Our easy Instant Pot creamy chicken and noodles recipe with frozen chicken or fresh breasts is a meal your family will love. Pressure cooked in just minutes, it is a cheap one pot meal you can make in Ninja Foodi too.
Jump To
- Ninja Foodi Creamy Chicken
- What Type of Chicken to Use
- Creamy Chicken with Frozen Chicken
- Can you use leftover chicken?
- How to Make the Sauce
- Can you add vegetables?
- Are there healthy alternatives for making creamy chicken?
- FAQ
- Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Recipe
- With Frozen Chicken Breasts
- Can I freeze leftovers?
We made this creamy chicken in Instant Pot dish after our Crockpot creamy chicken dish was so very popular. Not everyone has all of the countertop appliances so I wanted to cover all my basis. We all love dishes with cream of chicken and this will be another one of our Instant Pot recipes you’ll add to your rotation.
Ninja Foodi Creamy Chicken
You don’t have to own an IP either. Yes I know and own the other machines that work just the same. For Crockpot Express you will use the same steps. For a Ninja Foodi recipe choose the lid that is not attached and the pressure cook button. If you have rotisserie or precooked meat you can skip the first step.
In that case you will only use the saute or brown button to melt and warm the condensed soup and cream cheese. The pasta would be cooked separately, ideally. OR you can use our pressure cooker butter noodles directions before, after, or in another pot. On the stovetop works as well of course, take your pick, but just do it apart from one another for the ideal outcome.
This is similar to our pressure cooker chicken and rice dish. That one includes white rice into the mix all cooked together until tender whereas this boils noodles separate. The reason this one isn’t one pot is because I wanted the sauce with meat to be super thick. If you added the pasta in there too you’d need to increase the liquid broth which would thin it out.
What Type of Chicken to Use
You are going to want to add about 2 lbs of chicken breasts (fresh or frozen – boneless skinless), chicken thighs or make as a leftover chicken breast recipe. If you prefer dark meat that is fine too but use the same weight.
Creamy Chicken with Frozen Chicken
You could actually make this with frozen chicken in Instant Pot if that is all you have on hand. With the 15 minute cook time either one will work and still come out tender enough to shred with 2 forks. I’d highly suggest boneless skinless frozen chicken breasts, medium sizes, not huge.
Can you use leftover chicken?
I have made this one the stovetop, but that is usually when I have leftover precooked meat already. For that I am just merely warming everything up and not worrying about cooking to a safe temp in the center. We also have a version, creamy chicken and rice casserole if you want grains in there together. If I do have fresh meat then these are the steps I follow.
How to Make the Sauce
You are going to want the base of this to be a can cream of mushroom soup or chicken, either one works really as long as it is that thick condensed type from Campbells or store brand is fine. Then you are going to add a block of cream cheese cut into cubes, softened so it melts easily.
I have in the past made a large batch of homemade cream of mushroom soup. I’ll use a few scoops to make this, a bowl as is for lunch, and save the rest to use the next day. Canned is very convenient for sure but if you have never tried making condensed soups from scratch it is easier than you might think.
For the liquid needed to steam the meat to shred I think Chicken broth is best for the flavor vs water which offers nothing
Add a dry packet of Italian dressing mix, seasoning can be found near the actual dressings in the bottle
Butter or dairy free alternative works too
Can you add vegetables?
As for adding vegetables into the mix I would only do so with diced frozen vegetables like peas or mixed with green beans and carrots. 3/4 of a cup would work, added before sealing the lid. 15 minutes for fresh produce would break them down too much, other than maybe carrot dials (those would be fine).
Are there healthy alternatives for making creamy chicken?
You could use low fat cream cheese if you wanted but I will say that the taste is definitely different if you do. If you wanted to omit that ingredient all together you could instead use 2 cans of soup to keep it nice and thick as a sauce when done. In this case I would use 1 can of cream of chicken and use mushroom for the other for the best flavors.
FAQ
As long as you pressure cook chicken in a sauce or broth to stay moist it will in fact fall apart more and more over time. You only need 12-15 minutes for boneless breasts and about 1 hour for a whole bird to get it to perfectly tender. If you forgot about it for a few more minutes though you would be okay. Allowing for a natural release of steam will tenderize it too.
You can using the saute function with a bit of oil inside but it is not necessary. If you do want a bit of browning and texture on the outsides (with skin on this is nicer) just sear for 2 minutes on each side, then pressure cook. You can skip this step too though and still have a successful meal.
Instant Pot Creamy Chicken Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts, fresh or frozen, boneless skinless
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 packet Italian dressing mix
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 can cream of chicken soup, or cream of mushroom soup
- 1 block cream cheese, cut into cubes, softened
Instructions
- Add chicken and broth to the instant pot. Sprinkle dressing mix on top of the chicken. Add butter. Set to poultry (or manual) high pressure for 15 minutes. When cooking is complete, let steam naturally release for 10 minutes.
- Release pressure valve and carefully open the pot. Using two forks, shred the chicken. Stir in cream of chicken soup and cream cheese until completely melted. If necessary, set the instant pot to saute to create some heat while stirring and help the cheese melt.
- Serve immediately on top of egg noodles cooked separately.
Video
Notes
With Frozen Chicken Breasts
If starting from frozen make sure they are small sized, boneless and skinless. They need to be separated or this will not be successful. If not run under cool water to pull apart from one another and lay inside pot overlapping the least amount possible. Timing will not change unless they are larger pieces, in that case change to 20 minutes cook time.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is great about making it yourself is that you can control the sodium which is helpful for those with high blood pressure issues. Another huge plus is that you can use ingredients that are lactose free if you need dairy free options to eat. We have that issue at our home so I have had to tweak things so everyone can enjoy them around here.
Can I freeze leftovers?
You can but I would recommend that you freeze it without the noodles inside as those don’t freeze and thaw out well. Better yet is to just keep the soup, tender chicken sealed in a container once cooled in the fridge. It will stay well for up to 3 days. When reheating creamy chicken transfer to a microwave safe dish. Heat for 45 seconds, stir and heat for another 45 seconds or until warmed all the way thru to the middle.
