Instant Pot Chicken Soup

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 3- to 4-pound chicken, or an equivalent mix of bone-in thighs, legs, or breast meat

4 cloves garlic, peeled

2 sprigs rosemary

3-4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 teaspoons salt

2 quarts water

4 ribs celery, sliced

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 large parsnip, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

Directions

1. Put the chicken in the pot of the pressure cooker, breast side up.

2. Add the garlic, herbs, water, and salt to the cooker: Adding four teaspoons of salt at this point will result in a well-seasoned soup broth. Use less salt or eliminate if you'd like to make basic chicken broth to use for other purposes.

3. Cook the soup: Place the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure the pressure regulator is set to the “Sealing” position. Program the cooker to pressure cook 25 minutes at high pressure. (Instant Pot users can also select the "Soup" program and follow the same cooking time. For stovetop pressure cookers, cook at high pressure for 22 minutes.) It will take about 35 minutes for your pressure cooker to come up to pressure, and then the actual cooking will begin. Total time from the time you seal the pressure cooker to the finished dish is about 1 hour.

4. Release the pressure: When the soup has finished cooking, wait about 15 minutes before "quick" releasing the pressure . This helps prevent a lot of steamy broth spitting out of the valve. Even so be careful when releasing the steam! You can also let the pressure release naturally, though this will take quite a while. Wait until the pressure cooker’s float valve has returned to its "down" position before opening the pressure cooker.

5. Remove the chicken to cool, add the bones back in, then cook the vegetables: Use a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the pot, and transfer it to a dish to cool until you can comfortably handle it, about 20 minutes. It may come apart as you are removing it from the pot, so go slowly and carefully. Add the chicken bones (exclude the small ones), add the celery, carrots, parsnip, and onion to the hot broth in the pot. Place the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure the pressure regulator is set to the “Sealing” position. Program the cooker to pressure cook 20-40 minutes at high pressure.

6. Prepare the chicken meat: Cut or tear the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces. When the cooker beeps, either quick release the pressure (for firmer vegetables) or let the pressure release naturally (for more tender vegetables).

7. Remove bones and Stir the chicken meat back into the soup: Remove the bones and herb sprigs. Add the chicken meat and let warm up. Ladle into bowls and serve. Add cooked egg noodles, if you like. Let any leftover soup cool completely, then store in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The soup may gel as it cools; it will liquefy again when heated.