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Chicken Noodle Soup to the rescue! This classic recipe comes together in a hurry, and is the perfect thing to make with leftover chicken. That means you can have a big pot of homemade soup whenever the doctor orders.
Recipe ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
- Chicken: Leftover chicken works perfectly here, or you can poach a chicken (and make broth at the same time).
- Chicken broth: Use store bought or make your own broth.
Step-by-step instructions:
- To start, find your biggest soup pot. A Dutch oven or a stock pot with a heavy bottom is best. Heat some olive oil over medium high heat, then sauté the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the onions and celery soften.
- Next, pour in the broth, shredded chicken, thyme, and the bay leaf. Bring the soup to a simmer, and continue to cook until the vegetables are fork-tender. It should only take about 15 minutes!
- Time for the noodles. Add them in dry, and keep simmering until they’re tender. Like extra noodles? Add some, but not too many, otherwise the noodles will soak up all the liquid in the pot. No one wants that.
- Once the noodles are tender, give the soup a final taste, then season with salt and pepper.
- Garnish each bowl with fresh parsley before serving.
Recipe tips and variations:
- Leftovers: Cool completely, then store in the fridge and eat within 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze for up to 3 months to have on hand for soup emergencies.
- Slow cooker: This takes a lot longer than the stove-top, but I don’t mind if you don’t. Add the broth, chicken, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, and thyme to the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or LOW for 6 hours. Stir in the egg noodles and cook 15 minutes longer on HIGH until the egg noodles are tender.
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Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped
- 1 celery rib chopped
- 8 cups (2 quarts) chicken broth (see note 1)
- 3 cups cooked chicken chopped or shredded (see note 2)
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme minced, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 ounces wide egg noodles
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- fresh parsley minced, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in broth, chicken, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to simmer and cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in noodles and cook until tender, about 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
- Chicken broth: Use store bought or make your own broth.
- Chicken: Leftover chicken works perfectly here, or you can poach a chicken (and make broth at the same time).
- Leftovers: Cool completely, then store in the fridge and eat within 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze for up to 3 months to have on hand for soup emergencies.
- Slow cooker: This takes a lot longer than the stove-top, but I don’t mind if you don’t. Add the broth, chicken, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, and thyme to the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or LOW for 6 hours. Stir in the egg noodles and cook 15 minutes longer on HIGH until the egg noodles are tender.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Good recipe. I made my own broth…so worth the extra step. I’m not a noodle fan, so added extra carrots and celery. Delicious
Hi Mary, I’m so happy you loved it! Sounds delicious! – Meggan
Best soup I have ever tasted!
Just made this for lunch with some leftover shredded chicken. The kids even loved it! Delicious and easy! Thanks for the inspiration!
This is the recipe that I use… I’ve recently stumbled upon frozen egg noodles by Reames that REALLY step up the game on chicken noodle soup!