Instant Pot Thai Chicken Noodles–a true one pot meal! The chicken, sauce and noodles are all cooked at the same time in minutes in your electric pressure cooker. The noodles are enveloped in a mild creamy peanut and lime sauce and the peanuts, cilantro and red bell pepper give texture and color. A delicious and easy recipe to make any night of the week.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Thai Chicken Noodles
I’ve been making this recipe in the slow cooker for years. I decided to give it a try in my trusty Instant Pot. I realized that it would be possible to make it a true one pot meal by cooking the chicken and noodles at the same time. I danced around the kitchen when I opened the pot, stirred and tried the noodles. They tasted sooooo good and it was such an easy recipe to make. I love the pop of lime and the crunch from the red bell peppers and peanuts. The peanut sauce is not overwhelming and the cilantro brings everything together. At my house we all loved these noodles!
A few notes about the ingredients:
Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I cut into bite-size pieces (that way they cook at the same rate as the noodles). I buy my chicken thighs in a bag at Costco in the freezer section for about $2.00 per pound. You can also use chicken breasts for this recipe.
Better than Bouillon Chicken Base: I love this stuff! I use it in any recipe that calls for chicken broth. I combine 1 cup of water with 1 tsp of the chicken base. It works well because it comes in a small jar that you can keep if your fridge for months.
Soy sauce: You’ll definitely want to use a low sodium soy sauce or a tamari sauce for this recipe. Regular soy sauce will make the noodles too salty.
Pasta: I used whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles. You can use regular white spaghetti noodles if you’d like. I just prefer using whole wheat pasta when I can.
Lime juice: I used a quarter cup of fresh lime juice. This definitely gave the noodles a lime-y flavor…which I love. If you are unsure if you want that much lime flavor start with 2 Tbsp of lime juice and go from there.
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What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Thai Chicken Noodles I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Thai Chicken Noodles
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Description
A true one pot meal! The chicken, sauce and noodles are all cooked at the same time in minutes in your electric pressure cooker. The noodles are enveloped in a mild creamy peanut and lime sauce and the peanuts, cilantro and red bell peppers give texture and color. A delicious and easy recipe to make any night of the week.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite size pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth (or 2 cups water and 2 tsp better than bouillon chicken base)
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce or tamari
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- 8 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles, uncooked
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3/4 cup snipped cilantro
- 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. When the display says HOT add in the oil. Add in the chicken and saute for about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add in the chicken broth and deglaze the pot. Add in the soy sauce and red pepper. Break the noodles in half and add them to the pot. The liquid should cover the noodles almost completely.
- Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 3 minutes on high pressure. When the time is up move the valve to venting.
- Open the pot and stir in the lime juice and peanut butter. There will be a bit of liquid in the pot but it will get absorbed fairly quickly. Stir in the bell pepper and cilantro.
- Scoop noodles into bowls and top each one with 2 Tbsp of peanuts and additional cilantro, if desired.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I cut into bite-size pieces (that way they cook at the same rate as the noodles). I buy my chicken thighs in a bag at Costco in the freezer section for about $2.00 per pound. You can also use chicken breast for this recipe.
Better than Bouillon Chicken Base: I love this stuff! I use it in any recipe that calls for chicken broth. I combine 1 cup of water with 1 tsp of the chicken base. It works well because it comes in a small jar that you can keep if your fridge for months.
Soy sauce: You’ll definitely want to use a low sodium soy sauce or a tamari sauce for this recipe. Regular soy sauce will make the noodles too salty.
Pasta: I used whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles. You can use regular white spaghetti noodles if you’d like. I just prefer using whole wheat pasta when I can.
Lime juice: I used a quarter cup of fresh lime juice. This definitely gave the noodles a lime-y flavor…which I love. If you are unsure if you want that much lime flavor start with 2 Tbsp of lime juice and go from there.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
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I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve made this. Love it so much! Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
You’re welcome! I am so glad to hear it!
Hi!! I am super new to the IP world. I also am not great at cooking. I wanted to try this because my family loves pad Thai (except me – I hate peanut butter!)
I followed the recipe (I thought I did) and it came out super peanut buttery and also sooo much sauce. Seemed more like cream of pad Thai. What did I do wrong??
Please help! I want to try again!
Made this for the first time tonight, and it was great. Just one thing….. Do you know how many Carbs & Calories are in this dish??? Anyone who is Diabetic needs to know the Carbs, and I need the Cals because I’m on a diet.
I just updated the recipe with the nutrition info. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much Karen.
★★★★
If I were to use a whole, cut up chicken (bone-in), how would I adjust the cooking time?
You will need to cook the chicken first because it will take much longer than the pasta which only takes 3 minutes. This is how I would do it:
Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. When the display says HOT add in the oil. Add in the chicken and saute for about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add in the chicken broth and deglaze the pot. Add in the soy sauce. Cover and make sure valve is sealed. Set the manual/pressure cook time to 12 minutes. Do a quick release. Add in the spaghetti and the red pepper. Pressure cook for 3 minutes then do a 10 minute natural pressure release. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
Hope this helps!
My first time using Ninja pot. Easy recipe and turned out great. My husband liked it too. I will be making this again.
Thank you for the recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Vivian! I hope you like your Ninja pot! Pressure cooking is a lot of fun 🙂
This was great. How would I go about doubling the recipe? I have an 8 quart IP. Even with just my husband and I there wasn’t much in the way of leftovers. I used lemon juice instead of lime and it worked great. I have doubled other recipes for the IP, but I am not sure with the noodles and the broth if I need to do anything special besides just doubling the ingredients. Great recipe. Trying the Low Mien recipe this week.
★★★★★
Hi Karen, I would double all the ingredients and keep the same cooking time or maybe even decrease cooking time by 1-2 minutes.
Delish! Even my 3 and 4 year olds are eating it! Will definitely make again!
★★★★★
Wow! They are some good 3 and 4 year olds!
This was great!
★★★★
Glad you liked it!
Wow, Karen–I made this recipe pretty much exactly as you instructed, and we loved it! I also love how fast this one comes up to pressure and cooks. Thank you for your excellent instructions and for sharing!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it David!
Tuned out great! I 3x the recipe and it still tasted amazing. I used a frozen stir fry mix I had on hand instead of bell peppers (onions, red, green, and yellow bell peppers)…I liked the extra chunkiness of the pieces. Also added green onions…I felt like they would taste good and they did! Skipped the cilantro, didn’t have any fresh on hand, but didn’t miss it. Definitely will make again.
★★★★★
Sounds tasty!!
If I were to make this without chicken, maybe adding more veggies instead, are there any other adjustments you would suggest? I’m new to the instant pot world and figuring this out 😁
I would only use 1 3/4 cups of broth instead of the 2 cups.
Delicious, instructions were easy and dish was great. I added some OleK Sambal for a chili kick and used peanut stir fry sauce.
★★★★★
Sounds great! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
We’ve made this twice this week! The second batch we made some tweaks… we substituted one cup of chicken broth for a cup of coconut milk, subbed a few big spoonfuls of chili paste the for the pepper flakes, and stirred in a good amount of baby spinach with the final ingredients. We also found a fettuccine rice noodle that cooks perfectly and makes this a great substitute for when we can’t make it to our favorite Thai place.
★★★★★
Wow your version sounds wonderful!
sounds delish @Justin K. Which rice noodle brand did you use?
Coconut milk sounds divine! Will definitely try that next time
Even using less sodium soy sauce this was too salty. Probably could use half the peanut butter. The flavor had an oddly bitter taste. I want to love it, but I don’t. 🙁
★★★
Hi Karen, I’d like to add this to our meal plan for next week, but was thinking about adding more veggies so I don’t have to make a side. What would you recommend? Can I just add some thinly sliced carrots, celery or other crisp veggies and if I did would I need to change the ratios at all? Thanks!
Yes I bet that would work nicely. No need to change the other parts of the recipe.
This was amazing! I made it tonight and everyone loved it, yay! I added a bit more bell pepper and about a cup and a half of sugar snap peas. This will definitely be a regular at our house. Thanks for another great recipe Karen!
I love the idea of the snap peas!
Hi. Looks yummy! We have an 8qt UP. Would this work as is or should we amend it?
Hi Mary, you can make it as is.
Too much peanut butter!!!
★
Hi Karen,
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it. Would this full recipe be possible to do in a 3 quart instant pot? I have made recipes in my 3 quart pot instead, where the poster used a 6 quart instant pot, without any issues. Could we do the same for your recipe here or would you recommend cutting it, cooking the noodles separately, etc. instead to account for capacity constraints?
Thanks!
with only 8 ounces of noodles I think it will fit just fine in the 3 quart. let me know!
I love this easy, tasty meal. It also cooks pretty quickly so if you Do some prep the night before or before work, I can be ready really quickly after work. It’s a regular in our family rotation for the last several months.
★★★★★
Glad you liked it! I love this one too 🙂
Can I use Thai rice noodles?
I am not familiar with the thai rice noodles. They may cook too quickly for a pressure cooker. How long do they take on the stove to cook?
Definitely not … Rice noodle cook by pouring boiling water over them and covering. The IP would destroy them.
This was so good that my picky eaters had seconds and thirds. Hubby requested it again today, though we just had it less than 2 weeks ago. I doubled it because I think the leftovers will heat up well, added the bell peppers in with the stuff at the beginning, and left the crushed red pepper for everyone to add to their liking. Very easy and yummy. Only takes about 30 mins to make including cooking. Will def make again! Thanks!
★★★★★
I made this for my boyfriend one night, and he’s asked for it again multiple times since. So tasty! My favourite instant pot recipe to make.
★★★★★
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it…
Can I use ramen noodles instead of spaghetti?
I’d be nervous they would cook too quickly and get super mushy.
Can you use angel hair pasta?
Yes but I might cut down on the pressure cook time by 1-2 minutes.
Loved this recipe! The lime juice gives it a nice fresh taste. I added a little sriracha as my family likes a little bit of heat. Super fast, very little effort and delicious taste. Thanks for another winner Karen!
★★★★★
Thanks Marcia! We really like this one too 🙂
Thank you; we both very much enjoyed this recipe! It is so much like chicken satay which we both love! Definitely make sure to use both low sodium soy sauce & low sodium broth. I did use the broth but did not have low sodium soy and it was a bit salty but still amazing!
★★★★★
Rave reviews from my picky daughter! Couldn’t wait to go back for seconds. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Nice!!
The fish tasted fresh and flavorful but my husband and I both thought there was way too much peanut butter for our taste. I think we could have used half the amount called for. But we are new to instant pot and are going to keep trying your recipes!
★★★
Hey Karen, About to give this recipe a try but have a couple questions. 1. You only cook for 3 minutes? REally?? and 2. You do not cook after adding the cilantro or peppers, etc? Thanks,
Yes that’s right!!
Can sunbutter be used instead of peanut butter? We have an allergy in our home.
I’m sure it could! I’m not familiar with the taste of that so I’m not sure how great it would taste.
Can this be made as s gluten free recipe using Gluten free Soy and Gluten Free pasta?
Hi Kat, I am sure that it could. I am not familiar with the gluten free pastas but if they cook similar to regular pasta (as far as time goes) then they should work. Let me know how it turns out.
We only use gluten free noodles, usually brown rice , it took 3-4 minutes additional cooking time for the noodles to be al-dente .i don’t like mushy noodles, I have found this to be true on all pasta poked in the instant pot
Okay this is good to know. Thank you.