Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup is the ultimate comfort recipe. Hearty, comforting, and perfect for cold weather. Let your crockpot do the work - just add all the ingredients and let it cook all day.
Using your crockpot to make soup is the best! It's the perfect set it and forget it meal. I also love making this Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup and Crock Pot Chicken Wild Rice Soup.
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⭐Why I Love It
- Makes a Big Batch - Perfect to feed the whole family or to have leftovers.
- Slow Cooker Does the Work - This recipe doesn't get much easier!
- Cozy and Comforting
- Very Forgiving and Customizable - This recipe is easy to tweak to your tastes. Use more/less veggies. Different herbs and spices. The list goes on!
🥘Ingredients Needed:
- Onion, Carrots, Celery - To save time you can also buy store-bought mirepoix which is just these three vegetables already chopped up
- Garlic - Fresh minced garlic is always best but you can also use the kind in a jar to save time
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts - These are added whole to the crockpot. No chopping needed! You can also use chicken thighs - see variations below!
- Chicken Stock or Broth - I recommend using low sodium broth so you can control the salt.
- Spices: Dried Bay Leaves, Dried Thyme, Dried Rosemary, Salt and Pepper
- Egg Noodles - These can be cooked right in the crockpot or you can cook them separately.
- Lemon Juice and Fresh Parsley - This is added at the end of cooking and it gives the soup a nice freshness.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
📖Variations and Substitutions
- Swap for Egg Noodles - Egg Noodles are the classic choice for chicken noodle soup soup, but you can use a different pasta of your choice. The cook time may differ, so adjust accordingly.
- Chicken Thighs instead of Breasts - You can swap in boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the breasts and the recipe steps remain the same.
- Cooked Chicken - If you have leftover cooked chicken (or even a shredded rotisserie chicken to use up), then cook the soup as the recipe states WITHOUT the cooked chicken until the veggies are tender. Then add the cooked shredded chicken in the last hour of cooking to warm.
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup - Instead of using your slow cooker or crock pot, you can also make chicken noodle soup in the Instant Pot!
How To Make This Recipe on the Stove
This recipe can also be made on the stovetop!
- Quickly Sauté Veggies - Start by heating a large Dutch Oven or other pot to medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the hot oil and sauce for about 3 minutes to soften slightly (they'll finish cooking in the soup).
- Add Aromatics and Broth - Add the garlic and spices and cook for about 30 seconds then add all of the broth.
- Cook Chicken - Bring to a low boil and add the raw chicken breasts (if they are very large, you can cut them in half so they cook faster). Allow the chicken to simmer, fully submerged, for 12-15 minutes (depending on size of chicken breasts) until fully cooked (chicken internal temp of 165 degrees F.).
- Cook Noodles - Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the egg noodles to the soup and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until al dente. Meanwhile, shred up the chicken breasts.
- Finish Soup - Once the noodles are just tender, add back in the shredded chicken, lemon juice, and parsley.
🍋How to add Flavor to soup
A good soup gets its flavor from more than just the broth and stock. There are several things that gives this crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe its flavor:
- The classic is the mirepoix (celery, carrot, and onion).
- I also include garlic and dried spices (thyme, rosemary, bay leaves) - you could always increase the amounts to your taste or even use fresh herbs!
- My favorite flavor addition is the lemon juice and finely chopped parsley at the end. They add so much freshness!
🔪Step by Step instructions
Making Chicken Noodle Soup in the Slow Cooker is easy! Just add most of the ingredients to the crockpot at the beginning of the day and let it cook low and slow all day long.
- Add the Ingredients. In a large slow cooker, add all ingredients except for the fresh parsley, lemon juice, and egg noodles
- Slow Cook - Cook on low for 6-8 hours. The chicken should be fully cooked and the veggies should be tender.
- Shred Chicken and Add Noodles. Remove the chicken breasts and chop or shred with two forks. Add back into slow cooker. Add in egg noodles and stir together. Making sure the noodles are submerged in the liquid. Recover the slow cooker and cook on low until the noodles are just tender.
- Serve and Enjoy. When the egg noodles are cooked, stir in the lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve and enjoy!
See the recipe card for full information on recipe steps.
🍽Leftovers and Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Be aware that the noodles will soften more in the fridge. If you want your noodles to stay firmer, you can cook the noodles separately from the soup and store the noodles and soup separately in the fridge as well.
👩🍳Recipe FAQs
This recipe perfectly fits in a large, 7-8qt crockpot. If yours is smaller, just adjust the amounts accordingly. The cook time should remain similar.
Yes! Although I recommend freezing without the noodles as they will become mushy. Follow the recipe instructions, don’t add the noodles, allow to fully cool and store in freezer bags in the freezer for 3-4 months. Then when ready to eat, thaw, reheat, and cook up some noodles separately to add to the soup.
Absolutely! But I prefer to not add the noodles and cook them fresh. Or slightly, undercook the noodles in the crockpot as they will become softer as they sit in the leftover soup.
Yes! But it's important to add the uncooked noodles at the very end of cooking. Do not add them at the beginning with the remaining soup ingredients.
🍲Related Soup Recipes
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PrintRecipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup is the ultimate comfort recipe. Hearty, comforting, and perfect for cold weather. Let your crockpot do the work. Just add all the ingredients and let it cook all day.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours
- Yield: 6-8 servings
- Category: Main Dish, Slow Cooker, Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Add at the Beginning
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4 medium carrots, sliced into rounds or half moons
- 4 stalks celery, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 cups chicken stock or broth, low sodium preferred
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 1.5lbs
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- salt and pepper, to taste
Add at the End
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Add the Ingredients. In a large slow cooker, add all ingredients except for the fresh parsley, lemon juice, and egg noodles. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Slow Cook - Cook on low for 6-8 hours. The chicken should be fully cooked and the veggies should be tender. The cook time will vary on your crockpot and the size of your chicken/diced veggies.
- Shred Chicken and Add Noodles. Remove the chicken breasts and chop or shred with two forks. Add back into slow cooker. Add in egg noodles and stir together. Making sure the noodles are submerged in the liquid. Recover the slow cooker and cook for another 5-10 minutes on low until the noodles are just tender. Alternatively, you can cook the noodles separately in a pot of boiling water on the stove.
- Serve and Enjoy. When the egg noodles are cooked, stir in the lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Noodles - Egg Noodles will continue to cook in the hot soup. If you prefer noodles that are not as soft, you can also cook them separately on the stove (following package directions) and ladle into individual bowls of soup. This is also my recommendation if you're storing leftovers.
Stovetop Variation - This soup can also be made on the stovetop in a large pot. See the Variations section above in the blog post for the how-to.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 276
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 410.1 mg
- Fat: 5.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 21.6 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 34.7 g
- Cholesterol: 93.7 mg
Kayla Farnum says
Is it possible to freeze leftovers?
Kathleen Hansen says
Yes! I freeze leftovers all the time. If you freeze the soup as-is, then know that the noodles will get softer after freezer and reheating. If I'm planning ahead to freeze, I often freeze some of the soup without the noodles and then cook the noodles separately when I reheat the frozen soup.
Jaime says
Is it okay to do on high for 3-4 hours instead?
Kathleen Hansen says
Yes! That is just fine.Enjoy!
Liz says
Love love love this recipe! Simple, easy, quick, and super nutritious. I would love to have an stovetop recipe adaption that I could whip up faster when I didn't plan ahead.
Kathleen Hansen says
I'm so glad you loved it! Thanks, Liz! I can absolutely add the variation for making this on the stovetop. I'll get that added to the blog post in the next couple of weeks, but will reply back to this comment thread when it's live. Thanks for the feedback!
Kathleen Hansen says
Hi Liz! Letting you know that I added the instructions for how to make this recipe on the stove to the Variations section of the blog post. Enjoy!
Danielle says
Whole fam loved it. I was worried about it being tasteless like almost every chicken noodle soup recipe I’ve tried, but it wasn’t! It was really good!
Kathleen Hansen says
So glad you loved it!!
Sydney says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I don’t use chicken breasts for my soup, I use a leftover roast chicken carcass, boil it for 90 mins with an onion, 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks and 10 cups of chicken stock. I than strained all of that and picked the roast chicken carcass of all its meat, I added 4 extra cups of chicken broth, all of the veggies, and 5 teaspoons of minced garlic, cooked that for 25 mins, and it was so good!! Thank you for the recipe!
Kathleen Hansen says
So glad you loved it! Your tweaks sound delicious 🙂
Jennifer says
Hi! Have you used rice as a substitute for the noodles?
Kathleen says
I have not, but it sounds great! I recommend cooking the rice separately and adding to the soup.
Hannah says
Is there an easy way to double this recipe? This is the second time making it because it’s so good! The first time I made it I had extra chicken in the crockpot and just added extra stock/broth after cooking it to balance out the ratios. Thoughts on doubling the veggies and seasoning in the beginning and then adding the extra broth at the end again? Hoping to make some for now and some for the freezer (sans noodles). Thanks so much!!
Kathleen says
I think your idea of adding extra chicken/veggies/seasoning at the beginning and then more broth at the end sounds great! When slow cooking, you just want to make sure the chicken/veggies are mostly submerged in broth so it all cooks properly. The great thing about this recipe is that it's super forgiving!
Linda Caudill says
Very good and love the celery and all the other vegetables and I used a rotisserie chicken already cooked very easy
Kathleen says
Love using rotisserie chicken to make it easy! I'm glad you liked it!
Shelby says
I made this recipe for my family and they absolutely loved it. Most chicken noodle soup is too salty but this recipe is spot on.
Kathleen says
Thank you, Shelby! I'm so glad your family loved it. Thank you for your comment 🙂