Instant Pot Drunken Noodles–an Americanized, mild version of the popular Thai dish that you can make at home in your Instant Pot. Noodles, veggies, sauce and chicken with lots of flavor (but not spicy).
Instant Pot Drunken Noodles
When I first saw a recipe for drunken noodles I assumed there was alcohol in the recipe. Nope! No alcohol. I found out the reason they are called drunken noodles is because they are so spicy you’ll need a few beers to go with the noodles. Don’t worry if you’re not a fan of spice my version of drunken noodles are not spicy (although they could be if you want). They are flavorful and so tasty and everyone in your family will chow down on them! This meal was loved here at the Petersen house.
What do I need to make Instant Pot Drunken Noodles?
Original drunken noodles call for several ingredients that may be hard to find. I am not a fan of going to multiple grocery stores so I made my version with easy-to-find ingredients. You’ll need…
- Vegetable or canola oil
- Orange, yellow or red bell pepper
- Carrot
- Serrano, jalapeno or thai chili peppers
- Garlic
- Eggs (not all versions of drunken noodles have eggs but I thought it was a nice addition)
- Chicken broth or Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Linguine or fettuccine noodles
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs (these stay tender…you can probably use breasts but they won’t taste as good)
- Low sodium soy sauce
- Fresh lime juice (fresh is best and adds so much flavor! But in a pinch you can substitute bottled lime juice)
- Brown sugar
- Fish sauce (find it in the Asian section of your grocery store)
- Green onions or scallions
- Thai or regular basil (fresh basil adds color and flavor)
How to make Instant Pot Drunken Noodles
- Instant Pot drunken noodles come together quickly so I suggest preparing all your ingredients before you start cooking. Cut up the vegetables, slice the chicken, whisk the eggs, get out all the ingredients, etc.
- Stir fry the vegetables in some oil using the sauté setting. Then cook the scrambled eggs in with the vegetables. Transfer everything to a plate and set aside for later. By cooking the vegetables in this way you can control how soft they get. If you tried to pressure cook the vegetables they would be too mushy.
- If there is some egg sticking to the bottom of the pot, don’t worry. Just stir in the broth and scrape with a wooden spoon. The remaining bits of food will release.
- Break the noodles in half. Add in the noodles in a criss-cross pattern. This is so they don’t stick to each other. See the pictures below the recipe card below for a visual.
- Add the chicken over the top of the noodles. This will help the noodles cook evenly.
- Stir together the sauce and pour over the top of the chicken.
- Cover the Instant Pot and lock the lid into place. Pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release. Remove the lid.
- Stir in the sautéed vegetables, egg, basil and green onions. Serve and enjoy with extra basil on top.
If you want to make this more spicy use a couple Thai bird chili peppers in the place of the serrano peppers.
More Recipes You’ll Love…
Instant Pot Thai Chicken Noodles
Better Than Takeout Instant Pot Recipes
Want more tried and true Instant Pot recipes?
Receive FREE daily Instant Pot recipes and tips in your email box. Sign up by filling out the gray form below. Other ways to follow: join the 365 Days of Instant Pot Recipes Facebook group and subscribe to my YouTube channel where I share Instant Pot stuff with you weekly.
Print
Instant Pot Drunken Noodles
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 29 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
An Americanized, mild version of the popular Thai dish. Noodles, veggies, sauce and chicken with lots of flavor (but not spicy).
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 1 orange or red bell pepper, cored and cut into strips
- 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
- 2 serrano peppers, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 8 oz linguine or fettuccine noodles
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs sliced into 1/2 inch strips
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 2 green onions, diced
- 10 leaves of Thai or regular basil, torn
Instructions
- Prepare all the ingredients. Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When the displays says HOT add in the oil and swirl it around. Add in the bell pepper, carrots and serrano peppers. Sauté for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened but still crisp. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Move the vegetables to one side of the pot and add in the eggs and stir until cooked through. Move the vegetables and eggs to a plate.
- Pour the broth into the Instant Pot and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Break the noodles in half and lay in a criss cross pattern. Add the chicken pieces evenly on top of the pasta.
- In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and fish sauce. Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid. Stir well. Stir in the vegetables and egg, green onions and basil.
- Scoop into bowls and serve.
Notes
This recipe calls for bell peppers and carrots but zucchini, snap peas or broccoli would be good too.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
The 365 Days of Pressure Cooking Cookbook
The 365 Days of Pressure Cooking Cookbook is a recipe book with over 365 different easy and approachable electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) dinner recipes. There’s also a chapter with breakfasts, appetizers and side dishes. The recipes in this book are generally fast, easy and approachable. Oh, and don’t forget DELICIOUS!
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
If I want to use shrimp instead of chicken, how would you suggest cooking the shrimp?
Shrimp gets done pretty quickly so I would perhaps cook it with the veg and egg and add to the plate and set aside until the noodles are done
I loved this recipe, but I had a problem with the noodles sticking together. I criss-crossed them, but the still stuck. Luckily not all of them did, so we had a great dinner. Any ideas to help with this problem? I love your recipes. They took me from a new instapot user to a competent user. THANKS SO MUCH!
★★★★
Did you put the chicken on top of the noodles? That seemed to solve the issue for me. Other than that I’m not sure how to solve the issue!
I did. I was using gluten free noodles, so that might be the problem. Thanks again for the great recipe.
★★★★★
This is a delicious recipe. I love the fact that its not so spicy yet it is very flexable.
I like to call it un-drunken noodles.
★★★★★
Haha! Good one! Maybe sober noodles?
Hi! Any suggestion on what could be used instead of fish sauce? I use your recipes about three times a week and they are always so yummy! I love that they are family-tried and approved. I’m always telling my friends to check out your website. Thank you for “feeding” my family every week!
★★★★★
Thanks Jayme you are awesome! You could use oyster sauce it its place.