Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Chicken Noodle Soup is a classic recipe with chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and egg noodles in a seasoned broth, ready in under 45 minutes!

If you love classic soups as much as we do, then you’re going to love this Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup, Vegetable Soup, and Cabbage Soup!

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup is one of those old fashioned Soup Recipes that we all know and love, made with savory chicken in a seasoned broth with wholesome vegetables and noodles. It is wonderful served with Garlic Bread or crackers. The crispy texture goes perfectly with the hot seasoned chicken stock.

A lot of people swear by chicken noodle soup to treat a cold. Honestly, it’s probably the hot water that’s more soothing than the soup itself, but it certainly hits the spot during those times.

You’ll love putting a big pot of this soup on the stove on cold rainy days, because it somehow just makes everything feel better.

Chicken Noodle Soup Collage

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe with Rotisserie Chicken

Instead of using raw chicken, you can speed up the process by using already cooked rotisserie chicken.

  • Cut up the chicken breasts and set to the side.
  • After you sauté the vegetables, add the carcass to the step where you add the chicken broth and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the carcass, add the cooked chicken and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, add the cooked pasta and serve.

If you need to make this in a hurry, you can buy the pre-chopped vegetables along with the rotisserie chicken. It’s the fastest way to make this chicken noodle soup recipe, and always turns out great. You can also plan a bit ahead and chop the vegetables and store them in your fridge ahead of time.

Chicken Noodle Soup Collage

More Chicken Soup Recipes to Try

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Add all ingredients except for the pasta to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours.
  • Remove the chicken and shred, then return to the slow cooker with the cooked pasta and serve.

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup Using a Whole Chicken

You can also make chicken soup in the slow cooker with a whole chicken. Remove the giblets and wrap the bird in a cheesecloth. Cover completely with water, add seasoning to the slow cooker and set for high 4 hours or low 8 hours.

Remove and shred the bird, discarding the bones, then add back to the pot with the vegetables and cook an additional 1-2 hours, until the vegetables are soft. Add the egg noodles at the end and serve.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Turn on the sauté function and add butter or olive oil with onions, garlic, celery, salt and pepper.
  • Cook until the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.
  • Add all other ingredients to the instant pot except for the pasta.
  • Cook on manual setting on high for a total time of 10 minutes, then release naturally.
  • Once the pressure is released, remove the lid and take out the chicken breast.
  • Shred, then return to the pot with cooked egg noodles, stirring to combine, and serve.
Chicken Noodle Soup

More Noodle Soup Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use fresh herbs to make chicken stock?

If you’d like to use fresh herbs for the chicken stock, like thyme or rosemary, tie them into a bundle with cooking twine. Then you can easily remove them when the soup is done.

How do I skim the fat from homemade chicken soup?

When the homemade chicken noodle soup cools down, a layer of fat may solidify on the top. This is especially true if you used a whole chicken instead of chicken breasts. You can skim this off to reduce the fat in the dish. Or, it will melt back into the broth when reheated.

How do I use a chicken carcass to make broth?

If you do use a rotisserie or whole chicken, you can boil or slow cook the bones or freeze them to make chicken broth another night. I promise you, homemade chicken broth is easier then you think!

What garnishes go well with Chicken Noodle Soup?

Garnish this with flat leaf parsley and a side of crunchy crackers.

How to Store Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Serve: You should never leave chicken out for more than 2 hours after cooking it. 
  • Store: Once the soup has cooled down to room temperature, put it in an airtight container to store it in the fridge. It will keep well for 2-3 days. 
  • Freeze: Chicken noodle soup is perfect for making ahead or making a double batch and freezing. Just make the recipe as written all the way up to shredding the chicken, then leave out the noodles. Cool the soup down completely, seal tightly in a container, and freeze. When you’re ready to defrost, refrigerate the day before. Reheat on the stove in a saucepan and add cooked noodles at that time. Homemade chicken noodle soup will last frozen for 3-4 months.
Chicken Noodle Soup in bowl with spoon

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Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup is a classic recipe with chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and egg noodles in a seasoned broth, ready in under 45 minutes!
Yield 8 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 yellow onion , chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic , minced
  • 2 stalks celery , sliced thinly
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 2 chicken breasts , boneless skinless
  • 2 carrots , sliced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 8 ounces egg noodles , cooked 1 minute shy of directions

Instructions

  • Add the butter to a large dutch oven on medium heat and cook the onions, garlic, celery, salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes or until translucent before adding in the broth, chicken, carrots, and thyme and bringing to a boil, then reducing to a simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken and shred with two forks before returning to the soup with the cooked pasta and serve.

Video

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 811mg | Potassium: 457mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2725IU | Vitamin C: 11.2mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1.1mg
Keyword: classic chicken noodle soup
Chicken Soup

Photos used in a previous version of this post.

Chicken Noodle Soup in bowl
Chicken Noodle Soup in pot with ladle
Chicken Noodle Soup in bowl with spoon
Chicken Noodle Soup Collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Not sure if I have the first of summer cold but I have been miserable! I wanted something and I had this recipe from some time ago and I said that is it. Made it and it was so comforting and filling, even hubby raved about it. Will be making again and again! Love all your recipes and easy to follow directions. Thanks for sharing.

    1. Summer colds are the worse, hope you’re feeling better and glad you enjoyed the soup.

  2. ? DELICIOUS, will make again. Had it with some home made cornbread and really made me wanna slap somebody! YAAZ that GOOD??

  3. Loved the flavor. With 4 cups of liquid I thought one cup of rice would be ok. Too much, next time 1/2 cup. It was very good flavor though. Thank you for sharing.

  4. Ok, I made this last night. It seemed like just your basic chicken noodle soup recipe but it was the best Chicken Noodle Soup I have ever had. I followed the recipe pretty darn close. The only things I added was a pinch of hot pepper flakes and some tumeric. So so good!!

  5. I have made this chicken noodle soup recipe several times. It is very good. I used dried thyme and more broth. Yum!

  6. Hi. Thank you for a Great recipe. Just one mention, I recommend cooking the chicken first, alone as there will be fat to skim out if the water as it cooks. Once that’s done, continue cook the chicken for at least an hour and half for tenderness before adding the other ingredients.

  7. Thank you for reminding me that the simpler chicken noodle soup the better. This classic soup is meant to be about the basics. Perfect. Thanks again!

  8. Just made the Classic Chicken Noodle Soup. Turned out so good but I read another review where someone recommended more chicken broth……so true…..needs at least 5 cups of broth. I didn’t have more broth so I added more water. Still very good. Easy recipe.

  9. I have made this once before and my spouse said it was one of the best chicken noodle soups I have ever made! And I make a lot of soup! All I have fresh right now is chicken thighs, I’m assuming I could swap he chicken breasts out for these!?

  10. I made this last night and it was delicious! I only made a couple of minor changes. I used olive oil instead of butter. I added the carrots early on along with the onions and celery. I also figured this was a good chance to use the leafy part of the celery. I did not add any salt. I used the whole breast from a rotisserie chicken. I would also like to add a tip for those who may not have thought of this. If you use a rotisserie chicken in a recipe always be sure to add the gelatinous stuff (aspic) in the bottom of the container. It is full of flavor! I used uncooked noodles so added an extra cup of water when I put them in as I knew they would suck up at least that much liquid. The ratio of chicken to noodles and broth seemed perfect. This was an EZ to follow recipe and well worth making. Thank you.

  11. Delicious taste!! & Super easy & quick to make. Couple of tweaks I made. Definitely need more chicken broth, maybe 3 more cups of it. Also a little less noodles. & I didn’t have fresh thyme, so I used 1 teaspoon of dried thyme & it taste amazing.

  12. I made it again this time since it’s yucky rain outside.

    This time I made it with boneless chicken strips this time and it took way less time than last time. And I used 2 cartons of broth with 4 cups of water and 3 chicken bouillon cube powder. And doubled the noodles.

    My husband didn’t even want crackers with it he gobbled it up so fast! Definitely a keeper recipe!

  13. Great flavors! But definitely not enough broth! We had to double the broth. We also added 2 chicken bouillon cubes for more chicken flavor. The friend I made it for said it was the best chicken noodle soup she has ever had, and that we should enter it into a contest lol. This recipe, with my changes is a keeper!

  14. WOW!!! This was amazing! I changed it a bit but to add more broth. My husband is picky with chicken noodle soup and doesn’t really like soup too much. But didn’t complain at all! Well he said it needed bread to go with it but that’s all.

    I did add 3 cups water with 3 teaspoons of chicken bouillon powder because the reviews said it needed more broth.

    I’ve already recommended this soup to others!

    I’m sick with the stomach bug and needed it.

    I love your blog. One of our favorite dinners is this

    https://dinnerthendessert.com/one-pan-baked-chicken-brown-rice-vegetable-casserole/ but with white rice and no veggies because I make my own on the side.

    I also can’t wait to try this https://dinnerthendessert.com/slow-cooker-chicken-and-rice-soup/

    1. Kayla I love your attitude about making soup my favorite pastime in winter month is making chili and soups your way is great keep making adjustments but dont go to extreme ..I am on the same page as you I have another piece of advice for you..look for chicken and beef soup base big game changer and I never ever add water to my soups that is a no no..

  15. This is absolutely delicious!!! It is officially my favorite homemade chicken noodle soup recipe!!! Thankfully I doubled it, put 6oz total of pasta (will probably do 7-8oz next time) and had to put 2 more cups of chicken broth because it was definitely not soupy enough for my liking. The flavor is just perfect!! I do have a question, 2 out of my 3 large chicken breasts were definitely dry, any recommendations for not having dry chicken?

    1. I’m not sure why they’d dry out with such a short cook time. Next time, you could try and add them in for the last 10-15 minutes of cook time. I hope this helps.

  16. I just made this recipe for my wife and daughter, and was very happy with the outcome!!! Loved it. I loved the freshness of it all. This is going into my recipes and looking forward to making it again. Thank you!! ??

  17. I just made this this afternoon. Skeptical the whole way through, only because I’m not much of a cook! I used garlic and herb seasoned chicken breast, which I think ended up making a good flavor. I had to use 4 more cups of broth! I did use 3 chicken breasts though. I didn’t even want to try it!! LOL!!! OMG, I just did and it is DELICIOUS!! I looked up so many chicken noodle soup recipes and so glad I chose yours! My husband is going to love it!!! Julie

    1. Lol I’m so glad you overcame your doubts and gave it a try and it was so good!! I bet that chicken made a huge difference and added lots of flavor 🙂 Happy to hear you liked it!

      1. Why do you have to cook the noodles ahead of time? Either on the stove or crockpot could you not add them toward the end and let them steam in the broth and they will soften right up? Going to try this recipe today and wondered..?

        1. If you cook the noodles in the broth, they could overcook if you put them in too early. Also, I find them more flavorful if I cook them separately in salted water than putting them directly in the broth. Hope this helps!

  18. It was a very tasty easy quick homemade chicken soup (I used already cooked rotisserie chicken); the only disappointing part (my son pointed out as well) was it needs more broth than the recipe calls for. I’ll make this again but the next time I’ll make some adjustments in the amount of broth.

  19. Im a caregiver and I made this recipe for my elderly client (who is a tough picky eater) and she loved it!

    Thank you thank you thank you!

    1. Hello. I’m currently calorie counting, and I just made this recipe last night! I saw that it said it was 216 calories per serving but I was wondering what a serving was. Is it per one cup of soup or a bowl of soup (typically 2 cups). Thank you!

  20. Awesome flavor in the broth. Needs more chicken stock than listed depending on the noodles used and chicken breast size.

  21. This was awesome! The only thing I did different was cook it with the chicken bones in the broth after taking the chicken off a rotisserie chicken. Yum! Will definitely use again!

    1. 8 ounce measurement of dry noodles and then you’ll cook them 1 minute less than the directions call for. Hope this clears up any confusion. Enjoy!

  22. You know, while it is helpful to have nutritional information for this recipe, it is still useless because you do not list anywhere what a serving is. What are you basing your nutritional information on? Is it for a cup of soup or more than that? I do see that you say the entire recipe makes 8 servings, but if you do not list what a serving is, how can I determine whether I have 8 servings?

    The recipe itself was delicious, but I am pre-diabetic, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and am trying to lose weight, therefore I have no choice but to pay attention to portions and nutritional information. I would appreciate knowing what standard of measurement you are using.

    1. Not clear on when i’m suppose to cook the noodles or if i’m suppose to cook them in the same pot or a separate one and add them in once the chicken is cooked and shredded

      1. So sorry for the confusion, in the ingredients I listed “8 ounces egg noodles cooked 1 minute shy of directions”, so you will cook the noodles before adding the cooked noodles in instruction 2.

  23. This recipe was easy and delicious. I didn’t have thyme on hand so I had to skip it and I added an extra cup of broth for my large family. I will definitely be putting this in the regular rotation. Thank you!!

  24. I love chicken noodle soup!! It’s my favorite go-to when I’m needing some comfort food or not feeling well. It is so tasty!

  25. There is nothing better than homemade chicken noodle soup on a cold night. I’ve never thought to use thyme in mine, I bet that is delicious!

  26. Made this soup last night for my family and they LOVED it! Thankyou for the awesome recipes! It was so cold out here and the soup was the perfect comfort food!

    1. I doubled the recipe. Good thing too because I ate twice as much as I should have.
      I used left over turkey and powdered thyme. Still turned out fantastic. Thanks for the recipe.

        1. This stuff is like medicine ! After a recent bout of an intestinal virus I made a pot of it and ate it for 2 days.It was delicious.It brought me from feeling like I couldn’t get off the couch to where I felt like going outside and running in 2 days ! I added red pepper flakes.Definitely has a healing effect ! Grandma was right !