Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
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So hearty, comforting and soothing (and so easy!). Perfect during the cold weather or fighting off a cold!
Featured Comment
why i love this recipe
- Hands-off cooking
- Big batch soup recipe, great for freezing and planning ahead
- Warm hug-in-a-bowl
- Slurping up all the spaghetti noodles
chicken stock versus chicken broth
Chicken stock
Chicken stock is lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables.
Chicken broth
Chicken broth is made from meat and vegetables. Store-bought broth is often times saltier than store-bought stock.
tips and tricks for success
- Use the right size crockpot. A 6-qt slow cooker is ideal for this recipe. For a smaller slow cooker, simply half the recipe with the same cook time.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Let the noodles cook with the soup. The pasta does not have to be pre-cooked prior to adding to the slow cooker. The beauty of this recipe is its ease – no extra pot needed here. Go ahead and throw in your uncooked, broken spaghetti noodles, letting it infuse all the lovely flavors.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice will elevate your chicken noodle soup, adding a fresh, bright flavor and balancing out all the saltiness and richness of the soup.
pro tip
Avoid overcooking your chicken noodle soup.
Even with its gentle heat feature, you can overcook chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker. The chicken will dry out, and the vegetables will turn to mush. Do not leave the slow cooker on longer than necessary.
what to serve with chicken noodle soup
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, there is a ton of flavor in the skin but this will also yield a little more grease and fat into the soup, yielding a more rich soup.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Don’t have any spaghetti noodles on hand? Wide egg noodles or rotini would both work very well in this recipe!
Here is our favorite homestyle chicken noodle soup recipe made on the stovetop.
100%! This is also another one of our favorites made so easily (and quickly) in the IP.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the noodles (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked noodles when serving.
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 ounces spaghetti, broken into thirds
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Equipment
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker.
- Stir in chicken stock, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.
- Remove chicken from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.
- Stir in pasta and chicken into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for an additional 30-40 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
- Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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What would happen if you freezed it with the noodles?
And do you think you could also cook this with rice?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Hi! Weird question as I’ve never made any type of soup before.. but I was wondering.. do you use frozen chicken or thawed out chicken? Not entirely sure and I have some frozen chicken in the freezer but I didn’t think I could just chuck that in to cook.
Thank you!
I recommend using thawed out chicken.
Just found this recipe and it looks delicious. Your noodles look thinner than regular spaghetti (it could be just the camera) so I’m wondering if you did use a thinner noodle. Has anyone tried it with the so called “country noodles”, they
are very wide noodles. Thanks C. for such beautiful photos also. Great job.
I am so pleased to have found your blog! You are very creative, smart and good at what you do! Brava! When I make chicken soup – I always skim it. Is skimming still necessary when using a crockpot? Thank you!
It’s really up to you!
I made this tonight and it turned out great! I have been searching for a good chicken noodle soup recipe and this one is it:-)
I am going to try this recipe tonight and I have never made chicken noodle soup before so I hope my soup is as good as yours..
Best chicken soup I have tried next to the tedious, start with a chicken and some water version. My kids devoured it. It was great the day I made it but 10x better the next day. Love the lemon. You can’t get much easier no matter how many ingredients. Put it all in the crock pot and cook. The chicken falls right apart so little effort in shredding it. This is a keeper. I will be making it for Passover with matzoh balls instead of noodles and save myself about 8 hours of hard labor : )
Shalom! 🙂
Hi Chunguah-
I just made the chicken noodle soup and it’s delicious! Thank you. I was wondering,however, what brand of chicken stock do you use?
I prefer to use Whole Food’s 365.
Yum, I’m going to make this soup asap. I haven’t used noodles in a very long time because I’m gluten-free. Do you have any idea if gluten free noodles would work? I’m assuming it may get very mussy so I’d probably add them towards the end of cooking time 🙂
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Chungah- What is the serving size? Thinking of making this for my diabetic college son and need to know how to divide the recipe into individual servings. Thanks!
About 1-2 cups.
Thanks!
This recipe was easy and perfect! I made it today to eat after trick-or-treating. Everyone loved it and can’t wait to have it again. Love your slow cooker recipes! Thank you!!
What do you do with any leftovers? Do you freeze them? Thank you!
Yes, you can freeze without the noodles.
Made this soup tonight and wow, very yummy and so easy. Big hit.
I made this last night. I cooked egg noodles on the side instead of putting noodles in the slow cooker. I also added more carrots that it called for and added a chicken boullian cube. My wife had two bowls and she is not a big soup eater. We loved it.
How do you make the broth look clear. I made it today, but there’s all kind stuff floating around. I imagine is fat from the fat of the chicken. Do you do anything to the chicken before putting it in the slow cooker?
Thanks!!
You can skim the fat as needed.
My older sister, who is an awesome cook, told me to not allow the chicken broth to come to a hard boil, …it will then be much clearer.
88 Yes, I am one of the lucky ones to get the germ. All I could think about was chicken soup. So I used your recipe and I know the germ is going to go away. Wonderful recipe for chicken soup.
No need to cook the chicken ahead of putting it it in the crock pot? Do you cut it up first? Thanks!
The chicken is cooked in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours.
Hi just to clarify, you cook the chicken and all the other ingredients (expect pasta) together in the same crock pot for 6-8 hours?!
Thank you for this recipe! Looking forward to trying!
Yes! 🙂
Cooking this soup in my crock pot right now! (Accidentally put 1 teaspoon of rosemary & thyme so hopefully its fine.) Im really looking forward to having a warm bowl of soup tonight! (:
Can you cook this on high? If so, how many hours?
About 3-4 hours.
my question exactly! 🙂 thank you and can’t wait to try this
Looks yummy and worth a try ..
I’ve always had problems cooking pasta in the soup it becomes mushy ..
will it be ok to cook it separate and add the soup to it ??
Yes, absolutely.
Fewer ingredients do not necessarily make a great recipe, Just sayin
i love some of the explaintions of some for less ingredients, i like to read thru these cooking blogs–some i print out –some i write out–some i cant wait to get to the kitchen and try out–most times i have all the items to dive right in -sometimes i dont,,sooooo -you cook with what you have—if it dont turn out right —you done it wrong-get the right stuff and give it a shot—you might enjoy…..ps i really enjoy your recipes–i cook chic. soup from scratch–next time i will try the limon juice –thanks
This is one of my favorite dishes. Interesting to put in in a slow cooker (: