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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Name: Easy Chicken Noodle Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 8 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup); 2 medium carrots, chopped (1 cup); 2 cups cubed cooked chicken; 2 cups uncooked egg noodles (4 oz); 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon parsley flakes; 1/4 teaspoon pepper; 1 dried bay leaf; 6 cups Progresso™ chicken broth (from two 32-oz cartons)

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By Betty Crocker Kitchens

Updated Sep 19, 2024

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Chicken noodle soup is well known for its comforting properties. Rich, flavorful chicken broth with tender chicken, veggies, noodles, and seasonings that is satisfying to slurp!

Our easy homemade chicken noodle soup is simple and quick to make any time you’re in the mood for a steaming-hot bowlful of delicious goodness. It’s on the table in just 25 minutes. We start with cooked chicken and Progresso™ broth, to slash the time it takes to make this delight in a bowl. This one-pot wonder cooks the hearty egg noodles right in the broth, so there’s no reason to spend time cooking them separately or dirtying other pans before adding them to the pot.

Whether you are looking to enjoy a hot lunch, a toe-warming dinner on a chilly evening, or you’re feeling sick, this tasty soup is just what the doctor ordered.

How to Make Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Our simple chicken noodle soup is a cinch to put together. Here are the basic steps it takes—but be sure to follow the recipe for all the specifics:

Partially Cook the Veggies

Heat the oil in the sauce pan and cook the garlic, onions, and carrots for just a few minutes, so that when the other ingredients are added, they will all be perfectly done at the same time.

Stir in Remaining Ingredients

Stir in the cubed cooked chicken, egg noodles, seasonings, and broth. Heat it to boiling and then reduce heat.

Simmer and Serve

Cover and simmer the soup until the carrots and noodles are tender—just 10 minutes are needed for perfection. This will leave just the right amount of time to throw together any dishes you plan to serve alongside the soup. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving—it can be a choking hazard, as it tends to stick to the inside of the mouth if eaten.

Storing and Reheating Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Our easiest chicken noodle soup is great as leftovers the next day! The flavor gets even better when the ingredients have some time to hang out together. The pasta will continue to absorb the broth as it sits, becoming less brothy. If you like, you can add additional broth before reheating.

Storing Leftover Soup: For refrigerator storage, ladle the soup into small food-storage containers (about a serving each) to cool the soup down quickly and pre-portion it for quick meals. Cover and store the cooled soup in the refrigerator up to 3 days. For freezer storage, ladle the soup into freezer-safe food storage containers, leaving 1/2- to 1-inch headspace for the soup to expand as it freezes. Push any noodles that are sticking up above the surface of the broth under the broth, to prevent them from getting freezer burned. Cover the cooled soup and store in the freezer up to 6 months.

Reheating Leftover Soup: For refrigerated soup, uncover and pour the soup into a microwavable bowl. Cover and microwave on medium-high (70%) 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until heated through. For frozen soup, place the container in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. To thaw frozen soup using your microwave, transfer to a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on low (30%) 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thawed. Then reheat soup as directed above for refrigerated soup.

Substitutions for Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

You can change up the ingredients to make it your own soup with a twist, or to use up what you already have on hand. Try any of these variations:

Swap the Veggies: Use regular onion (1/2 cup chopped) for the sliced green onions. Pick up pre-cut onions and carrot chips in the produce section of your grocery store, to eliminate the veggie chopping. You can substitute chopped broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans (cut into 1-inch lengths) for the carrots, but you’ll need to add a few extra minutes of cooking time in step 1. For softer veggies, such as chopped bell peppers, zucchini, or yellow squash, reduce the cook time in step 1 a few minutes.

Swap the Chicken: This is a great recipe to use up leftover chicken. Or better yet, next time you make chicken, cook a few extra pieces so you can make this quick chicken noodle soup with it later! It’s also a terrific use for your leftover holiday turkey. If you don’t have any cooked chicken or turkey around, you can use rotisserie chicken, thawed frozen oven roasted diced chicken breast, or drained canned chunk chicken.

For swapping the noodles for another pasta, see the section below, entitled: What are the best noodles for chicken noodle soup.

How Should I Cook Chicken for Chicken Noodle Soup?

If you’d like to make chicken and noodle soup from scratch, starting with fresh uncooked chicken, we have just the recipe for you. Our Classic Chicken Noodle Soup recipe starts with uncooked chicken breast, for homemade chicken noodle soup in just 30 minutes.

Or, you can make your own broth and cooked chicken, turning it all into chicken noodle soup, using this homemade chicken and broth video as a great guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Best Noodles for Chicken Noodle Soup?

Egg noodles are the best choice for this recipe, as they are perfectly cooked at the same time as the carrots. Their soft texture, like the texture of cooked carrots, contributes to the comforting nature of eating chicken noodle soup, while their starchiness gives the broth body to slightly thicken the soup.

While other pasta shapes can be substituted for the egg noodles, the carrots will be softer by the time the pasta finishes cooking. Also, the texture of other cooked pastas is different than cooked egg noodles. We aren’t saying your soup still won’t be delicious if you use other noodles, just the texture will different. If you substitute pasta for the egg noodles, try short cut shapes such as rotini, rigatoni, or elbow macaroni, that cook up in no longer than 12 minutes. Use the cook time on the package for cooking the soup in step 2.

Is Chicken Noodle Soup Supposed to Thicken as it Cooks?

Broth-based soups are by nature very liquidly; unlike cream or bisque soups, which have a thicker base. The starch from the egg noodles will thicken the broth slightly, but this soup is intended to have a thin liquid consistency.

How Much Soup Does this Recipe Make?

You can expect to get about 8 cups of chicken noodle soup or 4 (2-cup) servings.

How Can I Serve Chicken Noodle Soup?

You can enjoy chicken noodle soup, either piping hot or even just warm—it’s totally your preference. For piping-hot soup, serve it in deep bowls with tall, straight sides. If you like your soup cooler in temperature, use a shallow bowl with sloped sides, so it can cool off more quickly. Serve it with a soup spoon (the larger spoons that come with silverware sets), so it can hold not only the delicious broth, but plenty of the chicken, noodles and veggies, as well in each slurpable bite!

This versatile homemade chicken soup can be paired with so many side options. For dinner, round out the meal by adding crusty bread or fresh from the oven dinner rolls slathered with butter. Add a nice crisp green salad for additional color and crunch.

For lunch, pair it with a pb & j or grilled cheese sandwich. And when you’re feeling sick, just some saltine crackers on the side can be comforting.

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