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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I am trying to make this recipe for the first time, but I have only 32 oz of Chicken broth. Is there anything I can use to substitute for the rest? Since recipe calls for 64 oz…
Not really…water or some other kind of broth but really I recommend the chicken broth for chicken soup.
What brand of chicken broth do you use? I find that the broth makes all the difference, and I have not found one that I like as well as Sweet Sue in the grocery stores (which they no longer carry), so I have been using boullion.
I agree, they do all taste slightly differently, I tend to use Trader Joe’s a reduced sodium or some of my local store brands that are organic reduced sodium.
Made this tonight it was very good! What is a serving size for the nutritional value?
Approximately one cup But it’s not an exact science sense one cup could be mostly broth or 1 cup could be much more noodles and meat.
This is the best recipe!!!! Easy to make and I used a whole rotisserie chicken. So yummy!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad you loved it!
Love, Love, Love this recipe!! Made this for the 1st time for my sick, elderly neighbor & we both loved it! Short, sweet, & just what you want in a chicken noodle soup. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you absolutely love the recipe!
I made this a few nights ago and it was very well received. I did not change any of the ingredients but did make one change in technique. I had a very large chicken breast with skin and bone. I put it in the pot when adding the broth and let it simmer all that time. Took it out a couple of hours later, let it cool, shredded it and returned it to the pot after the noodles went in. Worked out great and one less step / pan. (I know this says 30 minute soup, but I had all afternoon) This soup is hearty enough that we made a meal of it along with a piece of corn bread. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad it was a great meal for you!
So yummy! This had great flavor!!! There were a little too many noodles for my liking and not enough broth, but that’s easily adjustable according to one’s liking :) Thank you for the great go to chicken noodle soup recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it is a great go-to chicken noodle soup recipe for you!
Forgot my rating. From comment above. Thanks.
Thanks!
I’m a cook. I decided to give this recipe a try in the restaurant. Of course made it bigger. But it was a hit. Very tasty!
Glad it was a hit!
I have never liked chicken noodle soup until this recipe. This is one of my favorite meals! So good, thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it’s now one of your favorite meals!
Delicious!!!
I added extra broth and a little water, too. I hesitated when adding the lemon juice. So glad I did!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that the lemon juice delivered for you!
5* great and simplistic. I added 3 cups of water since pure chicken broth is strong not to mention the rotisserie chickens broth and it stretched the amount of overall broth a tad bit. So I boiled my noodles apart and drained and cooled now all I do is add my rotisserie chicken and noodles that aren’t over cooked at time of serving and it is amazing. Thanks for the post!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that you loved it!
Excellent! Made this today for my 86 year old mother and she said it was better than hers! This will be my go to recipe from now on. It’s easy but so delicious and full of flavor. Tastes like it’s been cooking all day. Thank you so much!!
Thanks for the five star review and that’s quite a compliment that your mother said this is better than hers! Glad it will be your go-to!
This is the BEST recipe. Do not leave out the lemon. It adds such an amazing burst of flavor. Everyone in my family said I should open a shop and serve this soup with my homemade bread.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad your family loved my recipe and said you should open a shop :)
I have made many many chicken noodle soups
over the years but made this today for first time, This recipe is
definitely a keeper. So delicious. I did add extra broth.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad my recipe is a keeper!
I made this recipe tonight. I think I screwed up the quantity of egg noodles
So, just one question. Is 12 oz of egg noodles a volume measurement or a weight measurement? I assumed weight measurement and ended up having to adding more broth. An entire package of egg noodles is 12 oz. Tasted good.
It’s a weight measurement. You want to see how many ounces are on the package and add accordingly. If you added 12 ounces from a 12 ounce package that is correct.