A big hot bowl of slow cooker chicken noodle soup is the perfect comforting meal on those chilly days! It’s an easy set-it and forget recipe as lean white meat simmers with hearty root vegetables, flavorful herbs, and large egg noodles.
We’ve all been there when the cold and flu season hits and you feel like a walking zombie. I know all I want is a big steaming bowl of comforting soup. This recipe is one of those simple mom-approved remedies that bring a little relief when you’re not on the top of your game.
Using a crock-pot makes the preparation nearly effortless. Just place lean pieces of chicken breast in the vessel along with a classic combination of onions, carrots, and celery. Drop-in some thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf to add depth and pleasing aromatics the moment you lift the lid. Big, tender egg noodles swim in the savory soup base, giving that extra energy you need.
Slow cooker size
This recipe makes a large batch of chicken noodle soup. I use a 6-quart Crock-Pot which works nicely. If you have a smaller unit, cut the recipe in half. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to cook on “high” setting or 5 1/2 hours on “low” setting.
Chicken selection
I prefer boneless skinless chicken breasts. The thick pieces of lean meat gently cook in the hot soup liquid, but they can dry out if left too long in the pot. Make sure to use an instant-read thermometer to check for doneness about every 30 minutes past the recommended cook time.
Make sure to keep the chicken covered after removing it from the vessel. To prevent moisture loss, don’t shred them into pieces until ready to serve. You can use either boneless or bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe, however, if cooking with the skin on it will add more grease to the liquid. Fresh or leftover roasted chicken also makes for a quick and easy protein add-in.
Flavorful add-ins
A mirepoix consisting of carrots, onions, and celery creates the classic chicken noodle soup flavor. If desired, you can add other vegetables like fennel, butternut squash, any type of potato, zucchini, green beans, or corn to the soup. Make sure to cut each vegetable in similar bite-sized pieces for even cooking.
To add additional layers of flavor, I use minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves that slowly infuse into the cooking liquid. You can use chicken broth or stock, but I prefer the latter, as it adds more richness and flavor from the gelatin in the simmering bones.
Cooking pasta noodles in the slow cooker
Wide egg noodles are a top choice for chicken noodle soup. You’ll add them to the crock-pot after the chicken and vegetables finish cooking. Alternatively, to speed up the overall cook time you can cook them in a separate pot on the stovetop.
Egg noodles have a soft -yet tender bite that complements the proteins and vegetables in the soup. If you don’t have any in the pantry or want to switch it up, other types of pasta can be used. Ditalini and rotini are good substitutes, even broken pieces of thin fettuccine work well. Just note that semolina-based pasta may take a little longer time for cooking as they are more durable compared to egg noodles.
More slow cooker recipes
Preventing mushy noodles
Cook the pasta at the very end of the recipe process on the “high” setting right before serving. Depending on the size and shape of your noodle the time may vary. I find 25 to 30 minutes gives a nice tender egg noodle. If using a different type of pasta check at 10 minutes, then every 10 minutes after that time to gauge the doneness.
Crock-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups (298 g) carrots, peeled and sliced ¼-inch
- 1 ½ cups (216 g) yellow onion, ½-inch dice
- 1 cup (148 g) celery, ¼-inch pieces
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped, or ¾ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 8 cups (64 ounces) unsalted chicken stock, or chicken broth
- 8 ounces (227 g) wide egg noodles
- ½ cup Italian parsley leaves, finely chopped
Instructions
- Add chicken, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and chicken stock to a slow cooker.
- Cover and cook for 3 ½ hours on the high setting, or 5 ½ hours on low.
- Remove chicken and transfer to a clean plate.
- Make sure the chicken is cooked through. Cover with plastic wrap to keep warm. Shred into smaller pieces right before serving.
- Add pasta to the slow cooker and cook on high setting for 25 to 30 minutes, or until pasta is tender.
- Taste the soup liquid and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
- Add shredded chicken back to the slow cooker, cover and let cook for 5 minutes on high heat to re-warm.
Special Equipment
Recipe Video
Notes
- Garnish with a little bit of fresh chopped parsley and freshly cracked black pepper.
- Serve with bread or saltine crackers.
I just started getting your recipes and appreciate the time and effort you and your husband put into publishing all the recipes and information. Do you recommend any particular brand of chicken stock to use in your recipes? Thank you.
Thank you so much for your support Lynn! I like Swanson unsalted chicken broth or stock, or for an organic brand Pacific is good. I use swanson for most of my cooking.
Lynn: Yes “SWANSONS” IS THE TOP OF THE LINE!, but you can make your own if you want to take the time as i did this weekend for my Sheltie and good for joints. As i said I would do “SWANSON’S” I would because I am lazy at 80 yrs young and work part time.. as for my Sheltie I will make my own broth because I put in all the veggies (with their tops) with neck bones (beef) (whole chicken)because she has arthritis and it helps. Just saying.
Jessica,
Just made a crock pot full of your chicken noodle soup! It is a cold rainy night here in St. Louis. The soup was perfect. And we have leftovers for the weekend. Keep you wonderful recipes coming!
Love,
Maggie (Katie’s sister in St. Louis)
I’m so glad that you had a warm and comforting soup to come home to Maggie! Enjoy your holiday week 🙂 If you are in town for christmas we should all go out for dinner!
Hey Jessica,
This recipe was one of our favorites so far. I used a wide egg noodle I got at Trader Joe and it was a fantastic addition as they tasted home made. We enjoyed it to the last drop.
Judy
I’ll definitely have to try the Trader Joe’s noodles! Thank you for trying the recipe, so happy to hear you like it!
Hello ,
Do you cook the egg noodles in a pan and then add them to the crock pot or just put the whole ag in the crock pot and the crock pot will cook the noodles??
Hi Lora! I cook the noodles in the crockpot until tender 🙂
I am wondering if the noodles get mushy if leftover soup is served the next day.
Hi Sue- Great question! I use the large wide egg noodles, so it may soften a little but I never felt that they got mushy. If you are preparing the day before perhaps go to al dente or just a little less cooked so the next day when reheating it will be perfect. Or you can cook the noodles fresh the day of eating.
Can this be frozen? Would love to stock up my freezer ❤️
I think you could definitely portion out the soup once cooled and freeze them for eating later!
Im on my way to store to grab some stuff for week and the ingredients for this. I actually made my own soup witch turned out awesome a few weeks ago. My whole house was sick. And it was so comforting! Now my mom is at home alone, sick with the same thing. I feel her pain and want to make her something that wont take as long as mine did. Something to make her feel loved and help speed up her recovery. (I swear chicken noodle soup helps make you better!) So I’ll be throwing all the stuff in in about an hr. Looking forward to trying it. I will keep you posted on how it turns out. Ty for a quicker easy recipe!
-Shelby in Mi.
Hi Jessica,
What is the serving size? 1-1/2 cups?
Hi Kevin- About 1 1/2 cups is the serving size.
Hi – I have tried many other chicken noodle soup recipes and was always disappointed. Then I found yours and now it’s my go-to for perfect chicken noodle soup. I have made it many times this fall/winter.
I have swapped out rosemary for oregano and I have made it with rosemary. Either way it’s great!
Thank you for such an easy recipe for a much-loved comfort food!
I’m so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the recipe Kurt! It’s always good to have a chicken noodle soup recipe whenever you need it!
Can u use gluten free noodles in this recipe? If so do I need to do anything different to prepare the noodles?
Hi Joey- Yes, you can definitely use gluten free noodles. I would just check at 20 minutes to see if the noodles are tender, sometimes gluten free pasta cooks faster than wheat.
Yeah!! I know sometimes the GF pasta we use boils over out of pan, I have no idea how it will do in a slow cooker. Thanks gonna try this soon!!
Great base recipe!! The ratios ARE perfect! I am really into crock pot cooking these days and lower food bills. Too much waste! So this recipe is our go to formula for all sorts of cleaning out the fridge and using left overs cooking hocus pocus lol.
Thanks Jessica! Our family loves soup and this recipe was so easy and so yummy! My kids just loved it and so we ate it for lunch and dinner. I actually used precooked sliced herbed chicken from Trader Joe’s. 😉
You’re welcome Christine! That’s so great that it was a family hit, so important! I often feel like I’m cooking three separate meals to make everyone happy, ha! Great idea with using TJ chicken.
Can you use any different types of noodle or orzo…my wife does not like egg noodles
Yes, you can use different noodles but the cook times may be different.
LOVE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP, THANK YOU..
Hi,
I’m looking at making this recipe to bring to work for our break. Would I be able to keep the slow cooker on the “warm” setting and not have to worry about overcooking the soup or completely destroying the egg noodles? It’d be on warm for about 4-5 hours
Hi Brandon- The warm setting can range between 165-175ºF, which will keep the food nice and warm. However I think the chicken may be ok, but the noodles may get mushy after 4-5 hours. Perhaps you could add that in later, or cook some and store in a plastic bag and add it in to rewarm an hour or so before serving?
We were expecting lots of snow, which we got, so I thought a good chicken noodle soup. I would be really good. One of those that made your nose run, in a good way. I think I would add a few more spices though, maybe oregano or sage. It was real simple to make and heart warming on a cold snowy day.
Adding in some more spices like oregano and sage would be delicious for the chicken noodle soup, thanks for making the recipe!
Two questions:
Can I use pre shredded, cooked chicken?
Can I make this on the stove?
Thanks
Grace
Yes, just add the pre-cooked and shredded chicken when you add in the noodles to warm them up before serving. Yes, this can be made on the stovetop.
Thanks for this suggestion on a snowy no-school day. Found boneless skinless thighs in the freezer—had everything else. Oh, I added some poultry seasoning. Crock pot is on—I’m going to read my book! Love your recipes. Thanks again!