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Pressure Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Josie Bell
Cut up a whole chicken into large pieces. Put a little butter in a the bottom of the pressure cooker or a large stock pot and brown a few of the fatty, dark meat pieces, skin side down. Remove the chicken and deglaze the pot with 1/2 cup white wine. Return all the chicken to the pot, add aromatics and enough water (8 - 10) cups to cover. Simmer till chicken is done, skimming foam off the top ~ 1 - 1.5 hours or select 20 minutes on the pressure cooker. Remove cooked chicken and the aromatics. Strain broth if desired. Add new carrots, celery, frozen peas to the broth and cook. While the veggies are cooking, remove chicken meat from the bones. Return chicken meat to the broth. Salt and pepper to taste. Add a few handfuls of fresh spinach to the hot broth. Serve as is, with bread, over noodle, or over rice.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 8
Calories 205 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the chicken broth/meat

  • 3 - 4 pounds whole Chicken roughly cut up into large pieces
  • 1 T butter
  • 1/2 c white wine or water
  • 8 - 10 c water

For the Aromatics/Herbs that will be removed

  • 3 whole carrots
  • 6 - 8 cloves garlic
  • 3 - 4 stalks celery use the ones with the most leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig thyme
  • 2 egg shells, roughly crushed optional - clarifies broth

For the Veggies that stay in the Soup

  • 2 large carrots cut into coins
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 large celery stalks sliced as thick as the carrot coins
  • 2 handfuls fresh spinach optional add when broth is hot, just so it wilts and retains bright green color
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
 

For the Broth

  • Rough chop ingredients for the aromatic/herb pack and tie in a flat cheesecloth bundle if you have cheesecloth. (The cheesecloth bundle simply makes it easier to remove these ingredients from the hot broth.) Some sources say egg shells help clarify the broth and/or add extra calcium ... it's entirely optional.
  • Select "brown" and heat 1 T butter in the bottom of the stainless steel insert or stock pot. Briefly brown the chicken, skin side down. There probably won't be enough surface area to brown all the pieces at once so choose the fattiest cuts of chicken that have skin. (Thighs, legs, back.) If one batch gets the bottom of your pan covered with brown bits, that's enough.
  • Remove chicken pieces and set aside. Deglaze with 1/2 cup dry white wine or water. (Have a sturdy spatula ready to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan after you pour in the white wine and it starts to steam/boil.)
  • Return all the chicken to the pot.
  • Layer on the cheesecloth with the veggies/herbs.
  • Add 7 - 10 cups water - enough liquid to cover the contents of the pot. If you are using a pressure cooker don't fill it more than 2/3rds full.
  • Select "Stew" repeatedly until it scrolls through to "20 minutes." In a stove top pot, simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours. Skim the foam that floats to the top if you are using the stove top method.
  • When the pressure cooker comes back to normal pressure, remove the cheesecloth and place it in a wire mesh strainer over a large bowl. Using a spoon or tongs, push the contents of the cheesecloth against the sides of a wire mesh strainer to get out all the juice. Return the juice to the broth and discard the cheesecloth and contents
  • Remove the chicken from the broth with tongs or by scooping it out with a wire mesh strainer and place chicken into another large bowl. Pour any broth from the chicken pieces back into the pot.
  • Put the new carrots, celery, and peas into the pressure cooker and select the "steam/veggies" 3-minute cycle. For the stove top, simmer them in the broth until just cooked ~ about 15 minutes.
  • Pluck the chicken meat off the bones while the veggies are cooking.
  • When the veggies are cooked, and pressure is reduced, return the chicken meat to the broth and add 2 handfuls of spinach. Let it wilt in the hot broth a few minutes. 
  • Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to your liking. Start with 1/2 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tsp Kosher salt.
  • Garnish with ground black pepper and whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.
  • Serve over noodles, bread, rice, or enjoy as is.

Notes

It will take about 2.5 hours total in a pressure cooker because there will be downtime waiting for the pressure to release and there's chopping/browning time. Cook noodles or rice in another pot to serve with the soup.