Chicken Noodle Soup is easy to make from scratch with few ingredients.
In this recipe, a whole chicken is simmered with vegetables to create a flavorful broth and tender meat. Remove the meat from the bones, stir in some egg noodles and a handful of veggies for a cozy homemade soup.
Chicken soup really is a good wholesome meal with fresh ingredients and has never been so easy!
A Perfect Homemade Soup
This chicken noodle soup recipe is made with homemade broth and either store-bought or homemade egg noodles! Bonus, the whole kitchen will smell heavenly as the family comes home after a long day!
- Simple ingredients with a real homemade flavor.
- Easy to make and prepare. Let it simmer while you go about your day.
- A great way to stretch a meal, a whole chicken creates broth and meat for soup.
- Use any veggie you’d like and rice or pasta of your choice.
Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
Chicken (of course), along with carrots, celery, onions, noodles, and fresh herbs are slow-cooked to savory goodness.
CHICKEN & BROTH
A whole chicken makes a flavorful stock and tender meat for the soup.
Homemade: Simmering a whole chicken with some vegetables, seasonings, and water makes a flavorful broth (and I leave the skin on the onion for color). Strain the broth well through cheesecloth and discard the veggies as they become too mushy to add to the soup (I usually snack on them anyhow because they have lots of flavor). If you don’t have a whole chicken, use 8 bone-in chicken thighs.
Store Bought: If you are using store-bought broth (or if you already have homemade stock to use), you can simmer chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs in low sodium chicken broth for about 12-14 minutes (for boneless) or use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken.
VEGETABLES Onion adds flavor while carrots and celery ribs are traditional additions. Any kind of vegetables can be added and frozen vegetables work well too. A few cloves garlic, some diced potatoes, spinach, or other favorites can be added.
NOODLES Egg noodles are my favorite choice for chicken noodle soup but any pasta will work. We also love homemade egg noodles in this recipe which can be made well ahead of time and frozen.
Homemade Chicken Broth
It is super easy to make homemade broth and since this recipe uses a whole chicken it’s incredibly flavorful. Boiled chicken may not sound special but I can assure you it is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Placing a chicken to simmer in water with a few veggies as you go about your other tasks results in a flavorful broth and tender meat to make great meals throughout the whole week!
Add fresh or dried herbs like parsley, bay leaves, thyme, or a bit of rosemary.
How to Make Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
This soup is as easy as 1, 2, 3, and while it takes a bit of time, most of the time is hands-off while it simmers away!
- Simmer a whole chicken with onions and carrot/celery per the recipe below.
- Strain broth and remove meat from the bones.
- Cook the broth and carrots and celery. Stir in chicken and cooked noodles.
Remove from heat and season with pepper (add fresh parsley and if you’d like a little squeeze of lemon juice). For a classic soup and sandwich combination serve with a grilled cheese or club sandwich.
Cooking Variations
- Instant Pot Chicken Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Soup
- 20 Minute Stove Top (weeknight version)
Plan for Leftovers
If you plan on having leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl when serving. It will get mushy if left in the broth overnight (or frozen in the broth).
Leftovers?
Chicken noodle soup is so delicious we rarely have leftovers, but it can easily be stored in the fridge or freezer until ready to eat for meal prep. Remember to cook and store the egg noodles separately as they do not hold up well.
- To Store: Be sure it is fully cooled before putting it in the fridge. Make sure it’s in a tightly sealed container. It should last about a week if it lasts that long! Keep noodles in a separate sandwich bag or container.
- To Freeze: Chicken noodle soup can be frozen as long as it is fully cooled first (without the noodles). Chill it overnight in the fridge and then either ladle it into freezer bags with the date on them or in a freezer-safe container. It should keep about 4 months.
- To Reheat: Ladle the soup into a bowl and pop it in the microwave or into a stockpot on the stove. Easy enough!
Homemade Soups You’ll Love
- Beef Stew Recipe – reader favorite!
- Weight Loss Vegetable Soup Recipe – loaded with fresh veggies & flavor
- Fresh Tomato Soup – just a few fresh ingredients!
- Cream of Mushroom Soup – rich and creamy with fresh mushroom!
- Beef Barley Soup – 30 min soup
- Baked Potato Soup – rich & creamy soup
Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth or chicken stock, see notes
- 1 ½ cups sliced carrots
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 3 cups cooked chopped chicken see chicken below
- 2 cups egg noodles measured dry
- salt and black pepper to taste
Homemade Chicken Broth
- 1 whole chicken 3 to 4 pounds
- 1 ½ onions divided, see notes
- 3 carrots include tops if you have them
- 2 ribs celery
- 4 sprigs fresh herbs rosemary, parsley, sage, or any combination
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Homemade Chicken Broth
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Cut 1 onion, carrots, and celery into quarters (include the tops of the carrots and celery if you have them). Place the remaining ½ onion into the cavity of the chicken.
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Place chicken in a large pot and add vegetables from step 1, fresh herbs, bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, and poultry seasoning. Cover with water.
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Cover pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down and simmer partially covered for 1 ½ – 2 hours.
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Remove chicken, shred meat and discard bones. Strain broth through cheesecloth. Discard the vegetables in the strainer (*see note 1).
Soup
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Bring 8 cups of the strained broth to a boil and add carrots and celery. Cook 5 minutes.
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While carrots are cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. *see note 2
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Stir in chicken and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Place noodles in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle soup over top and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Lunch, Soup
Cuisine American
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Simple and delicious!
I made your chicken noodle soup recipe for the first time, and it came out delicious! Thanks
Can you add corn vermicelli?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. If you try it, I would love to hear how it turns out!
I am going to make this homemade chicken soup tomorrow using the leftover chicken carcass from tonight very moist and delicious rotisserie chicken.
My husband couldn’t believe how quickly the rotisserie chicken cooked. We will be having rotisserate chicken, from now on.
That is going to be delicious, Hilary! Such a perfect way to get the most out of your rotisserie chicken.
I also see Ms Holly, that you don’t do diabetic recipes. I’ve been searching for a site that offers these type of recipes. I attended a diabetic and diet class, but come away empty handed actually. Looks good on paper, but do not offer any “boots in the kitchen” type presentations. Meanwhile, my glucose levels are rising it seems each day.
Sorry to hear that! We don’t specialize in diabetic recipes but I hope you are able to find some of our recipes that work for you.
Wow…………….I just found your classic chicken noodle soup recipe. I grew up on Campbells original chicken noodle soup, but after my phone call to their PR department complaining about the high salt content…(as I am now 76 years old with heart issues)…I was greeted with a very turse answer and denial that they would ever lower the salt content they use. Ok……….so I hang up the phone.
Now with a similar recipe here….I can custom make my own soup and put what ever I want in there……less the salt of course. A gigantic hug and thank you for your site.
So happy you are loving this recipe! Our favorite part of making homemade soup is being able to customize it to your liking as well!
Do you think a whole rotisserie chicken would be good in this soup? I have one I need to use up.
Absolutely!
I have to say, my frozen CNS tastes great! I cook the noodles (freshly made) al dente and freeze them up in the broth. The texture and flavour is great
At least that’s my experience.
Doug
I made this soup without the noodles (trying to keep my carbs down a bit). I used thighs instead of a whole chicken and I took this “3-4 cups chicken or chicken below” to mean 3-4 cups of chicken broth! It was absolutely delicious and gave me four lunches at work. 15 mins prep though – you’re obviously quicker at prepping than I am! :o)
Glad you enjoyed it, Christine!
This recipe of yours did triple duty. Yesterday I cooked 9 chix legs in crockpot (10c. water) for 8 hours, cooled and removed meat from bone. Today I froze 1 qt. of the broth, finished the recipe as written (reducing veggies, adding a bit of chix base, and half the meat) with the rest of the broth and had a wonderful noodle soup for tonight’s dinner. The other half of the meat will be used in your chicken salad recipe for sandwiches/salad and I still have the frozen quart of broth for another soup night! Fall is in the air and I’m happy! Thx for the great recipes.
Love to hear this! That sounds like the perfect way to use up all of those ingredients :)
There’s nothing like homemade chicken soup made with homemade broth! Boiling the whole chicken takes the soup to a high comforting and flavorful level! Thank you for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Brenda!