This simple classic Chicken Noodle Soup recipe can be made in a crock pot or on the stovetop—get a great homemade taste with tender chicken, noodles, and vegetables.
It is adapted from the 1972 Betty Crocker cookbook for stovetop and crockpot.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs
Chicken broth
Vegetables—carrots, celery, and onion
Pantry ingredients—salt, black pepper, and bay leaf
Dry noodles
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Featured Comment from Taylor:
"This soup came out fantastically. "
It is a classic soup, just like grandma would make since it is from her recipe—a warm and comforting chicken noodle soup with chunks of chicken with lots of vegetables and noodles.
This simple recipe has no pre-cooking or taking the chicken out of the pot to cut it up. Make it to your taste with more broth or more noodles. While this is a smaller recipe, it is easy to cut in half and make it truly a "for two" recipe.
This is my wife's favorite chicken noodle soup recipe, but I added the conversion to a small crock pot. The original source is the 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook.
👨🍳How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup in a Crock Pot
This is a four to five serving recipe. You can cut it in half easily—instructions in the blog post.
Peel and cut 2 carrots into medallions, medium onion chopped, and slice 2 ribs of celery.
Trim and cut two skinless boneless chicken breasts into cubes (1 to 1 ½ pounds of chicken.) 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, and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add one 14 oz can more of broth if you want a lot of liquid in your soup. Most of you will like 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 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.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
♨️Stovetop Version
To do this on the stovetop, add everything but the 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 rotisserie chicken, add it at the same time as the noodles. Bring to a boil and cook noodles per package instructions.
👨🍳Variations in the recipe
- This recipe uses cubed chicken, 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 it back into the crock pot.
- If you want to use rotisserie chicken, add it with the noodles.
- 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 a can of broth plus ½ cup more noodles. Don't add the extra noodles without the broth, or you won't have any broth left.
↕️How to make this a "for two" recipe or a larger double recipe
The full recipe makes about 8 to 10 cups, which is 4-5 servings. This fits in a 3 ½ quart crock pot, but if you add all other optional broth and noodles, a bigger crock pot is better.
A half recipe will fit in a 2 quart or larger crock pot; a double recipe needs 6 ½ quarts or larger.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- The half will fit in a 2-quart crock pot, and a double recipe needs a 6 ½ quart or larger slow cooker.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
Some of my soup recipes
For other recipes you may like, first, check out Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup from the same cookbook. Other great soups you will love are my One Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup, Soup Nazi's Mexican Chicken Chili, Crock Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup, Crock Pot French Onion Soup, and Crock Pot Ham Bone and Bean Soup.
Serving
Serve with crackers, crusty bread, or yeast dinner rolls.
Storage and Leftovers
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. The pasta will absorb some fluid during that time and may need some added broth. If you plan on freezing part of this, I suggest removing that amount before adding the pasta. It will freeze well for 3-4 months.
❓FAQs
I suggest commercial egg noodles, and my timing reflects that. If you use 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.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
📖 Recipe
Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
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Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts - 1 to 1 ½ pounds and may use thighs
- 32-48 oz chicken broth - see recipe 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 five serving recipe. You can cut it in half easily—instructions in the blog post.
- Peel and cut 2 carrots into medallions, medium onion chopped, and slice 2 ribs of celery.
- Trim and cut two skinless boneless chicken breasts into cubes (1 to 1 ½ pounds of chicken.) 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, and ½ teaspoon of pepper. Add one 14 oz can more of broth if you want a lot of liquid in your soup. Most of you will like 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 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 the whole raw breasts and remove to shred at the three-hour mark, and add it back in with the noodles.
- If using precooked rotisserie chicken, add it with the noodles.
- I suggest commercial egg noodles, and my timing reflects that. If you use 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 excellent. 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 of the broth.
- This fits nicely in a 3 ½ qt crock pot. You may use a bigger pool.
- With each reheating, the noodles absorb more fluid, so you usually need more broth with each reheating.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. It 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 it at this point with the noodles.
- Bring to a boil and cook noodles per package instructions.
Your Own Private Notes
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 Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published November 20, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Ashley Ayres says
What seasoning can be used if don't have bay leaf
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Ashley,
Welcome to the blog.
Just skip the bay leaf.
Dan
Patricia says
I make a similar recipe a lot. A tip is to cook pasta separate and add to each individual serving. Keeps broth from being all soaked up especially if you have leftovers.
Lonnie says
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 says
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 says
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 says
I followed the recipe exactly and my noddles are mushy. Any tips?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
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 says
Wish I would of cooked the noodles separately. It's mushy😬
Sharon says
If you double the recipe, how long do you think it should cook for? Thank you!
DrDan says
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