Chicken noodle soup with leftover rotisserie chicken

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.

• Ingredients
• How to make Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
• How big are rotisserie chickens?
• Tips and Tricks
• What to serve with Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup
• 🔪🔪Recipe🔪🔪
• How to Make Ahead
• 💬 Comments

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)

How to make Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Pressure cook for 4 minutes at High Pressure with a Quick Release.
5. 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.

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🔪🔪Recipe🔪🔪

Description

Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup - how to make a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup using a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

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 stalk celery, 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 stalk celery, 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

1. 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.
2. 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. Stir in the shredded chicken breast meat, potatoes, and the egg noodles.
3. Pressure cook the soup for 4 minutes with a Quick Release: Pour the rotisserie chicken broth into the pot, 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.)
4. Add the chicken and season the soup:  Stir in 1 ½ teaspoons of fine sea salt, and the fresh ground black pepper. Serve, sprinkling each plate 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

Keywords: Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup, Pressure Cooker Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

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.

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How long is rotisserie chicken good for?

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What can I make with chicken carcass?