Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
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Classic chicken noodle soup that will leave you feeling so good, so warm, so cozy. Perfect for sick days and cold nights!!!
Featured Comment
The only change I made was using orzo b/c I was out of noodles, but I liked it even better than traditional noodles personally. (I’m a chicken and rice fan but use noodles for the rest of the family).
It’s the dead of winter. 33 degrees F all week. Snow and ice piles everywhere. And it’s only January, meaning we basically have about 3-4 months of winter left.
And now that I am officially a Midwest resident, that basically translates to having this chicken noodle soup on the regular all. winter. long. It’s so warm, so cozy, and so soothing during these chilly nights.
Now this recipe uses bone-in, skinless chicken breasts which means it will take a little longer than usual for the chicken to cook through but it will yield the most flavorful stock and the most tender chicken bites (so it’s absolutely worth the extra time), doctored up with fresh dill and freshly squeezed lemon juice for a little bit of jazz. SO SO GOOD.
tips and tricks for success
- 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.
- Use bone-in chicken. While boneless, skinless chicken can certainly be used, bone-in chicken will add a ton more flavor and richness to the soup while keeping the meat tender.
- Use egg noodles. Egg noodles are typically a top choice as they are flat and wide, becoming very tender and fluffy, easily absorbing the broth and soaking in all the flavors.
- Fresh herbs are best. Although you can certainly substitute dried herbs, fresh herbs are ideal here, delivering the best kind of flavor.
- 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.
what to serve with chicken noodle soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
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.
You can use either chicken broth or chicken stock but always season, to taste, as store-bought broth is often saltier than store-bought stock. Broth is made from meat and vegetables while stock is often lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables.
Egg noodles are a common choice for chicken noodle soup but elbow macaroni, orzo, ditalini or fettuccine (broken in bite-sized pieces) can be used as well.
The egg noodles are cooked directly in the soup, absorbing all the flavorful broth. But if you are planning for leftovers or freezing, the noodles should be cooked and stored separately.
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.
Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 ½ pounds bone-in, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 ½ cups wide egg noodles
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken stock and bay leaves; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add chicken and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30-40 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces, discarding bones.
- Stir in chicken and pasta and cook until tender, about 6-7 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in parsley, dill and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Video
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Making this for my patient. She just got dentures and her gums are inflamed. This should help. The garlic is good for healing and broth. Plus the noodles are soft.
This is the best chicken/turkey soup I have ever made and eaten. WOW. The Dill and lemon make it pop. I did make dumplings to add in at the end. My wife and kids have Celiac disease, this is a great gluten free recipe.
This was by far the very best chicken noodle soup I have ever made! My hubby asked me if I would make it again, which never happens 🙂 It truly was damn delicious!
Best chicken soup ever had! Everyone loved it!
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!
Absolutely fantastic I made this soup and I am a terrible cook came out so good I didn’t want to share, but my friend she smelled it and I couldn’t say no.said you didn’t make this its Amazing
Is it ok to dice the chicken before I add it to the stock to cook?
So simple, yet full of flavor. I added more chicken stock so that I could have a more “brothy” soup. Kids loved it too!
Fantastic as described !
My only alteration was to swap out the noodles for 1 cup wild rice which needs to be added at boiling,
then simmer as instructed.
What a treat to not have seasonings dominate the flavor profile.
The chicken, vegetables, dill…everything is a stand alone flavor and yet
blends together perfectly.
Well done !!
Making this for the family right now! Has anyone tried freezing it?
Yes! and it was perfectly delicious the next time around!
Simple but fresh. Loved it!!! Stuck to the recipe but only had boneless breasts, it turned out fantastic!!!
This was easy and delicious. The dill, lemon and parsley adds the perfect flavor. I will make this again!
This is a basic chicken noodle soup recipe, which is just what I wanted. It doesn’t garner superlatives in its rating, but it is a good go-to recipe.
One caveat: I didn’t even go near the amount of dill recommended. Just a dash will do.
I doctored things up with a bit of Rosemary, Thyme, and a dash of ginger powder.
What to do about the noodles continues to be a quandary. In this case, and I believe it will be the default going forward, I boil the noodles separately each time I warm up the soup. That way, the noodles don’t suck up the broth, and it ceases to be soup.
I have adopted the “cook noodles separately” mantra for all soup and casserole recipes. I can’t see any other way to freeze/reheat large batches of anything including (hopefully al dente) pasta. If there’s another solution, somebody please educate me.
Made this tonight- not feeling great & wanted a comfy soup. This was amazing! Used boneless chicken breast and dried rather than fresh herbs because it’s what we had – but excellent! Will be making this again for sure!
Fun making at 7am this morning with my husband. Having a ladies craft night with soup French bread and drinks. We will see what they think. Yummy
Everything Turned out great, the only change I would do is put much less dill and parsley into the recipe. I’m glad I only put half the amount of dill in and still had to skim it out.
This is absolutely the best chicken noodle soup recipe. The addition of fresh dill is wonderful! Thank you!
This was Damn delicious!!!
Excellent! I actually used two rotisserie chickens, poured the juice into the broth, doubled the veggies, and placed one of the whole rotisserie chicken bones into the pot while it all cooked. Also doubled the egg noodles. Was DIVINE.
Tasty and delicious. Easy to make! Best soup to make during the cold season. Thanks so much for the recipe! My family loved it.
Quick question – my boyfriend was only able to grab bone-in, skinless chicken thighs and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Can I add both types of chicken to this recipe? Planning on making this tonight!
This was so delicious! I’m going off of this and making my own recipe!!! ♥️
I really, really loved this soup and will definitely make it again (and again). But you really need to include nutritional info in these recipes. Some of us have to watch things like carbs, sodium, etc. and it really helps us track what we eat.
Thanks!
Yes, absolutely. The thighs are slightly fattier and will
Add richness to the broth. Can’t hurt a thing !!