This Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup is hearty and comforting, yet incredibly easy to make! No need for a can of soup, homemade is the best!
Is there anything more comforting than a big bowl of hearty soup? There’s something so natural about it, and it brings you right back to childhood.
If the only chicken noodle soup you’ve ever had is a can of good ol’ Campbells, then simply put… you NEED to try a homemade version! The flavor is so rich, so complex, and it’s incredibly easy to make at home.
Normally I think of chicken noodle soup as “sick food”… something you eat when you’re under the weather. And don’t get me wrong, this easy crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe is FABULOUS for that, but it’s also fantastic on a night when you’re looking for some comfort food. Paired with a green salad, it’s a great light meal as well!
I love cooking soups in the slow cooker because it adds great flavor plus I love coming home to dinner ready to go. If you’re in a rush, I make an amazing stove top Chicken Noodle Soup in about 20 minutes too!
IS CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP REALLY GOOD FOR YOU?
It depends on the ingredients you use to make the soup, and when you use quality ingredients, yes! Plus the soups steam warms you and eases any congestion, and the warm brothy soup helps ease a sore throat. There’s a reason it’s the universal soup for when you’re under the weather!
I also like to buy reduced sodium chicken broth, so I can control the amount of salt in the dish.
If you’re wondering what are the best noodles for chicken noodle soup, I prefer to use wide egg noodles. They tend to keep their shape and texture in soup compared to other types of noodles.
Some people make crockpot chicken noodle soup with rotisserie chicken, but this slow cooker chicken noodle soup makes it so easy to use fresh chicken. After a long, hard day, a big bowl of this soup is the cure!
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHICKEN BROTH AND CHICKEN STOCK?
Is there a difference between broth and stock? Yes, there is! Traditionally, chicken broth is made from simmering meat, whereas chicken stock is made from simmering bones. Chicken stock has a richer flavor, due to the gelatin released from the bones as they cook, and broth is much lighter, in color and mouth feel. Since crockpot chicken and noodle soup is traditionally a brothy soup, with a relatively “clear” broth, I always use chicken broth instead of stock, but you can use whatever you prefer or have on hand.
CROCKPOT SOUP RECIPES AND IDEAS TO ENJOY
- Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
- CrockPot Lasagna Soup
- Crock Pot Cabbage Roll Soup
- Slow Cooker Cajun Bean Turkey Soup Recipe
WHAT HERBS ARE USED IN CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP?
In this, the best crockpot chicken noodle soup, I’ve used dried rosemary and thyme, with some fresh minced parsley as a garnish. Some dried tarragon, or using fresh herbs would be great additions and substitutions as well. While not exactly herbs, we’ve also used the classic “mirepoix” or “holy trinity” of diced onions, carrots and celery. These vegetables are used very frequently to start off just about any soup by adding amazing flavor and aromas.
Looking for more fantastic soup recipes? Try my Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, and hearty Slow Cooker Minestrone!
Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 3 large carrots peeled and sliced into coins
- 2 stalks celery sliced
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf optional
- 2 teaspoons chicken base I use Better Than Bouillon brand, optional
- 8 to 9 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 8 ounces egg noodles wide or extra wide
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
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To the bottom of a 6 quart or larger slow cooker, add trimmed chicken breasts. Top with onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dried thyme, dried rosemary, salt and pepper, and bay leaf (if using).
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Dollop chicken base over the top, then pour in chicken broth. Gently stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
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Remove chicken from slow cooker to a large mixing bowl. Shred chicken. Discard bay leaf (if using), and return shredded chicken back to slow cooker.
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Cook egg noodles al dente according to package directions.
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Add egg noodles to soup and cook on LOW for 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
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Serve garnished with minced fresh parsley and a sprinkle of black pepper.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
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Repin this Crockpot Soup Recipe
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This soup was beyond delicious! My husband doesn’t typically love chicken noodle soup because he finds it to be a bit bland, and even he went back for seconds and raved that this is the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever made. Perfect amount of flavor and extremely easy to make! It’s the perfect cozy recipe for a chilly evening.
This was good! I cooked the noodles separately as directed. I had to use bullion instead of the chicken base because that’s all I had. I replaced the dried herbs with half a package of fresh poultry herbs wrapped in cheese cloth.
sounds delicious, Nicole! So glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing! Made this for dinner and it was worth the wait! It was delicious. My kids loved it. Definitely will be saving this to make it again.
I’ve made this several times and every time it’s delicious!! I do change it up a little though. I used powdered chicken bouillon instead of the chicken base and I season it slightly more adding dashes of onion and garlic powders as well as more black pepper. It’s excellent and always has our house smelling so good!! Thank you!
Can you tell me how much powdered chicken bouillon you used for this recipe?
thank you in advance
I made this today and it turned out great! Absolutely will be making this again. Will be great on a cold, cold winter day for sure! Warmed me right up. Love it.
Made this & was amazing! A ton left though. Am I able to freeze any of it? If I do, do I freeze it with the noodles in it??
I would freeze without the noodles as they can get mushy and soak up all of the broth.
My family is obsessed with this soup. My second time cooking it I’m not even a month span. Definitely recommend super delicious!
Thanks for the recipe! My partner is sick and I’m making a batch of this in the slow cooker while I work from home. I needed something fast and easy and this was it!
You’re welcome! Hope they feel better soon!
Is there a replacement for the chicken base? I’m allergic to rosemary, which the one you linked contains. I’ve even checked other brands, but if it doesn’t say it has it, it will say ‘natural flavors’, which generally means herbs. I’d still like to get the flavor it would add though. I know from past cooking, how flat a soup can be when you can’t add bases & herbs. If you have any other suggestions to add flavor, I’m all ears & would love to add this into our rotation. Thanks!
Hi Julia, the chicken base is optional so it can definitely be left out. While it does add flavor, this recipe is still delicious without it. Maybe another reader has a specific one they can recommend that doesn’t have rosemary!
I’m so glad I came across this recipe. Have made many and this one is by far the best flavorful chicken noodle soup. I sautéed the onion, celery and carrot and browned the chicken thighs a bit and cooked on top of stove. My husbands opinion is same as mine, delicious!
Rating this recipe prior to cooking, because it has all the right ingredients. LMAO at the comments from people saying it was terrible. I’ve made more than enough soups in my life to know that simply isn’t true. It has the holy trinity plus garlic. I could stop there, add broth, and it would be good.
Maybe since it doesn’t have 85% of your daily value of sodium in a single serving it doesn’t taste like the canned soup you are used to. That’s a YOU problem, not a RECIPE problem.
I’ll report back tomorrow. I am using this as a baseline and adding a little creole seasoning and some pappys salt free. Also, not all broths are created equal. I am a big fan of Pacific brand broths, but this will be my first time using the low sodium variety. You can always add salt, but can’t take it out.
***Update***
Made this soup today almost exactly to the recipe. Cooked the pasta (bow ties) separately as is now the recommended method. Added 1/4tsp garlic salt, 1/4tsp Cajun seasoning and 1/2tsp pappys seasoning. I figure all recipes are a baseline, and it’s up to you to season to your taste.
The only major change I made was I added a slurry of 2tsp cornstarch and 2 tsp water. Had I cooked the noodles in the broth, the extra starch likely would have thickened it up a tiny bit, so this was my solution. It was still very much a soup and not a stew, so I recommend adding that slurry if you are not cooking the pasta in the soup or adding potatoes or anything.
Soup was fan-freaking-tastic!!! Everything I wanted in a soup recipe with enough wiggle room to make it your own. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it is now bookmarked.
So happy you enjoyed this recipe! Your additions sound delicious, thanks for sharing.
We love this soup! I do a bit more chicken base than stated in the recipe & I also add potatoes. Family loves this. We cook at least once a month. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Courtney, so happy to hear that your family loves the soup!
It was just okay for my family and I. If I made it again, I would use fewer onions, and saute the chicken, as well as the onions, garlic, celery and carrot before adding them. I think this would add the depth that I was looking for, but then of course, the recipe wouldn’t be as easy. :)
Those are great suggestions, Dee! Thanks for sharing.
Hello! Can I use elbow noodles or no?
Hi Jill, those should work well. You may need to add them a little bit sooner to ensure they are cooked through or cook them separately and add them to the soup when ready to serve.
Good recipe! Very flavorful. The first time I made it the onions & celery were still very crunchy (after 8 hours in the crock pot!) so I had to transfer the soup to a pot on the stove to have dinner ready in time. Not a deal breaker. Second time making it and I made sure to sauté them down first. Super simple and easy recipe!
Can I use pre cooked chicken? I have leftover rotisserie chicken from yesterday that I would love to use in this recipe. If so, when would I add the chicken? At the beginning?
Hi Jessika, I would add cooked chicken in at the same time as adding the egg noodles.
What is the serving size for the nutrition facts
Hi Danielle, it is about 1.25 cups per serving.
Was ok… way too much onion for me. I felt like I was eating more onion than anything else. I wish I would have only done half of and onion and added more carrots.
You can definitely reduce the onion in your dish, replacing them with carrots is a great idea.
Absolutely terrible. No flavor following this recipe. A complete waste of time and money. Just buy a generic can of soup and you will much happier with the taste.
Sorry that you didn’t enjoy the soup as much as we do Travis. We find it to be very flavorful and my family loves it, as do many readers. Did you add the chicken base? Did you use reduced sodium chicken broth, or possibly no salt? No salt will definitely affect the flavor of the soup. Thanks for trying it.
Hi! Maybe a stupid question, but is the chicken cooked before adding to the crock pot? Thanks!
I think that’s a great question! The chicken is added uncooked. Enjoy the soup Emily!
Oh good thank you!