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.
Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
To make this easy chicken noodle soup recipe, you’ll need the following basic ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Carrots
- Celery
- Sweet Vidalia onion
- Garlic
- Chicken broth
- Bay leaves
- Fresh thyme
- Dried oregano
- Wide egg noodles
- Shredded cooked chicken
- Fresh parsley
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 vegetables begin to soften.
- 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.
- Add the egg noodles and boil 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 serve immediately!
Recipe FAQs
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 pre-cooked, shredded chicken in my homemade chicken noodle soup. You have a few options when it comes to pre-cooked chicken:
1. You can buy a rotisserie chicken at the store, shred it up, then throw it in the soup (some stores even sell pre-shredded rotisserie chicken which is a huge time saver!).
2. You can meal prep your own stovetop or baked chicken breasts. Either shred or cube the chicken whenever you’re ready to make the soup.
3. Make a batch of poached chicken a day or two in advance to use in the soup.
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.
Tips for the Best Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken: To save time, make this chicken noodle soup with rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken that you have on hand. Of course you can roast or pan sauté chicken if you’re so inclined.
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
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 storebought rotisserie chicken to save time; or roast or cook your own chicken in a skillet
- 3 to 4 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional
- salt, 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. 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. Taste soup and add salt to taste. I added 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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The recipe is awesome, i have tried but i personally prefer the garlic to be at whole peaces it provides more useful minerals this way :)
oooh that soup looks SO good! And I love that it’s so quick to make!!!!
Wow, that looks so delicious and comforting and I love that it only takes 30 minutes!
I agree with what you said, that classic chicken noodle soup is a miracle worker. This soup looks exactly like that too, the ultimate comfort food.
Averie,
This soup looks so heart-warming and delicious. Â I don’t make a lot of soups but this one looks so easy, I’ll have to try it.
Annamaria
Growing up I lived on chicken noodle soup in the winter, always with saltines on the side. It’s the ultimate feel better food. And this recipe looks scrumptious! :)
I used to add at least a sleeve of Saltines to my soup as a kid…more crackers than soup :)
This would totally hit the spot right now!! From 109 to 70 overnight, and now I’m cold!! Ha!
It rained all day yesterday, was sooo humid and just gross out! Today it’s clear and dry again, and in the low 80s. So cooler, but not exactly ‘cool’. But low 80s is my happy weather :)
This looks DELICIOUS!!
Back in my vegetable-hating undergrad days, I used to get a bowl of chicken noodle at the caf, and pick out all the veggies before eating it. Â ALL of them. Â Crazy, right? Â That salty broth is just so good though!
I cannot imagine you ever hating vegetables! Truly, you of all people, that is hard to grasp! This soup was…amazing!! If I do say so :)
I am ready for soup weather! This would be delish with your 1-hour breadsticks … just sayin’ ….
You’re right and I TOTALLY forgot about that recipe. Glad you didn’t :)
This is just what I want to eat right now!! Jorge and I made some butternut squash soup last night. Just one day after the heatwave, I am ready for soup!
I bet your soup is amazing. I love butternut squash soup, so good! The irony is that I made this soup, as well as another one I have coming up, on like the hottest of the hot days of the heatwave. My thermostat in my kitchen said 95F. And I was making pots of soup! lol
I agree – egg noodles belong in chicken soup! I make something similar and sometimes add a quick “cream of chicken soup” replacer to make it creamy at the end. Now I’m craving soup at 10 am…is that normal?? :o)
I’m pretty sure a big heaping bowlful of this gorgeous soup would cure ANYTHING! I generally do NOT go to the trouble of making homemade chicken noodle soup in the fall and winter, just because it usually takes so long! You can bet, I’ll be turning to this recipe the second I get that craving!
This recipe is so much faster than others I’ve tried and tastes every bit as good!
Making the broth from scratch using the rotisserie chicken carcass and veggie trimmings from the prep for the soup with an additional clove of garlic (bashed by the flat of a knife) only takes another 20-25 minutes. Start with 8 cups of water and you’ll lose about 1 1/2 to 2 cups to evaporation so just make up the 8 cups with water when putting the soup together. For a heartier broth, just add another onion, carrot and celery rib when making the stalk.
Only 30 minutes! Yes! I’m so down with this recipe!
I love a hearty soup filled with lots of good stuff–just like this recipe! I have tried many of your soup recipes and always enjoy them–and soup weather is right around the corner! I’ll be giving this one a try too.
Of all the soups I’ve ever made, this one and the Panera Copycat Broccoli & Cheese Soup are my two favorites to date!