This easy chicken noodle soup recipe, made with white meat chicken breasts and egg noodles, is a delicious weeknight meal. This richly flavored soup cooks in about 40 minutes with minimal prep. It’s comfort in a bowl!
Chicken noodle soup is a go-to meal when it’s cold outside or to make when someone is sick. But I love serving this recipe year round.
It’s easy to make, using basic ingredients most of us keep in our fridges and pantries. And it always hits the spot!
If you’re looking for other easy and delicious chicken dishes, try my 5-Ingredient Chicken Pot Pie recipe or this Healthy Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili. For lunch, you can’t go wrong with this Easy Chicken Salad — just three ingredients!
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Jump to:
- ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- 🥘 Ingredients for Chicken Noodle Soup
- 🥣 How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup
- 📖 Variations & Substitutions
- 🍽 Equipment
- Storage & Reheating
- Can Chicken Noodle Soup Be Frozen?
- What can I serve with a chicken noodle soup?
- What are the best spices for chicken noodle soup?
- What kind of noodles can I use for chicken noodle soup?
- More Soup Recipes
- 🎥 Recipe Card & Video
- Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
My version of chicken noodle soup is made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts — which cuts the cooking time significantly. I also love using egg noodles because they cook so quickly.
By dinnertime most nights, I’m looking for something easy that I don’t have to babysit on the stove. Aside from a little bit of chopping and a quick saute, the actual hands-on work required to make this soup is minimal.
Want to see a brief overview of the process before diving into the recipe? Watch my web story on how to make chicken noodle soup.
🥘 Ingredients for Chicken Noodle Soup
This chicken noodle soup recipe uses basic ingredients most people keep on hand.
- carrots
- yellow onion
- celery
- garlic
- boneless, skinless chicken breast
- chicken stock or chicken broth
- butter or olive oil
- thyme – fresh or dried
- parsley – fresh or dried
- bay leaves
- salt
- pepper
- egg noodles
See recipe card for quantities and a cooking demo video.
🥣 How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup
Prepare the vegetables:
- Wash the carrots and celery.
- Peel and slice the carrots and slice the celery. I like leaving them in larger pieces, but you can also dice them.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
Saute the vegetables:
Melt butter on medium high heat and add the vegetables. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softened, then add the minced garlic and herbs and cook for a minute more.
Cook the chicken
- Add the broth or stock to the pan and season it with salt, pepper and bay leaves.
- Add the boneless chicken breasts to the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165℉.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the the pan and allow them to rest and cool slightly. Shred the chicken with two forks or using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
Cook the egg noodles
Remove the bay leaves from the soup and raise the burner temperature to high.
Bring the broth mixture to a boil and cook the noodles, according to package directions.
Finishing the soup
Reduce the stove burner heat to medium and return chicken to the soup. Stir and season with more fresh herbs and more salt and pepper, as needed. Heat until warm.
Hint: If you need to get dinner on the table even quicker, you can make chicken noodle soup with leftover chicken. You can use rotisserie chicken, leftover grilled chicken, poached chicken or leftovers from a whole roasted chicken.
📖 Variations & Substitutions
Using Split Chicken Breasts: For a richer soup stock, you can use skin-on split chicken breasts.
- You wil need to adjust the cooking time. Allow the soup to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes after adding the chicken, until the meat is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pot, and allow it to cool slightly. You may also want to skim the soup to remove any excess fat from the chicken skin.
- After the chicken cools, remove the skin and pick the meat from the bones. Return the meat to the soup pot after adding the noodles.
Herb substitutions: Depending on your taste preferences, you can use different herbs or substitute dried herbs for fresh.
- Substitute 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for each tablespoon of fresh herbs in the recipe.
- Dill, oregano and even basil are good herbs to use in chicken noodle soup, along with thyme and parsley.
Change up the vegetables: A classic chicken noodle soup recipe generally starts with a French mirepoix (carrots, celery and onion). But feel free to switch things up based on your preferences.
- Omit the onion if you’re sensitive to it or have a picky eater in your family.
- Don’t like the texture of celery? Omit it from the recipe and instead sprinkle in a teaspoon of celery seed for flavor with the other herbs.
- Corn, green beans and spinach also make nice additions to chicken noodle soup. Add the spinach when you add the noodles so it doesn’t overcook.
🍽 Equipment
Chicken noodle soup is a one-pot meal. I recommend making it in a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven.
You’ll also need:
- cutting board
- chef’s knife
- tongs and spatula
- forks or a mixer with a paddle attachment (to shred the chicken)
- soup ladle for serving
Storage & Reheating
Leftover chicken noodle soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four days. Reheat on the stovetop (preferred) or in the microwave.
Since the noodles will soak up the liquid while in the fridge, you may need to add more broth or water when reheating chicken noodle soup.
To prevent this from happening, you can boil the noodles in a separate pot and add them to each bowl of soup when serving. Store leftover noodles in a separate container in the refrigerator.
Can Chicken Noodle Soup Be Frozen?
If you’re planning to freeze the soup, leave out the noodles when preparing it. They’ll get mushy when frozen. Instead, freeze the chicken, broth and vegetables and add the noodles when you’re reheating the soup.
To reheat, thaw the soup completely in the refrigerator. Then cook over medium heat on the stovetop until the soup is heated through and the noodles are cooked.
Frozen chicken soup will keep in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
What can I serve with a chicken noodle soup?
Chicken noodle soup is a complete meal. But if you need something to go with it, here are a few options:
- Crusty bread – We love baking a loaf of sourdough bread from Wildgrain whenever we have soup. You can get $10 off your first Wildgrain box with code SOURDOUGH10 at checkout.
- Grilled cheese sandwich
- Side salad
- Fresh fruit, such as grapes or oranges
What are the best spices for chicken noodle soup?
My recipe calls for salt, pepper, thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Minced garlic and onion also help add to the flavor.
You can use other seasonings and fresh herbs, including:
- Dill
- Oregano
- Basil
- Celery seed (if you don’t have fresh celery)
- Fresh lemon juice
What kind of noodles can I use for chicken noodle soup?
I like using wide or broad egg noodles in chicken noodle soup because. They’re quick cooking and the traditional choice.
But you can use any pasta pasta shape in homemade chicken noodle soup. Good options include bowtie (also known as farfalle), fusilli, gemelli, cavatappi or elbow macaroni.
Smaller pasta shapes, such as ditalini, orzo or star-shaped pasta, are other good noodles to use in chicken noodle soup. You can even break up spaghetti and throw it in the soup pot.
Just make sure to follow the cooking directions for the noodles you use.
More Soup Recipes
Craving a bowl of something hot? Try one of these delicious soup or stew recipes.
- Hearty Sweet Potato & Shrimp Soup
- Black Eyed Pea Soup with Collards & Ham
- Easy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
- Light Slow Cooker Brunswick Stew
Pin This! Best Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
🎥 Recipe Card & Video
Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Equipment
- wooden spoon
- forks or stand mixer
- soup ladle for serving
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 medium carrots (peeled and sliced)
- 2 celery stalks (chopped)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1 TBSP fresh thyme, plus more for garnish (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 TBSP fresh parsley, plus more for garnish (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups chicken broth or stock
- 6 ounces egg noodles
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, melt butter on medium-high heat and add the vegetables. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softened.
- Add the minced garlic and herbs and cook for a minute more, stirring frequently.
- Add the chicken broth or stock to the pan.
- Season with salt, pepper and bay leaves.
- Bring to a simmer, rediuce temperature to medium-low and cover. Simmer chicken for 20 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165℉.
- Remove the chicken breasts and bay leaves from the the pan. Allow the chicken to rest and cool slightly.
- While the chicken is resting, raise the temperature on the stock to high. Bring to a boil, add the egg noodles and cook according to the package directions.
- While noodles are cooking, shred the chicken using two forks or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Once the noodles have cooked, reduce the heat to medium and add the shredded chicken.
- Season with more fresh herbs and more salt and pepper, as needed.
Video
Notes
Using Split Chicken Breasts
For a richer soup stock, you can use skin-on split chicken breast.- You wil need to adjust the cooking time to 30-40 after adding the raw chicken. Cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165℉.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pot, and allow it to cool slightly.
- Skim the soup to remove any excess foam or fat from the surface.
- After the chicken cools, remove the skin and pick the meat from the bones. Return the meat to the soup pot after cooking the noodles.
Variations and substitutions
- Substitute 1 teaspoon of dried herbs for each tablespoon of fresh herbs in the recipe.
- Dill, oregano and basil are good herbs to use in chicken noodle soup, along with thyme and parsley.
- Omit onion if you’re sensitive to it.
- Substitute 1 teaspoon of celery seed if you don’t have fresh celery stalks.
- Corn, green beans and spinach can be used in chicken noodle soup. Add the spinach when you add the noodles so it doesn’t overcook
- Add fresh lemon juice to enhance the flavor of chicken noodle soup. (Start with the juice from half a lemon and add more to taste.)
Storage & Reheating
Store leftover chicken noodle soup in the refrigerator for four days. Reheat on the stovetop (preferred) or in the microwave. Since the noodles will soak up the liquid, you may need to add more broth or water when reheating. To Freeze: If you’re planning to freeze the soup, omit the noodles as they will become mushy. Add the noodles when you reheat the soup. To reheat from frozen, thaw the soup completely in the refrigerator. Then cook over medium heat on the stovetop until the soup is heated through and the noodles are cooked.Noodle Options
You can use a variety of different noodles for chicken noodle soup. The type of noodle may affect cooking time.- wide egg noodles
- bowtie or farfalle
- fusilli
- gemelli
- cavatappi
- elbow macaroni
- ditalini
- orzo
- star-shaped pasta,
- broken spaghetti noodles
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