Step-by-step guide on how to make Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup in Instant Pot. Easy to make this nourishing feel-good meal with simple healthy ingredients. Tender juicy chicken, sweet carrots, crisp Shanghai bok choy, and smooth bouncy noodles in soul-soothing homemade chicken soup. Plus, you can switch it up with your favorite noodles and vegetables!
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Chinese Noodle Soup
This authentic Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup is a comforting wholesome meal in a bowl!
We crafted the recipe like what you’d get at a local Chinese noodle shop! We designed it to be very easy to eat, nourishing, and easy on the stomach.
It’s made of chicken, noodles, carrots, Shanghai bok choy, garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Keeping the ingredients simple and healthy but satisfying to eat. Nothing fancy yet packed with homey and heartwarming flavors.
Though you can enjoy it any day at any time. It feels especially fulfilling to eat after enjoying big feasts or heavy meals, when you’re feeling unwell, or when it’s cold outside.
How to Make Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup
Here are the ingredients for cooking Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup in Instant Pot:
Chicken: We developed this recipe with chicken quarters for the best results. But if you prefer chicken breasts, use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.
Noodles: You can use your choice of thin or thick noodles to make this Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup recipe. Such as Knife-cut noodles (刀削麵), Lamian (拉麵), Thick noodles (粗麵), Ho fun (河粉), Rice vermicelli (米粉), Rice noodles (米線), Lai fun (瀨粉), or Egg noodles (油麵).
Regular Soy Sauce: Among different brands of soy sauces, Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce (生抽) is one of our favorite go-to soy sauces.
Fish Sauce: Don’t worry! Fish Sauce won’t make the chicken soup taste fishy! It’s extremely umami-filled, thus enhancing and elevating the soup’s flavors. From our blind taste test, Red Boat 40N fish sauce is our favorite. Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce is a popular alternative.
Sichuan Peppercorn & Coriander Seeds (Optional): Adding coriander seeds & Sichuan peppercorn will spice up the flavors and add another dimension to the flavor profile. It’s delicious and comforting either way. Try and see which flavor profile you like more!
Tools for Chinese Noodle Soup Recipe
- Instant Pot Pressure Cooker (6qt)
- Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup
- Wooden Spoons
- Kitchen Tongs
- Optional: Fat separator – This is such a handy tool! Instead of scooping the fatty oil with a ladle a little at a time, this fat separator will help you quickly separate the fat/oil from the soup.
Step 1
Optional: Brown Chicken Quarters
Amy + Jacky’s Notes: This optional flavor-enhancing step will take 11 minutes. It’ll enhance the soup’s flavors! If you’re skipping this step, add the chicken quarters as instructed in Step 4.
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Heat up Instant Pot using “Sauté More” function. Wait until Instant Pot says “HOT” (roughly 8 minutes).
Pat dry chicken quarters with a paper towel.
Then, lightly season one side of the chicken quarters with kosher salt.
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons (15ml – 30ml) vegetable oil in Instant Pot. Make sure to coat the oil well over the whole bottom of the pot.
Place the seasoned side of chicken quarters in Instant Pot.
Then season the other side of the chicken quarters with kosher salt.
Brown the first side for 3.5 minutes, then brown the other side for another 2 minutes.
Set the chicken quarters aside.
Amy + Jacky’s Notes: You’ll need to repeat this browning step because you can only brown 2 chicken quarters at the same time in a 6qt Instant Pot.
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Step 2
Sauté Ginger, Green Onion, & Garlic
Add 2 ginger slices and the white parts of the green onions in Instant Pot, then saute for 3 minutes.
Add green parts of the green onions, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and 1 star anise in Instant Pot, then saute for 30 seconds.
Step 3
Deglaze Instant Pot
Amy + Jacky’s Pro Tips: It’s very important to fully deglaze the bottom of the inner pot after browning or sauteing ingredients in the Instant Pot. This will prevent the “BURN” notice. Don’t worry! These are not burnt food debris. These caramelized brown bits will add flavor to your chinese chicken noodle soup.
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Pour in 1 cup (250ml) cold water. Then deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Give it a quick mix.
Step 4
Pressure Cook Chicken Soup in Instant Pot
Add 1 teaspoon (7g) fine table salt, 1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce, 1 tablespoon (15ml) fish sauce, and 3 bay leaves. Add 5 cups (1.25L) cold water to the Instant Pot and give it a quick mix.
Optional: Add in 1 teaspoon (1.8g) Sichuan peppercorn and 1 teaspoon (1.7g) coriander seeds.
Add browned chicken quarters back into the Instant Pot.
Layer carrot chunks on top.
With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.
Instant Pot Chinese Chicken Soup Cook Time: Pressure Cook chicken soup at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes of natural release, release the remaining pressure by turning Venting Knob to Venting Position.
When the Floating Valve drops, open the lid carefully.
Step 5
Cook Noodles
When Instant Pot’s pressure cooking cycle ends and switches to the natural release stage, boil 1.5L water and 1 teaspoon salt on the stovetop. You can also add 1 teaspoon oil to the water to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
Once the water starts boiling, cook noodles according to your preferences. Then drain and set them aside.
For Reference – Thick-Cut Noodles Cooking Time: For our knife-cut noodles, it took 4 minutes and 30 seconds to cook.
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Step 6
Shred Chicken Quarters & Cook Bok Choy
Transfer chicken quarters to a large mixing bowl.
You can serve the chicken quarters as a whole or shred them with two forks.
Remove the green onions and ginger slices. Then, strain all the spices from the chicken soup with a meshed strainer.
If you like, you can use a Fat separator to remove some of the fat from the chicken soup.
Bring the chicken soup back to a boil with “Saute High” function.
Add Shanghai Bok Choy to the Instant Pot, then cook until desired texture. It’ll take roughly 2 to 4 minutes depending on the texture you like.
Step 7
Season & Serve Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup
Taste and season the chicken soup with a few pinches of kosher salt. For reference, we added 2 extra pinches of kosher salt at the end.
Now, assemble the bowl by placing the cooked noodles, bok choy, carrot chunks, and chicken in large serving bowls.
Pour in the hot and tasty chicken broth, then garnish the chicken noodle soup with finely sliced green onions.
What to Serve with Chinese Noodle Soup
Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup is a satisfyingly comforting meal by itself. But you can serve it with appetizers, side dishes, and desserts. You can also complement the Chinese Noodle Soup with other main dishes.
- Appetizers or Side Dishes: Chinese Steamed Buns,Chinese Tea Eggs, Soy Sauce Eggs,Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic, Sauteed Garlic Zucchini, Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Main Dishes: Toasted Garlic Butter Shrimp, Chinese Roast Pork, Instant Pot Char Siu, Taiwanese Braised Pork Hock
- Desserts: Instant Pot HK Egg Custard, Tofu Pudding
Enjoy the Easy Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup!
5 from 2 votes
Instant Pot Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup
Author: Amy + Jacky
How to make Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup in Instant Pot. Easy to make this nourishing feel-good meal with simple healthy ingredients. Tender juicy chicken, sweet carrots, crisp Shanghai bok choy, and smooth bouncy noodles inhomemade chicken soup.
Servings 4
Total Time 1 hour hr
Rate this Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 (roughly 2lbs or 1400g) chicken quarters
- 1 - 2 tablespoons (15ml - 30ml) vegetable oil
- 2 slices (6.5g) ginger
- 3 stalks (100g) green onions , separate the green and white parts
- 2 cloves (9g) garlic , crushed
- 1 (1.25g) star anise
- 6 cups (1.5L) cold water
- 1 teaspoon (7g) fine table salt
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) fish sauce
- 3 (0.4g) bay leaves
- Optional: 1 teaspoon (1.8g) sichuan peppercorn, 1 teaspoon (1.7g) coriander seeds
- 1 (370g) large carrot , peeled and cut into 1” chuck
- 3 (360g) Shanghai Bok Choy , washed
- Kosher salt
Noodles
- Cooked thick noodles (i.e. Knife-cut noodles), rice noodles, or your favorite noodles (70g - 100g per person)
Garnish
- 1 stalk green onion , finely sliced
Equipment
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Instructions
Optional - Brown Chicken: Heat up Instant Pot using “Sauté More” function. Wait until Instant Pot says “HOT” (roughly 8 minutes).
Pat dry chicken with a paper towel. Lightly season one side of the chicken with kosher salt.
Add 1 to 2 tbsp (15ml - 30ml) vegetable oil in Instant Pot. Make sure to coat the oil well over the whole bottom of the pot.
Place the seasoned side of chicken in Instant Pot. Then season the other side of the chicken with kosher salt. Brown the first side for 3.5 minutes, then brown the other side for another 2 minutes. Set the chicken aside.
Sauté Ginger, Green Onion, Garlic: Add in ginger slices and the white parts of the green onions, then saute for 3 minutes. Add in green parts of the green onions, crushed garlic cloves, and star anise, then saute for 30 seconds.
Deglaze Instant Pot: Pour in 1 cup (250ml) cold water. Then deglaze by scrubbing all the flavorful brown bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Give it a quick mix.
Pressure Cook Chicken Soup: Add in 1 tsp (7g) fine table salt, 1 tbsp (15ml) regular soy sauce, 1 tbsp (15ml) fish sauce, and 3 bay leaves. Add in 5 cups (1.25L) cold water, then give it a quick mix.
Optional: Add in 1 tsp (1.8g) Sichuan peppercorn and 1 tsp (1.7g) coriander seeds.
Add browned chicken back in Instant Pot. Layer carrot chunks on top.
With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes. Open the lid carefully.
Cook Noodles: When Instant Pot's pressure cooking cycle ends and switches to the natural release stage, boil 1.5L water with 1 tsp salt on the stovetop. You can add 1 tsp oil to the water to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Once the water starts boiling, cook noodles according to your preferences. Then drain and set them aside.
Shred Chicken & Cook Bok Choy: Transfer chicken to a large mixing bowl. You can serve chicken quarters as a whole or shred them with two forks.
Remove green onions and ginger slices. Strain all spices from the soup with a meshed strainer. If you like, you can use a Fat separator to remove some of the fat from the chicken soup.
Bring the soup back to a boil with "Saute High" function. Add Shanghai Bok Choy to the Instant Pot, then cook until desired texture. It'll take roughly 2 to 4 minutes depending on the texture you like.
Season & Serve: Taste and season the soup with a few pinches of kosher salt. For reference, we added 2 extra pinches of kosher salt.
Assemble the bowl by placing the cooked noodles, bok choy, carrot chunks, and chicken in large serving bowls. Pour in the hot tasty chicken broth, then garnish the chicken noodle soup with finely sliced green onions. Enjoy~
Notes
1. Chicken: Use chicken quarters for best results. But if you prefer chicken breasts, use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.
2. Noodles: You can use thin or thick noodles. Such as Knife-cut noodles (刀削麵), Lamian (拉麵), Thick noodles (粗麵), Ho fun (河粉), Rice vermicelli (米粉), Rice noodles (米線), Lai fun (瀨粉), or Egg noodles (油麵).
3. Regular Soy Sauce: Lee Kum Kee Soy Sauce (生抽) is one of our go-to soy sauces.
4. Fish Sauce: Fish Sauce won't make the soup taste fishy! It’s extremely umami-filled, thus enhancing the flavors. From our blind taste test, Red Boat 40N fish sauce is our favorite brand to use. Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce is a popular alternative.
5. Sichuan Peppercorn & Coriander Seeds (Optional): They'll spice up the flavors and add another dimension to the flavor profile. It's delicious either way.
Rate Amy + Jacky's Recipe: If you've tried our recipe, rate the recipe in the Comments section. Thank you!
Calories: 491kcal
Course: Main
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
Keyword: asian chicken noodle soup, asian noodle soup, chinese chicken noodle soup, chinese noodle soup
Nutrition
Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 33g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 189mg | Sodium: 1415mg | Potassium: 1036mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 19912IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 3mg
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