Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup - how to make a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup using a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
There is nothing better than chicken noodle soup made with homemade broth. I know, I know…making chicken broth seems like a lot of work. That’s where the Instant Pot comes in; pressure cooking makes homemade broth much easier. Now, I’m not going to say it’s as easy as opening a can of Campbell’s - it’s not - but Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup is worth the extra effort.
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If you don’t have a leftover roast chicken, where do you get the get the bones to make broth? I have two quick answers. One is chicken backs. The other is what I'm using in this recipe - a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Grab one from the case at your market, and you’re on the way to Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup. (More details are in my Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Broth recipe.) For other recipes that use Rotisserie Chicken broth, check out my Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup, Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Risotto, or Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.
Ingredients
Rotisserie Chicken Broth Ingredients
- A rotisserie chicken
- Onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Bay leaf
- Fine sea salt
- Water
Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Butter
- Onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Thyme
- Fine sea salt
- Rotisserie Chicken Broth
- Breast meat from a rotisserie chicken
- Potato
- Wide egg noodles
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Parsley (optional)
See recipe card for quantities
How to make Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
- Pressure cook the broth: Pull the breast meat off of the rotisserie chicken, chop it up into bite-sized pieces, and put it aside for later. Put the rotisserie chicken carcass, a peeled onion, scrubbed carrot, rib of celery, 2 bay leaves, and a half teaspoon of salt in the Instant Pot. Pour in 8 cups of water, then pressure cook at high pressure for 1 hour, and let the pressure come down naturally, about 30 more minutes. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer, discard the solids, and set the broth aside.
- Sauté the aromatics: Wipe out the Instant Pot liner, then melt 2 tablespoons of butter using Sauté mode. Add a chopped onion, chopped carrot, chopped rib of celery, and a teaspoon of dried or fresh thyme. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of fine sea salt, and sauté until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.
- Everything in the pot: Add the reserved chicken breast meat, a small diced potato, and 1 cup of wide egg noodles to the pot, then pour in the rotisserie chicken broth.
- Pressure cook for 4 minutes at High Pressure with a Quick Release.
- Stir in 1 ½ teaspoons of fine sea salt and ¾ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper. Enjoy!
How big are rotisserie chickens?
I did some quick research on rotisserie chickens - checking the weight at my local stores - and they varied. Most were about 2 pounds, but Costco’s famous rotisserie chickens were closer to 4 pounds. That’s OK - one bird will give you enough bones and meat to make this soup, no matter the size.
Tips and Tricks
Save the breast meat for the soup before you start cooking. Pressure cooking the pulls the flavor out of the bones and meat into the broth, leaving the remains spent and dull. That’s why I reserve the chicken breasts, saving them for the soup.
Remove the breast meat before cooking. Pressure cooking the broth takes all the flavor out of the ingredients, and moves it into the water. The leftover chicken meat (and vegetables) are bland and stringy, giving their all to the broth in the hour of pressure cooking. I will eat a little of the meat as a chef's treat, but it's not something I want to serve to people.
Don't over-noodle the soup! One cup of egg noodles isn’t going to seem like much, but they expand and suck up a remarkable amount of broth. Don’t add more noodles or you’ll end up with a noodle stew, not soup.
What to serve with Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
Soup and salad are the obvious choice, with rolls or a loaf of crusty bread. Or, I go back to my childhood and serve chicken noodle soup with saltine crackers.
PrintInstant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Description
Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup - how to make a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup using a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
Rotisserie Chicken Broth
- 1 (2- to 4-pound) rotisserie chicken, breast meat removed and saved for later
- Juices from the rotisserie chicken container
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 1 carrot, scrubbed and cut in half (or 4oz baby carrots)
- 1 celery rib, cut in half
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 cups water
Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced ½ inch thick
- 1 celery rib, sliced ½ inch thick
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 cups of Rotisserie Chicken Broth (from above)
- 4 ounces baby red potatoes, quartered
- 1 cup wide or extra-wide egg noodles
- Breast meat from the rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Pressure cook the broth for 60 minutes with a Natural Pressure Release: Cut the chicken breast meat off of the rotisserie chicken and set aside for later. Add the rotisserie chicken carcass, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, and salt to the pressure cooker pot, then add the 8 cups of water. (It should just cover the rotisserie chicken - it’s OK if the knobs of the drumsticks are poking up.) Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 60 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot) or 50 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally – about 30 minutes. (It takes a long time for all that water to cool off. If you’re in a hurry, let the pressure come down for at least 20 minutes, then quick release any remaining pressure.) Scoop the chicken carcass and vegetables out of the pot with a slotted spoon and discard; they’ve given their all to the broth. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer, and set aside for later.
- Sauté the aromatics: Wipe out the pressure cooker pot liner, then put it back in the pressure cooker base. Add the butter and melt over sauté mode (medium heat for a stovetop PC). Add the onion, celery, and carrot, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and the dried thyme. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften and turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Everything in the pot: Add the shredded chicken breast meat, potatoes, and the egg noodles. Pour the rotisserie chicken broth into the pot, and give everything a stir.
- Pressure cook the soup for 4 minutes with a Quick Release: Lock the lid, and pressure cook for 4 minutes on high pressure. (Use the same timing for Instant Pot, electric PCs, and stovetop PCs). Quick release the pressure. (If the steam that is released starts to sputter and spit out starch, shut the valve and let the pressure come down naturally for 5 minutes before trying the quick release again.)
- Season the soup: Stir in 1½ teaspoons of fine sea salt and the fresh ground black pepper. Serve, sprinkling each bowl with a little parsley. Enjoy!
Notes
You can make the entire batch of broth ahead of time if you need a quick weeknight recipe. Finish step 1, then freeze the broth in 2 cup containers. When you’re ready for soup, grab 8 cups of broth from the freezer, and continue with step 2.
You can make this recipe from rotisserie chicken leftovers. Save the bones and any remaining meat from 2 rotisserie chickens. Pick the meat from the bones - you want about 2 cups of shredded chicken - and use the bones and any clinging meat to make the broth.
Tools
6-quart or larger pressure cooker. I love my 6 quart Instant Potelectric pressure cooker.
Slotted Spoonand Fine Mesh Strainerfor straining the broth.
A second inner pot for your pressure cooker makes straining the broth easy - pour from one pot to the other.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
How to Make Ahead
If you want a weeknight soup, make the broth ahead of time. Refrigerate the broth and diced chicken breast for a few days, or freeze it for a few months. Then, continue with the "sauté the aromatics" step, and the soup will be done in no time.
If you have leftovers, they freeze beautifully. I freeze them in 2-cup containers for up to six months.
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Buffalo Chicken Wings
Pressure Cooker Chicken Legs with Herb Rub
Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Jenna
I'm just getting acquainted with my Instant Pot, and this recipe helped me feel like a pro! Easy and delicious.
Susan Gardner
Mike, this was the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever made....I’m 72 years old, a Martha Stewart fan ( hers is pretty fabulous, too) but I had a carcass and followed your lead. Awesome!!!!!
Thank you for your great recipe. I will give this to my children 😋
Mike Vrobel
You're welcome!
Steve Coppage
We love this recipe. My only request is: can you provide a recipe that would make the most out of an 8 qt instaPot? We love to freeze our leftovers and try to maximize all of our cooks. Fill it to the max. Thanks! Delicious!! We plan for this as dinner during winter and enjoy it every time!
Noreen Fennell
This is fabulous. It is my go to recipe for making chicken noodle soup and I use the broth recipe for all my soup bases. Thank you!
Mike Vrobel
You're welcome!
Samantha Roberts
This recipe is exactly what I was looking for. I followed your recipe exactly except I used a small leftover Thanksgiving turkey. There wasn't much meat left on it so I added some extra veggies. Delicious!
Naomi Steer
I could only get thin egg noodles. Any idea how to change the timing for them?
Mike Vrobel
The timing stays the same. The 4 minute cooking time is to cook the potatoes through; the noodles may wind up a little overcooked, but should be fine.
Valorie
Thank you, Mike. Delicious! Using my Instapot for the second time- to make this recipe again! Last time I didn’t have bay leaves so instead used an Italian Seasoning blend (which had basil thyme and oregano) and it came out fine. This time I have bay leaves and still threw it a shake of the seasoning blend. Recipe takes a lot long to make than the ‘Instapot recipes I’ve been collecting...but it’s not difficult and tastes great.
Andrea Pawluk
I have made hundreds of chicken soup recipes. This by far surpasses them all for depth of flavor! I followed the recipe exactly and held back from adding garlic..which I never have made a soup without and I am blown away that I don't miss it in the soup!! My husband was going on and on today about how good the soup was...and we make ALOT of soup.. If you really like the taste of garlic..I suggest making the soup as stated and then adding minced garlic to your bowl...along with reggiano of course ! : ) P.S side note: I made rotini noodles seperatly..I never add noodles to cook in the soup broth..takes away too much of that good yuuumy liquid gold broth!
S Mooney
This recipe has helped my family through two rounds of colds and flu this winter. A definite keeper!!
Taryn B.
This is one one the best chicken soups I have ever had! I definitely recommend making the broth ahead. The recipe takes time, but it is totally worth it!!
Beth
Excellent! I added an extra cup of noodles and omitted the potatoes. It was delicious
Toni Bacchitta
This is an absolutely fantastic recipe!! I often use the remaining carcass of the store bought chickens to make soup on the stove...except it has to simmer pretty much all day. I just got an Instant Pot, and had a leftover chicken and two raw chicken thighs. Followed your time and recipe(i prefer rice or wild rice to noodles in my soup though 🙂 ) and WOW. The only other thing i did differently was to crack the bones open once the meat was separated and returned them to the stock with the wild rice to let them cook a bit longer to get a bit more depth of taste. This is a stunning recipe, and one I will be making over and over. Thank you so much for this!! Happy New Year!!
Betsy Sentigar
Without a doubt, the BEST Chicken Soup I have ever made or tasted! This soup is amazing in flavor. I was highly doubtful, and generally am when making soups to get enough flavor. There was only a lemon papper rotisserie chicken left, so I picked it up to make your soup! Zowie!
I followed directions and also used a mirepoix (pre-minced carrot, celery, and onion) only because I had this in the refirgerator and it needed to used. I also used your carrots, onion and celery with one large clove of minced garlic.
Thank you thank you for such a robust and easy way to make a soup that tastes like it cooked all day. I am now a uper fan of yours!
Dawn
This soup is absolutely delicious!
Mike Vrobel
Thanks!
LESA SIMS
Made this with left over home roasted chicken. We had already eaten most of the white meat, so added one can of diced chicken at the end. My chicken had been roasted with a lemon in the cavity. I left it there when making the broth and it was wonderful! Also added a tsp of chopped garlic. Keep rrecipe!