Bitterly cold temperatures outside make a big comforting pot of soup for dinner a no brainer, especially when it’s my special homemade chicken noodle soup. I love knowing that we’re not only getting a nourishing, hot meal, but it just might also be helping to ward off the nasty cold and flu bugs that are being passed around my kids’ schools currently.
While most homemade soups require you to prepare your stock separately before making the soup, I’m going to share a little secret with you on how to eliminate this step, slashing your cooking time… I use my pressure cooker!
I know many of you probably have horror stories of exploding pressure cookers coming to mind at the moment, but I assure you that modern pressure cookers are really quite safe. I use mine regularly for many of our family favorite recipes — Hungarian goulash, stuffed peppers, meatballs with sauerkraut, and of course, chicken noodle soup.
Think of a pressure cooker as the polar opposite of a slow cooker. While both allow you to toss all of your ingredients into a single pot, Crockpots cook meals low and slow, making them ideal for starting dinner before you head to work in the morning.
But a pressure cooker is the perfect kitchen tool for getting the same tender and flavorful meals on the table in a small fraction of the time a slow cooker takes, meaning you can sleep in and cook a meal quickly in the evening.
If I’m being honest, I guess I could say that my homemade chicken noodle soup isn’t totally from scratch. I do add a little bit of Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base to the pot. You can find it at Walmart with the chicken stock. My store doesn’t carry the organic version that I had on hand, but they do have it online, so stores that have a bigger selection of organic products may have it.
Although I have in the past, I also don’t make my own homemade noodles very often. Instead, I purchase Mrs. Weiss’ Kluski Noodles (pictured above) — they’re the closest to homemade in taste and texture I’ve found. These can also be picked up at Walmart, and they can be found way down on the bottom shelf with the rest of the noodles and pastas.
Filled with shredded chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and potatoes, this is one standout chicken soup recipe minus the noodles, but I like it best with them!
Ingredients:
- 3 bone-in chicken breasts
- 1 bag (1-lb.) of carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 large potato, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 12 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon chicken base
- kosher salt to taste (I start w/ 1 tablespoon)
- pepper to taste
- 1 bag (8-oz.) Mrs. Weiss' Kluski Noodles, cooked according to pkg.
Instructions:
- If your pressure cooker has a bottom insert, place that in the pot first. Then add the chicken breasts, carrots, celery, potato, and onions. Fill with 12 cups of water and add the chicken base.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker and turn the burner on high heat to start. Once your pressure cooker reaches the low pressure cooking stage (indicated by the first line on my pot but if you have an older model with a rocker it would be indicated by a slow rocking), you'll set your timer for 40 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed during cooking to maintain the low pressure setting.
- When the timer goes off, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and release the pressure. I typically do this by holding down the pressure indicator until no more steam is released. It's also ideal to cook your noodles at this time.
- After the lid unlocks, remove the cooked chicken breasts from the pot. Remove and discard the skin and bones and other undesirable parts, and then shred the cooked chicken with two forks. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot along with the cooked noodles.
- I wait to season the soup after cooking, adding about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt to start and more as needed, as well as pepper to taste.
If you’re looking for a little something to pair with your chicken noodle soup, try our favorite Bread Machine Sourdough Loaf. It’s crusty and delicious slathered with butter! And if you have an extra 10 minutes or so, try making your own homemade butter — you won’t be sorry, promise.
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