This simple classic chicken noodle soup can be made in a crock pot or on the stovetop—get a great homemade taste with this Betty Crocker inspired recipe. Bring on the cold weather; I'm ready now.
Chicken Noodle Soup
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Introduction and My Rating
A warm and comforting soup with chunks of chicken with lots of vegetables and noodles is just like grandma would make since it is from her recipe.
I love simple, really simple. This recipe is right up my alley: no precooking things and no taking the chicken out of the pot to cut it up.
I read multiple recipes as usual, but I ultimately used my wife's favorite recipe and added a conversion to a crock pot. The original source is the 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook.
My Rating
A very nice chicken soup. But since it is just chicken soup, it can only be a 4.
🐓The Chicken
I tend to use skinless boneless chicken breasts for everything. But boneless chicken thighs would work great here.
I also do cubed chicken here. But if you want shredded chicken, put the whole breasts in the crock pot (not frozen), and at the 3-hour mark when adding the noodles, remove the chicken, shred and place back into the crock pot.
You can also use pre-cooked chicken and add it with the noodles.
👨🍳Variations
The recipe, as stated in very good. I like a lot of meat and veggies in my soup.
If you want more soup with lots of broth, add another 14 oz can of chicken broth. Most of you will want the extra broth.
If you want a lot of noodles, add the can of broth plus ½ cup more of noodles. Don't add the extra noodles without the broth, or you won't have any broth left.
♨️Crock Pot Version
This fits nicely in a 3-½-quart crock pot. You can cook this recipe in a larger crock pot, and you could double the size if using the larger crock pot.
I only cooked this on low. Most crock pot recipes cut the time in half if cooked on high. I'm not convinced that would work well here. The veggies took the whole 4 hours, and I don't know the effect on the timing of the noodles. If you try it, please comment on the results.
♨️Stovetop Version
To do this on the stovetop, add everything but noodles to a Dutch oven and simmer for 1-½ hours until carrots are tender and chicken is 165°. If doing whole raw chicken, remove and shred at this point.
If using pre-cooked chicken, then add at this point. Bring to boil and cook noodles per package instructions.
✔️Tips
The Pasta
I suggest commercial egg noodles and my timing reflects that. If you use a non-standard pasta, especially if it has a quick cooking time, you need to assume my time estimates are incorrect and start watching your pasta starting at about the time suggested on the package.
Even with the commercial egg noodles, check them a few times during the cooking.
Storage
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. The pasta will absorb some of the fluid during that time and may need some added broth. If you are planning on freezing part of this, I suggest removing that amount before adding the pasta. It will freeze well for 3-4 months.
📖"Comfort Food" Soups
Easy One Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
Old Fashion Vegetable Beef Soup
Easy Crock Pot French Onion Soup
Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup
🖼️Instructions
This is a four to six serving recipe. You can cut in half easily, but you want a few leftovers.
Peel and cut two carrots into medallions, medium onion chopped, and slice two ribs of celery.
Trim and cut two skinless boneless chicken breasts into cubes. From this point on, the instructions are for the crock pot version. See the Pro Tips in the recipe card for stovetop instructions.
Add the chicken and veggies to a small slow cooker (3 ½ qt.). Add 32 oz of chicken broth or stock, one bay leaf, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon pepper. one 14 oz can more of broth if you want a lot of liquid in your soup. Most of you will want this extra broth. Cook on low for 4 hours in the crock pot.
After the first 3 hours in the crock pot, add 1 ½ cups of dry noodles and let cook for the final hour. If you like a lot of noodles, add another ½ cup of noodles BUT do not do this without adding more broth from the previous instruction. I suggest standard commercial egg noodles. Please check the pasta every 15 minutes until done. If you use non-standard pasta, you should check the pasta more frequently.
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If you enjoyed this recipe, the pleasure of a rating on the recipe card below is requested.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts - 1 to 1 ½ pounds and may use thighs
- 32-48 oz chicken broth - see recpe notes
- 2 carrots
- 2 ribs celery
- 1 onion - medium
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ cup dry noodles - see recipe notes
Instructions
This is a four to six serving recipe. You can cut in half easily, but you want a few leftovers.- Peel and cut two carrots into medallions, medium onion chopped, and slice two ribs of celery.
- Trim and cut two skinless boneless chicken breasts into cubes. From this point on, the instructions are for the crock pot version. See the Pro Tips in the recipe card for stovetop instructions.
- Add the chicken and veggies to a small slow cooker (3 ½ qt.). Add 32 oz of chicken broth or stock, one bay leaf, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon pepper. one 14 oz can more of broth if you want a lot of liquid in your soup. Most of you will want this extra broth. Cook on low for 4 hours in the crock pot.
- After the first 3 hours in the crock pot, add 1 ½ cups of dry noodles and let cook for the final hour. If you like a lot of noodles, add another ½ cup of noodles BUT do not do this without adding more broth from the previous instruction. I suggest standard commercial egg noodles. Please check the pasta every 15 minutes until done. If you use non-standard pasta, you should check the pasta more frequently.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You may use skinless boneless chicken thighs instead of breasts. You will want 1 to 1 ½ pounds of either.
- If you want shredded chicken, add it not cut up and remove to shred at the three-hour mark and add it back in with the noodles.
- If using precooked chicken, add it with the noodles.
- I suggest commercial egg noodles and my timing reflects that. If you use a non-standard pasta, especially if it has a quick cooking time, you need to assume my time estimates are incorrect and start watching your pasta starting at about the time suggested on the package.
- Even with the commercial egg noodles, check them a few times during the cooking.
- We like chicken noodle soup with lots of "stuff." The recipe as written is great. Most of you will want 48 oz of broth in this recipe.
- Second, if you are a big noodle person, you can add another ½ cup of noodles BUT do not do this without adding the additional broth, or it will absorb most the broth.
- This fits nicely in a 3 ½ qt crock pot. You may use a bigger pot.
- With each reheating, the noodles absorb more fluid, so you usually need more broth with each reheating.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Can be frozen but remove what you want to freeze before the noodles. Good frozen for 3-4 months.
Stovetop Version
- To do this on the stovetop, add everything but noodles to a Dutch oven and simmer for 1-½ hours until carrots are tender and chicken is 165°. If doing whole raw chicken breasts, remove and shred at this point.
- If using pre-cooked chicken then add at this point.
- Bring to boil and cook noodles per package instructions.
TO ADJUST THE RECIPE SIZE:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition
Editor's Note: Originally published November 20, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Lonnie
I've made this several times over the past year and I always, always forget the bay leaf. In all other soups, I remember. So, I just put this together this morning to eat later and remembered the bay leaf! Yay me!
I'm wondering if you've ever used different seasonings. I love thyme and in a chicken dish, I love to add poultry seasoning. Would those two things work well in this one? I don't like changing things up unless I know it'll work.
Thanks for such a simple, wonderful tasting recipe.
JOY MARIE GRAY
Hello Dr Dan,
Made this Chicken noodle soup tonight for dinner, I loved that the recipe was so easy and I did follow it exactly. But after four hours and 10 minutes we served our dinner and the carrots were hard and the celery was semi-hard, we still enjoyed the flavor thank you for the recipe
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Joy,
Welcome to the blog.
A couple of things about the veggies not being done. Thinner cooks faster so cut thinner may help. Second, there is some variability in crock pots so you may want to check the veggies for tenderness before adding the noodles and cook a bit longer is needed.
Dan
Katlynn
I followed the recipe exactly and my noddles are mushy. Any tips?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Katlynn,
Welcome to the blog.
Sorry, you are having an issue. About the only variables it could be is the type of pasta and the crock pot. Some pasta may cook faster although it has never happened to me. Also, if your crock pot runs hot, it would cook faster. So if that is the pasta you are going to use, do a quick test of the pasta every 20 minutes or so after you add it.
Dan
Amber
Wish I would of cooked the noodles separately. It's mushy😬
Sharon
If you double the recipe, how long do you think it should cook for? Thank you!
DrDan
Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the blog.
Cooking time remains the same. I use a 3.5 qt crock pot for the single version but if you double, use at least a 6 qt crock pot.
Dan
Naina
I absolutely loved this soup. I never used a crock pot before, so this was my first recipe to experiment with. It came out perfect and was so proud of myself. I would say I followed the recipe to a t, but I cooked it for 5 hrs all together to make sure the veggies were softer but not mush (I did keep check on it every 15 mins past the 4 hr mark) the tweaks I did to add a little pep and flavor to the soup was - once I scooped out the soup into individual bowls - I sprinkled a dash of Italian seasonings, a dash of lemon pepper, and garlic salt - and it was perfecto!!! I definitely will be following your site for future recipes. Well done!!! Def saving this soup recipe as it gets colder!! :)
Kenneth
I have a question on all your soup recipes. Have you ever tried using dehydrated veggies instead of fresh? I plan on trying as that is what I try and pack for long term camping or boating trips. Saves room and weight in fridge or coolers. I have found it works at home on stove top so will experiment. My experience has been adding it to soups or stews at the same time recipe calls for fresh items seems to work well. I add them dehydrated as they will hydrate in the broth and cook. Usually use half as much by volume as fresh. I will report back after I try it if you are interested.
Nancy Weeks
Kenneth - I am interested. I've been playing around with drying veg and fruit for the last year or so - we have a big garden but not a big freezer. I'm always interested in what to do with it, but realize that is outside the normal scope of this blog.
DrDan
Hi again Ken,
I have never tried dehydrated veggies. Sounds like a report back is in order.
Dan
Kelly
This recipe is great! I have made it several times. We sometimes add more spices but that is not necessary. I have the chicken, veggies and spices ready to go into the crockpot at two today for dinner tonight.
DrDan
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the note. I do like these smaller crockpot recipes.
Dan
Alisia
My noodles broke down into the broth and my vegetables were too crunchy.
DrDan
H Alisia,
Sorry it don't work well for you. It sounds like your pot is running low on temperature. You can check. Just heat hot water for an hour. On low, it should be at least 190 degrees up to 200 degrees. This doesn't work for checking high since it is usually 250 degrees plus which is above boiling for water.
Logan
Do you need to have the noodles pre-cooked? And can you substitute with any noodle?
DrDan
Uncooked. And I believe most dry commercial pasta would do. I would not use the refrigerated type nor the type that only takes a few minutes. You want something that will stand up to the cooking and absorb some flavor.
Gina
Great recipe!! I added tomatoes and green peppers...I skipped the bay leaves...seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion powder....this is perfect....eating it right now...will look up more recipes from you!! Thank You!!
Kujijaculia
I'm making this recipe as I type these words. I'll be back to let you know how it came out. Ciao!
Betty
This is really good! I think next time I will use precooked chicken - say rotisserie chicken from the deli department. Nice flavor for sure.
Taylor
Everything turned out perfectly. 4QT used with target branded supplies (chicken, broth, and egg noodles) McCormick's chopped & dried onion flakes (since I am not a fan of chunky onion) and Morton's salt&pepper. Added a little more broth (about 5 cups instead of 4) and an extra 1/2 chicken breast. Set on high for less time (I was in a pinch) and everything was perfect. Wonderful recipe-and one of the few I have found that are made to accommodate a small cooker.
Taylor
This soup came out fantastically. Used with a 4qt crock pot and Target-brand (market pantry) chicken breasts, broth, and egg noodles, plain morton's salt and pepper, garlic powder, and McCormick's dried chopped onion (since I am personally not a fan of big chunks of onion and they soften very nicely for just the right amount of onion-y flavor)
Diced the chicken breasts into small chunks and everything turned out perfectly
MaryBeth at The Thrive Blog
What a easy and delicious looking recipe! I am looking forward to trying it!
MB
Dede
I cooked this tonight and loved it. I added some red pepper and jalapenos for some extra spice:-)
DrDan
I do love soup. The red peppers and jalapenos sound like a great addition.
Thanks for the comment.
DrDan
Dr Dan
Good points. Food safety ALWAYS matters. You are correct that you should cut the veggies before the chicken if using the same equipment. I did do it correct (you can see the water marks progress), I published it backward and have fixed it. Thanks.
I do have several post on food safety, Check the July 4th post...
As for chunky vs shredded, I'm a chunky in my soup type of guy. And you husband can shred the chicken and make the whole meal for you. Real men cook....
Amanda
This did not work in a big crock pot. The vegetables were crunchy. Wasted about 20.00 in food.
DrDan
Sorry it didn't work for you. The veggies do need to be cut up quit a bit. Also your crock pot may run a little cooler. I have done this about 5 times and had no issues. The "point of no return" on this recipe is adding the noodles. Before adding them, a tenderness test on the carrots may be a reasonable idea. If not very close to done then add a little time before the noodles go in.
DrDan
Joyce Gilmore
It probably doesn't matter, because you're dumping it all in the same crock pot, but you really should chop vegetables prior to cutting chicken if using the same cutting board. Again, doesn't really matter for this recipe, but it's just good practice.
If you like shredded chicken chunks in your soup, leave the breasts whole, pull them out prior to adding noodles, shred with two forks, and dump back into the soup. I prefer this because it takes less work to prep, which means my husband can put the soup together, and I can finish it. :-)
Chris
I have two sized slow cookers too and almost always use the smaller of the two. I like the ability to program, excellent! Ours are just a plain 3 position switch.
Dr Dan
Thanks for pointing out a problem. The cause was a change in blogger and effected not only this post but the last 30 or so. I have hand coded the fix and it should work for all (I hope). I believe it was working for many before but not all.
Thanks again. DrDan
PS anyone having an issue PLEASE LET ME KNOW
Kenneth
The only print issue I have had, it may not be an issue but the design, is if I change the serving size and then select the print icon it reverts back to the original serving size and ingredients on the print screen. Not a big deal as I can hand write any changes but wanted to mention since you asked. Great looking recipe by the way, looking forward to it and it will make my camping crockpot recipe list.
DrDan
Hi Ken,
That is a "plugin" feature. It seems to work on my mac. What OS and browser are you using and I will send it on to the developer.
Dan