Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup With White Beans

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This instant pot creamy chicken noodle soup helps to stretch leftover chicken into a creamy and delicious soup. By adding white beans to the recipe, there’s extra protein packed in and an extra layer of creaminess. Cooked with leftover chicken and a lot of pantry staples, this is an easy to make Instant Pot recipe, ready in about 20 minutes. 

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Why Cook Chicken Soup In A Pressure Cooker

I like making soup in a pressure cooker. Of course, there’s something about letting a soup steep on the stovetop for hours until all of the ingredients just melt together into something special.

Our first few times making chicken soup in Spain, from a leftover rotisserie chicken, were fine. We struggled, though, with ensuring the broth had enough flavor. Or that it didn’t become overpowered with seasoning to the point that you couldn’t taste the chicken. We just had a hard time finding the balance.

Eric would end up spending a good couple of hours putting together his chicken soup. Rather than cooking on a stovetop, though, by cooking chicken noodle soup in an instant pot, you can speed up the process.

Particularly when using pre-cooked chicken, this recipe only takes about 20 minutes to make. The chicken stays super tender and moist and there is the perfect balance of flavor in every bite. 

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup With White Beans
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Tips For Cooking Chicken In An Instant Pot

We have the Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1. It has a six-quart capacity, which is more than enough to cook for two people or for a small group. There is also an 8-quart option for families. For this recipe, use the sautee function and the pressure cook function.

We started by cooking the entire five-pound chicken in the Instant Pot the day before. By cooking the chicken in the electric pressure cooker, the meat was super juicy.

The day after, I took about a cup of leftover white meat from the whole chicken to add to the soup. By using white beans as well, we were able to spread the single chicken into four meals for two people. We served the whole chicken with vegetables and stuffing, leftover chicken wings with stuffing, and the soup for two meals.

Instant pot chicken noodle soup simple

Check out our other soup recipes:

Stovetop 15 Bean Soup With Chicken

Cajun 15 Bean Soup In An Instant Pot

Sweet And Savory Moroccan Pumpkin Soup With Chickpeas

Best instant pot chicken noodle soup recipe

Why Make Thick And Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

I can’t explain why this instant pot chicken noodle soup recipe tastes so buttery, but it does. I love a good chicken broth. It’s something I grew up on. My step-father’s mother would always make matzo ball soup, with noodles and shredded chicken. 

There’s something about a creamy broth, though, that feels so decadent. It’s also the perfect soup to serve with bits of crusty white bread to sop up the creamy broth. So, what makes it so creamy and buttery if there’s no butter? The secret is cream and, of course, white beans

using white beans in soup

Why Add White Beans To Chicken Noodle Soup

There are a few reasons why white beans are a good addition to chicken noodle soup. First, if you are using leftover chicken, from a rotisserie chicken or because you only have one chicken breast lying around, the beans add extra protein. This is a great way to increase the protein without using as much chicken. 

It’s also a cheap way to bulk up and extend the ingredients. The more beans you add the more people you can feed with this soup. And beans are cheap! It’s a great way to take a small amount of chicken and extend the soup to feed 4 or 6 people. 

Just add a cup or two of canned white beans, which are also knowns as cannellini beans. Reserve a few tablespoons of white beans to the side, though, to help thicken the soup at the end.

Shredded chicken in noodle soup
Using pre-cooked shredded chicken
Pasta for noodle soup
Dried pasta for chicken noodle soup

Ingredients For Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup In An Instant Pot

This chicken noodle soup recipe uses a lot of ingredients that people already have lying around the house. This is particularly true when cooking up leftovers after a meal of chicken, stuffing, and gravy.

What Chicken To Use

The easiest way to add chicken to this recipe is to have leftover chicken, or even turkey, from another meal. Just shred the chicken with a fork or dice it into pieces. If you don’t have leftover chicken, use one raw chicken breast. Season it with salt and pepper and cook it right in the Instant Pot. See our instructions in Modifications And variations Below.

Vegetables And Seasonings

Vegetables for this recipe include diced carrots and diced celery, which are often leftover when people make homemade gravy or stuffing for roast chicken and turkey.

The vegetables are cooked in olive oil, along with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. You can use a half of a yellow onion and 3 cloves of garlic instead of the powders if you prefer to use fresh seasoning.

using bay leaves for soup

Bay leaves also add a layer of flavor to the broth. Just remember how many bay leaves you added, so you can remember to remove them at the end.

Soup Ingredients

The rest of the soup ingredients include low-sodium chicken broth, which forms the base of the soup. Any dried pasta will work, either egg noodles or regular Italian-style pasta noodles. Don’t use pasta that is too small, though, or it will cook too quickly.

Use heavy cream, or whole milk, to make the soup creamy. Reserve a tablespoon or so of white beans as well to add to the creaminess of the soup. Mash the white beans with a spoon to add to the broth at the end.

How To Make This Chicken Soup Pressure Cooker Recipe 

cooking carrots and celery in an instant pot
Saute carrots, celery, and seasonings
how to deglaze an instant pot
Deglazing the Instant Pot
Pasta and Chicken Broth
Adding the pasta and chicken broth

Using The Saute Function

If you want to make this as easy as possible, just add all the ingredients at once to the pot. But, I like to saute the vegetables ahead of time to seal in some flavor. 

Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn the electric pressure cooker on the saute function. Add the carrots, celery, salt, and pepper to the pot and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the onion powder and garlic powder. Coat the vegetables in the spices.

Turn off the Instant Pot. Use a cup of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any bits of oil, vegetable or seasoning from the bottom of the pot. Some electric pressure cookers can be sensitive to food stuck on the bottom. This prevents the pressure cooker from showing a burn error.

Adding chicken and bay leaves
Adding the chicken and bay leaves
Adding white beans to the chicken soup
Adding white beans to the chicken noodle soup

Using The Pressure Cook Function

Add the pasta and the rest of chicken broth. Ensure the pasta is completely submerged in the broth to make sure it doesn’t dry out during cooking. Add the chicken and do the same.

Add the bay leaves and white beans (reserving two tablespoons of beans to the site). It’s okay if the white beans sit on the top. The beans don’t need to be submerged within the broth.

Close the lid and seal the Instant Pot. Be sure the pressure valve is closed. Set the Instant Pot on pressure cook and set the time for 5 minutes.

When the time is up use an oven mitt or a towel to manually release the pressure. If you allow the ingredients to sit too long once the 5 minutes is over, the pasta will get too soft.

Mash the remaining white beans with a fork until smooth. Once the pressure is released carefully open the lid away from your face. Add the heavy cream and mashed white beans. Stir to warm. 

Thickening The Broth

The broth will thicken on its own over time. If you plan to serve it later in the day or the following day, leave as is. If you want it thicker immediately, then add a few tablespoons of mashed white beans. The white beans will act as a thickener to the soup.

Yield: 4 servings

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup With White Beans

Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup With White Beans

This instant pot creamy chicken noodle soup helps to stretch leftover chicken into a creamy and delicious soup. By adding white beans to the recipe, there’s extra protein packed in and an extra layer of creaminess. Cooked with leftover chicken and a lot of pantry staples, this is an easy to make Instant Pot recipe, ready in about 20 minutes. 

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large or 3 medium carrots, diced
  • 2 celery stalks, diced
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups dried pasta
  • 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1.5 cup white beans, rinsed and drained (2 tablespoons reserved)
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

    1. Add the olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn the electric pressure cooker on the saute function.
    2. Add the carrots, celery, salt, and pepper to the pot and saute for 2-3 minutes.
    3. Add the onion powder and garlic powder. Coat the vegetables in the spices.
    4. Turn off the Instant Pot. Use a cup of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan.
    5. Add the pasta and the rest of chicken broth. Ensure the pasta is completely submerged in the broth to make sure it doesn’t dry out during cooking. Add the chicken and do the same.
    6. Add the bay leaves and one cup of white beans. It’s okay if the white beans sit on the top. Reserve the rest of the white beans for later
    7. Close the lid and seal the Instant Pot. Be sure the pressure valve is closed. Set the Instant Pot on pressure cook and set the time for 5 minutes.
    8. While cooking, use a form to mash the remainder of the white beans.
    9. When the time is up use an oven mitt or a towel to manually release the pressure. Once the pressure is released carefully open the lid away from your face.
    10. Add the heavy cream and mashed white beans. Stir to warm. 

Notes

If you are not familiar with cooking in an Instant Pot see the detailed descriptions above. The additional time is the time it takes for the electric pressure cooker to pressurize.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 569Total Fat 34gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 123mgSodium 1106mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 5gSugar 5gProtein 29g

This nutritional data is provided by a third-party source and should not be relied on if you are on a strict diet.

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Modifications And Variations

If you don’t have pre-cooked chicken, you can make this instant pot chicken noodle soup with chicken breasts instead. Season one or two chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook them on the saute function in the Instant Pot in olive oil. When no longer pink, remove them from the Instant Pot and shred them with a fork. Return them to the pot. 

If you need a dairy-free option, you can actually skip the heavy cream. The heavy cream is the easiest way to make the soup creamy. There’s another way, though. Take about 2 tablespoons of white beans and mash them with a fork. Add them in at the end and stir to thicken the broth. 

FAQs – Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

How do you make chicken soup thick? 

When talking about how to make chicken noodle soup creamy and thick, there are a few ways to do it. The most common is to add heavy cream or whole milk. Another way is to add flour. For this recipe, we use a combination of olive oil, heavy cream, and mashed white beans. 

How do you make creamy garlic chicken soup?

This recipe calls for garlic powder to make it an easy recipe from pantry staples. To make it more garlic, though, add 6 or 7 whole garlic cloves, smashed, in addition to the garlic powder. 

What is the best chicken for chicken noodle soup?

For this recipe, we used leftover white meat from a whole chicken. Many people swear by using the entire leftover chicken carcass, but you need to watch out for any small bones or cartilage that break off. By using an electric pressure cooker, you can even use plain chicken breasts and still infuse the flavors into the soup in record time.

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