled together in 30 minutes. I even had a biscuit mix handy so made fresh hot cheddar biscuits to accompany the soup. I can't wait to make this recipe again using a whole chicken so the soup is more meaty.  YUM!

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Chicken Noodle Soup (Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipe)

Ingredients - 

1                Whole chicken chopped into quarters (leg, breast, thigh, and wing), 4 lbs–5 lbs
8 C            Water
1                Spanish onion peeled and cut into large chunks
3                Garlic cloves minced or pressed (I threw in whole and removed before serving)
1 T             Chicken bouillon or 4 small cubes
1 tsp           Italian seasoning
1 tsp           Lemon pepper seasoning
3                 Bay leaves
kosher salt
black pepper

2 C              Carrots peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch disks
2 C              Celery sliced into 1/4 inch pieces with leafy green tops reserved
1/2 C           Fresh dill leaves
3 T              Fresh parsley chopped (or 1 T dried parsley)
2 T              Cooking sherry
1 C              Dry pasta noodles (wide broad noodles are classic)
1 1/2 tsp      Seasoned salt more to taste

Instructions - 

Place the chicken in the Instant Pot and pour in water so the chicken is totally covered. Add the onion, garlic, bouillon, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir, then secure the lid and move the valve to the sealing position. Hit Manual or Pressure Cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes. Quick Release when done.

When the lid comes off the pot, remove the chicken with tongs and set aside to cool. Remove and discard the bay leaves and onion (if you wish I left them in) using a slotted spoon. Add all remaining ingredients to the Instant Pot except for the chicken and egg noodles, and stir. Secure the lid and move the valve to the Sealing position. Hit Keep Warm/Cancel followed by Manual or Pressure Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes. Quick Release when done.

While the pot is cooking the soup, pick the slightly cooled chicken meat from the bones and discard the bones, skin, and cartilage. Shred the meat by hand and set aside. Cook the egg noodles according to package directions and set aside.

Remove the bay leaves (and garlic if left whole). Stir in the shredded chicken and serve in bowls topped with egg noodles.

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