Pressure Cooker Chicken Zucchini Noodle Soup
Try this Pressure Cooker Chicken Zucchini Noodle Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Pressure Cooker Chicken Zucchini Noodle Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt and pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 4 cups water
- 1 red onion diced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 3 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
- 3 teaspoons fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
- 1.5 pounds chicken with skin and bones (i like to use about 4 but if you like more meat, add in at least 1 chicken breast)
- 4 cups chicken broth low-sodium
- 3 medium zucchinis blade d noodles trimmed
- Carbohydrate 14.5867671875 g
- Cholesterol 3680 mg
- Fat 745.8219771875 g
- Fiber 3.86524992716312 g
- Protein 914.2508978125 g
- Saturated Fat 212.446706208333 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (6671g)
- Sodium 3631.88067711539 mg
- Sugar 10.7215172603369 g
- Trans Fat 63.1035121458333 g
- Calories 10669 calories
Step-by-step
- Turn your pressure cooker to the saute setting. Add the oil and let warm up for 30 seconds and then add the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 3-5 minutes or until onions turn translucent.
- Add the red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, season with salt and pepper, and stir well.
- Add the chicken broth, chicken, water, and bay leaves. Close the lid and set to the Soup setting and set the timer for 7 minutes. Once the cycle is done, wait until the natural release is done, about 10 more minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker and shred, using two forks.
- Switch the pressure cooker back to the saute function and add in the zucchini noodles and let cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes or until noodles are al dente. Turn off the pressure cooker, add the chicken back, stir well, remove the bay leaves, and serve into bowls, garnished with freshly cracked black pepper.
A list of ingredients never explains cellular structure. Fresh herbs contain intact cell walls holding volatile aromatic oils. Dried herbs lack these intact walls because dehydration ruptures them during processing. That difference explains why the recipe specifies three teaspoons of fresh thyme or oregano versus just one teaspoon of dried. Dehydrated botanicals concentrate flavor compounds, requiring a one-to-three ratio to match fresh potency without overpowering the broth.
Bone-in chicken yields gelatin during pressure cooking that water alone cannot replicate. Collagen denatures into gelatin at temperatures sustained under pressure, giving body to the stock. Standard stovetop pots require hours to achieve this breakdown. Sealed cookers accelerate the conversion by raising the boiling point of water through trapped steam.
Zucchini noodles present a distinct structural challenge. Vegetables exposed to prolonged heat turn mushy because pectin breaks down in an acidic or neutral boiling environment. Adding spiralized zucchini at the end and simmering for exactly three minutes preserves residual cell turgor, keeping the noodles al dente rather than waterlogged. If a pressure cooker is unavailable, a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven functions adequately, though simmering time for the chicken must extend past forty-five minutes to replicate the tenderness achieved by rapid steam pressure.
