A hot bowl of home made chicken soup is one of the perfect comfort foods and awakens childhood memories. America’s Test Kitchen recently had a pressure cooker version and I had to test it in the Instant Pot. I was surprised at how good it tasted compared to the traditional slow simmered soup and made very little adjustments to the recipe. The Instant Pot is a worthy tool for extracting the full amount of flavor from the chicken while speeding up cooking time.

Only a few items to note in my tests. First, a 4lb chicken will take this recipe close to capacity for the 6 quart Instant Pot. Secondly, if you prefer not to have vegetables in your soup when serving, just cut the pieces larger to make them easy to remove after cooking. Lastly, I always cook my noodles separately since they don’t hold up well as leftovers, but I did include directions in case you wish to cook yours directly in the pot.

chicken soup

chicken soup

 

Chicken Soup Ingredients

1 roasting chicken or parts. 3-4 pounds provides plenty of meat.

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

4 carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced and include leafy tops

2 tsp soy sauce (substitute with salt or chicken seasoning if needed)

8 cups water

Ground black pepper, season to taste

 

 

Chicken Soup Instructions

  1. Set Instant Pot to saute mode (I use Medium heat setting for my Ultra) and add 2TB vegetable oil.
  2. Add onions. Cook until soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
  3. Add garlic, thyme, carrots, and celery and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add soy sauce and 8 cups of water (adjust if needed for capacity)
  5. Cook on High Pressure 20 minutes.
  6. When cooking is finished, manually release pressure (quick release).
  7. Remove chicken and shred once cool enough to handle.
  8. OPTIONAL: Add 4oz egg noodles to pot and boil for 5 minutes.
  9. Skim off foam and any excess fat once broth cools a bit.

 

Add cooked noodles or rice and chicken to bowl, then ladle broth and vegetables on top. The leftover chicken also makes some amazing sandwiches. Enjoy!

Instant Pot Chicken Soup

Instant Pot Chicken Soup