Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup — 🍲🥕🙌🏻 Classic, comforting, and tastes just like grandma made but way easier and faster! This soup is AMAZING and it’ll be your new favorite recipe!
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The Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Chicken noodle soup is one of the fondest memories I have of my grandmother’s cooking. Classic, comforting, a cure-all for whatever ailed me, and I could taste my grandma’s love in it.
However, my grandma’s version took hours and hours. I don’t have time to watch a boiling pot for half the day and this version is easy, ready in 30-minutes, and has all the comforting qualities you want in classic chicken noodle soup.
My family loved the homey, classic flavors in the soup, raved about it, and asked when I’m making it again.
It makes enough to stash half in the freezer for a rainy day or for winter cold and flu season. Chicken noodle soup is a miracle worker! Even better when it’s a one-pot wonder to cut down on dishes and work.
What Readers Are Saying
It’s not just my family who’s raving about this soup. With 1000+ 5-star reviews, this soup is an ultimate favorite! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
After finding this great soup recipe, it’s my GO-TO one. Everyone loves it. I use egg noodles or small sized pasta and less than called for.
Will need to try more from your website!Lois
This is our FAVORITE chicken noodle soup recipe! It’s so easy and makes flavorful soup!
Meredith S.
This soup is full of flavor. I followed the recipe and added a handful of frozen peas for color. Start to finish was 30 mins. Hubby had 3 bowls! I’ll be making more of your recipes.
Kerri
Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
To make this easy chicken noodle soup recipe, you’ll need the following basic ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Carrots
- Celery stalks
- Sweet Vidalia onion
- Garlic
- Chicken broth
- Bay leaves
- Fresh thyme sprig
- Dried oregano
- Wide egg noodles
- Shredded cooked chicken
- Fresh parsley
- Salt and black pepper
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup
Making homemade chicken noodle soup with egg noodles doesn’t get easier than this! Here’s an overview of how this simple recipe comes together:
- To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat to warm.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion, and sauté until the veggies begin to soften before adding the garlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, pepper, and bring to a boil. Allow mixture to boil gently for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are fork-tender.
- Add the egg noodles, stir with a wooden spoon, and simmer the mixture until the noodles are cooked through.
- Add the chicken, parsley, optional lemon juice and boil until chicken is warmed through, remove the bay leaves and fresh herbs sprigs, and serve immediately!
Recipe FAQs
Wide egg noodles in chicken noodle soup is the only way to go for me because that’s how my grandma made it, but if you like rotini or another type of pasta, use it instead.
I always use store bought rotisserie shredded chicken, both the white and dark meat, in my homemade chicken noodle soup (if I don’t have leftover boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand). My Sheet Pan Whole Roasted Chicken leftovers or extra chicken from Crockpot Whole Chicken are great to use in this soup because you get the flavor from bone-in chicken or you can use shredded chicken thighs. Or use my quickie Poached Chicken recipe. There are lots of options!
I prefer using a blend of fresh and dried herbs in my soup for a more nuanced flavor. For this recipe, I used bay leaves, fresh thyme, and dried oregano. However, you can easily adapt the recipe using whatever herbs you have on hand!
The squeeze of lemon juice does NOT make the soup taste even remotely lemony. Instead, it brightens up the rich flavors of the soup and makes the recipe pop overall. If you don’t have a fresh lemon on hand, use apple cider vinegar to achieve the same result.
We love serving this easy homemade soup with bread rolls (try Parker House Rolls or No-Knead Dinner Rolls), Skillet Cornbread, or a Classic House Salad.
You can store this soup in an airtight container for up to 5-7 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
what to serve with chicken noodle soup
You can serve this comforting chicken soup with anything from crackers or dinner rolls to your favorite crusty bread. It’s a meal in itself! Of course, you can serve the soup as a side to another entree, pair it with a simple house salad, or whatever works well for your meal lineup.
Tips for the Best Chicken Noodle Soup
Herbs: There are quite a few herbs used including thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and parsley. If you don’t have them all on hand, don’t want to buy a bunch of thyme for just 1 teaspoon, or aren’t fond of a particular herb, you can probably omit it. Your soup won’t taste exactly like mine, but it’ll be close.
Salt: Make sure to salt your soup to taste. I use low-sodium chicken broth and add a bit of salt to my soup so I can control the overall salt level. The saltiness of low-sodium broth varies among brands, and if you used a rotisserie chicken, salt levels vary. And everyone’s personal preference for salt varies so salt to taste.
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Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven – large (or large soup pot or stock pot)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced thin (about 1 1/2 large carrots)
- 1 cup celery, sliced thin (about 2 stalks)
- 1 cup sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 1 medium onion)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 64 ounces 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth (plus more if desired)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 12 ounces wide egg noodles, (or your favorite noodles or pasta)
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, (use store bought rotisserie chicken to save time; or use other leftover chicken or cook your own chicken)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil and heat over medium-high heat to warm.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion, and sauté for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir intermittently.
Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes. - Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, pepper, and bring to a boil. Allow mixture to boil gently for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are fork-tender. Note – If you like brothier soup, add additional broth, possibly as much as an additional 64 ounces because as time passes the noodles will continue to absorb broth.
- Add the egg noodles and boil mixture for about 10 minutes, or until noodles are soft and cooked through. Tip – At any time while making the soup, if the overall liquid level is lower than you like and you prefer more broth, adding a cup or two of water is okay. At the end you will adjust the salt level.
- Add the chicken, parsley, optional lemon juice (brightens up the flavor), and boil 1 to 2 minutes, or until chicken is warmed through. Tips – Taste soup and add salt to taste. I add about 1 tablespoon but this will vary based on how salty the brand of chicken broth used is, how salty the rotisserie chicken is, and personal preference. Make any necessary seasoning adjustments (i.e. more salt, pepper, herbs, etc.), remove the bay leaves, and serve immediately.
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Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This is the easiest recipe! I make this all the time and everyone in the house loves it! I use a shredded rotisserie chicken and serve with rolls or crusty bread. So good on a cold night!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad you make it often and it’s a hit!
11-1-2024 3:24pm Just finished making this very tasty soup. My 13yr old has been sick for a couple days. Ate and fell out in the bed…lol. So, I tried it and on my second bowl. For the Winter months this will be a regular comfort food made. I used baby carrots in mines, sliced down the middle…so good. Thank you.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Deborah, and I’m glad to hear this will become a regular wintertime comfort food recipe! I hope your son is on the mend, too.
We have lived this recipe for years.
What do you think of adding (not substituting) veggies like asparagus and corn to the soup?
Thanks
Jeff
I think it would be a great touch. You have to be mindful that the veggies will cook through in the alloted time and are quick(er) cooking in general. Asparagus, green beans cut small, corn (from a bag of frozen or canned and drained), zucchini in small bites. Don’t use potatoes because they take longer to cook.
https://www.averiecooks.com/easy-30-minute-chicken-vegetable-soup/ see that one too. No noodles, but uses farro instead. You could also use rice.
https://www.averiecooks.com/kale-white-bean-and-chicken-soup/ no noodles, lots of veg/greens
i love this and i made it for me and my sister and we loved it so much we tried it without chicken but still it was amazing
Thanks for the 5 star review, Ava, and I’m glad that this was a winner (even without the chicken) for you two!
We love this soup. Over time I’ve experimented a little and made it a bit heartier and a little easier. I find I like using canned chicken as it adds more flavor than fresh chicken. To make it heartier, instead of egg noodles, I add frozen mini-chicken won tons. Today it’s 80 degrees and not exactly soup weather – but that’s what I’m making – can’t wait for fall.
That’s great that you’ve been able to experiment and come up with some tweaks that are working out great for you!
I have made this recipe so many times and it is always a big hit! Rotisserie chicken is best but in a pinch I’ve boiled chicken breasts to shred in a mixture and then adjusted the salt content and spices accordingly. I also use the gluten free Banza noodles for a gluten allergy and they work well. Excited for more soup weather!
I am glad to hear you found some GF noodles that work well for you. I also have a poached chicken recipe https://www.averiecooks.com/poached-chicken/ that’s probably similar to what you did. This is a good one too and you can eat half and save the other half for the soup! https://www.averiecooks.com/sheet-pan-whole-roasted-chicken-potatoes/