Chicken Noodle Soup
Published 2/16/2022 โข Updated 7/17/2023
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The best homemade chicken noodle soup recipe is made with hearty vegetables, chicken breast, and your favorite noodle. Plus, it’s ready to go in less than an hour!
Best Chicken Noodle Stoup on the Stove
We’re Chicken Noodle Soup lovers here at Fit Foodie Finds (re: Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup) and can’t wait for you to try this homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch made on the stovetop.
Homemade chicken noodle soup is always the way to go because it’s so much more flavorful! Our signature recipe is made right on the stove with tons of veggies, lean chicken breast, and egg noodles.
We also add tons of fresh herbs and a fresh squeeze of lemon to bring out all those delicious flavors! Enjoy this delicious chicken soup.
What You Need for Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
It’s time to ditch canned chicken noodle soup and make it in your own kitchen! The best and most classic way to do so is in a stockpot on the stove. Let’s get started!
Chicken Breast: Chicken breast is a lean protein that is lower in calories, but high in protein. You can always swap out the breasts for thighs or even omit to make this recipe vegetarian.
Veggies: this chicken noodle soup calls for all the classic chicken soup veggies: carrot, celery, garlic, and onion. Other veggies that would work well in this recipe are potato, sweet potato, parsnip, or squash.
Chicken Broth: while you can make your own homemade chicken broth, we’re keeping things simple with a storebought chicken broth. An option here is to swap your chicken broth out for vegetable broth or even beef broth if that’s what you have.
Try it!
Homemade Chicken Broth
Make this homemade chicken broth and use it in your favorite soup recipe! This broth is the most flavorful chicken broth on the internet. You can use it in soups, chilis, sauces, and more!
Fresh Herbs: Never skip the herb bundle! This recipe calls for fresh thyme and rosemary and it’s such a fantastic way to infuse your soup with flavor. Don’t forget to discard it before serving.
Italian Tuscan Seasoning: Italian Tuscan Seasoning is essentially a coarse Italian seasoning made with whole dried garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, onion, and red and green peppers. We use this in place of normal Italian seasoning because it has so much more flavor and almost disolves into the soup.
Don’t have Tuscan Seasoning? Make your own: 2 teaspoons normal Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon minced dried garlic, 1 teaspoon minced dried onion, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste).
Noodles: Everyone has a noodle preference and the great thing about this recipe is that you actually cook the noodles separately from the soup. So? grab your favorite noodle and cook about 3 cups of it. We kept things super classic and love chicken noodle soup with egg noodles!
More noodle ideas: don’t love egg noodles? Use ramen, spaghetti, macaroni, or even rice! Any kind of noodle works!
Lemon: Not every chicken noodle soup recipe calls for fresh lemon, but let me tell you, this is a game-changer! A little bit of citrus goes a long way and a hint of lemon is just wonderful in this soup.
How do you cook the chicken?
The great thing about this chicken noodle soup is that the chicken actually cooks right in the soup. So, there is no need to precook the chicken!
Once you’ve got all your ingredients in the pot (including the broth), bring the soup to a boil. Your chicken should be submerged in the broth and this is how it cooks. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and cover. Let simmer for 30 minutes to fully cook the chicken.
Shredded or Chunked?
We’ve made chicken soup with both shredded chicken and diced chicken. The option is yours with how you’d like to serve the chicken!
To shred: use 2 forts to shred the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
To dice: use a sharp knife, to cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces.
FAQ
Chicken noodle soup is the classic sick soup because it’s easily digestible. It’s made with hearty vegetables, lean chicken, and warm broth to help soothe your body when you’re sick. Pro tip: Add a wedge of lemon for more anti-inflammatory benefits!
You can make gluten-free chicken noodle soup by making it from scratch and using a gluten-free noodle.
This chicken noodle soup serves 6-8, so if you’re a single lady or even a family of 4, you will have leftovers! Here are some tips and tricks to make the best of your chicken soup.
The best way to add flavor to chicken soup is with fresh ingredients. We suggest fresh herbs, garlic, and lemon juice.
There is no need to cook the chicken before putting it in soup as long as you bring the soup to a boil and let it simmer for at least 10 minutes.
How to Freeze Chicken Noodle Soup
When it comes to freezing soup, our biggest pointer is to make the noodles later. That’s right, we do NOT recommend freezing noodles because when reheating, they will likely become soggy.
To freeze chicken noodle soup, follow the directions as is, but do not add the noodles. Once the soup has cooled completely, transfer it into a freezer-safe container or gallon-size bag. Then, remove as much air as possible and seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
To thaw + reheat: remove your frozen soup from the freezer and let it thaw completely on the countertop. Once thawed, transfer it into a large stockpot and reheat over medium/high heat. While the soup is reheating, cook your noodles in a separate pot. Once the noodles are cooked, strain and add them to the soup.
Tutorial
How to Freeze Soup & Chili
Learn how to freeze soup and chili with this easy How to Freeze Soup tutorial. We’ll share all of our tips and tricks to perfect freezer soup.
Storage Recommendations
Store chicken noodle soup in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheat Options
Microwave: if you’re reheating just one serving of soup, we suggest the microwave. Place 1 serving of soup into a microwave-safe bowl and reheat on high for 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
Stockpot: if you’re reheating multiple servings of soup, we suggest reheating on the stove. Place soup into a large stockpot and turn heat to medium/high. Reheat until boiling.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 medium carrots, diced (1.5 cups)
- 4 large celery stalks, diced (1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 1.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons coarse Italian seasoning*
- 1 tablespoon Franks hot sauce, or white vinegar*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 6 sprigs of rosemary
- 3 cups egg noodles*
- 1 medium lemon, sliced
Instructions
- Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the bottom of a large stock pot.
- Then, add in carrots, celery, garlic, and yellow onion and sautee over medium/high heat for 5-7 minutes or until the onions become translucent.
- Place chicken breast on top of veggies and add chicken broth, Italian seasoning, hot sauce, and salt. Mix.
- Create your herb bundle by tying together fresh thyme and rosemary. Place that into the pot.
- Bring soup to a rolling boil over high heat, uncovered.
- Once boiling, turn down to low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- While soup is boiling, prepare egg noodles by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until noodles are al dente. Remove from heat, strain, and set aside.
- Once chicken is fully cooked, remove chicken breast and herb bundle from soup.
- Discard herb bundle and dice chicken breast into small chunks.
- Then, place chicken back into the soup and mix.
- Add lemon slices to the pot and let soup simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Finally, add the cooked noodles to the soup right before serving.*
Tips & Notes
- Coarse Italian Seasoning – if you do not have this kind of Italian seasoning use the following: 2 teaspoons normal Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon minced dried garlic, 1 teaspoon minced dried onion, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste).
- Hot sauce: if you don’t like spicy, use white vinegar instead!
- If you are planning to freeze this soup, keep the noodles separate from the soup and add them to the soup right before serving. Scroll up in this post for further directions.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Excited to try this soup! If we aren’t able to find the fresh herb sprigs, do you recommend omitting entirely or using a small amount of dried rosemary + thyme (that can’t be removed)? Thanks!
Made this on Sunday to have for lunches all week and it was the best chicken noodle soup Iโve ever had. So easy and so delicious!
The broth, right?!
So good!!!
Yummy recipe!
Delicious! The perfect Chicken Noodle Soup. Perfect seasoning. My hubby’s new favorite.
So good. So so good. I love that itโs got a little tiny bit of heat to it along with all of the other flavors! Definitely a little different spin on average chix noodle, but in such a good way!