This chicken udon soup recipe is a simple and quick meal on chilly days. Each bowl is packed with protein, vegetables, and noodles in a savory soy-ginger broth.
This meal is perfect if you have any leftover chicken or other proteins (beef, fish, tofu) that you want to use up. I’ve been using some leftovers from other chicken bowls I’ve been making for the family as a fast weeknight meal. If not, go ahead and saute some lean chicken breasts, that’ll work nicely.
I like a bowl of soup that’s full of vegetables, so I add shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and tender bok choy to the pot. It’s simple to make your own homemade soup base by infusing fresh ginger, garlic, and mushroom stems to some chicken broth. A little bit of soy sauce and dry white wine deepens the savory flavor.
The wine is entirely optional, but if you have it, add it in. Maybe a sip or two for the chef? The soup base simmers as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Simple and elegant, this chicken udon is just what you and your loved ones need.
Have you tried udon noodles? They are gorgeous, fat, chunky wheat noodles that you typically find in Japanese cuisine. They leave you feeling satiated but not stuffed.
Okay, it’s time to grab a bowl, spoon, and buddy to get our slurp on! You’ll feel instantly warm and fuzzy, especially after a nice hot bowl of soup packed with fresh vegetables, chunky chicken, and tender noodles.
Fight those cool days, under the weather moments or let’s cuddle nights in with this chicken udon soup. I’ve also been making a big pot of soothing ginger lemon tea in between meals to get my system back on track and reset for the new year!
More Japanese recipes
What are Udon noodles?
They are Japanese-style wheat noodles with a very neutral flavor. They come hydrated in shelf-stable packages like the ones used in this chicken udon recipe, fresh in the refrigerator section, or thinner dried noodles. The dried noodles have a little more dense texture. The noodles happily take on the flavor of the hot broth used in the soup. These popular soups are typically topped with tempura shrimp, chicken, fish cake or seafood. It adds just enough noodles to satisfy that carb craving.
Chicken Udon Soup with Bok Choy

Ingredients
Soup Base
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 6 slices peeled fresh ginger, ¼-inch
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 green onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
Chicken Udon Soup
- 3 ½ ounces shiitake mushrooms, fresh, (1 package)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- ½ cup carrots, sliced
- 2 teaspoons ginger, minced peeled fresh
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ cup sake, or dry white wine, rice wine, (optional)
- 4 cups chicken breast, shredded cooked, (about 1 pound)
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
- kosher salt, as needed
- 15 ounces udon noodles
- 8 slices cooked egg, scrambled or hard boiled (optional)
- ¼ cup green onions, diagonally cut
- 10 ounces baby bok choy, cut into 4 sections
Instructions
Soup Base
- Remove stems from the mushrooms; reserve stems. Thinly slice mushroom caps then set aside.
- Combine mushroom stems, chicken broth, ginger slices, crushed garlic, and green onions in a large saucepan.
- Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the solids and discard. Strain stock through a strainer or sieve over a bowl; discard solids.
Chicken Udon Soup
- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add reserved sliced mushroom caps and carrots to the pan, and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add minced ginger and minced garlic; sauté for 1 minute.
- Add sake, and cook for 4 minutes, scraping pan to loosen any browned bits.
- Add strained stock to the pan. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Add soy sauce and pepper, taste a season as needed.
- Add shredded chicken and bok choy, simmer for 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.
- Cook udon noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and seasoning (if included), drain.
- Divide noodles evenly among 4 bowls. Add 1 cup of soup and vegetables to each bowl. Sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon green onions and serve with egg if desired.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Haley says
Hello! We only had presliced shiitake mushrooms at the store – no stems. Should I just put the mushrooms in the broth or wait til the soup portion?
Jessica Gavin says
I would wait to add the sliced mushrooms when making the soup portion.
k k says
This dish was excellent. I sub-ed shrimp for chicken & crimini shrooms. I ended up with much more noodles than others ingredients.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you for you’re feedback! Shrimp sounds lovely with this dish!
Marcia Johnson says
Love this soup. Broth was so delicious. I will use this broth for other soups. Big hit at my dinner table.
Jessica Gavin says
Thank you! Great idea to use the broth as a base for other recipes.
Lilleet says
I made this soup tonight it was delicious!! I HIGHLY recommend everyone Make this!
We eat halal in my fam so I Substituted the sake/rice wine with a splash of white vinegar, it worked well.
and I had no mushrooms so I had to go with out.
Thankyou Jessica for creates this recipe and making it a new favourite for our family!
Jessica Gavin says
I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the soup! Great job substituting the vinegar for sake. Happy cooking!
Sara Bernstein says
I just made this soup and although it tasted ok, it took me FOREVER to make it. When I read the recipe, it seemed like it would be ok, but in reality, it way too long for this to be considered “quick” in my book. I really wanted this to be a winner because it sounded so good, but it just didn’t work for us. I do appreciate the recipe and you creating it.
Jessica Gavin says
Hi Sara- I appreciate your feedback! You could use vegetable stock or broth next time as the soup base if that would help you cut back on time. Also, leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken works great too!
Tamena says
My entire family loves this soup! They even request it! DELISH!!!
Jessica Gavin says
That’s wonderful to hear! It’s perfect for the change in seasons too.