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When my body is tired and achy, or I’m feeling a bit under the weather, I always throw together this Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipe. The aroma that fills my house as it cooks is absolutely delicious, and the “from scratch” chicken soup flavor makes it the ultimate comfort food. But don’t worry, this surprisingly simple and easy recipe makes the BEST homemade chicken noodle soup with very little hands-on time!
“I just made this soup, and after 30 years of being alive, I have to say this is the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had! My fiancée feels the same way and this is now the only chicken noodle soup I’m allowed to make, or want to make for that matter. Thank you for this recipe!!! Its amazing!!!! 🙏”
Trevor
Chicken Noodle Soup Made with Simple Ingredients
I start this soup with a simple mirepoix of onion, carrot, and celery, along with a little garlic for extra depth. As they simmer with the chicken breasts, they deepen the flavors of the chicken broth and make it taste like it’s been cooking all day. Basil, thyme, bay leaf, and freshly cracked pepper give it a classic warm flavor, while the wholesome veggies add plenty of color and texture to each bowl. I just LOVE this easy chicken noodle soup!
Recipe Success Tips
To make sure your soup has the most flavor possible, follow these easy tips:
- Make sure your dried herbs are fresh. Dried herbs lose flavor over time, so check those expiration dates!
- Don’t rush it. This soup needs to simmer for quite a while to get the most flavor out of the chicken, vegetables, and herbs. But don’t worry, it doesn’t require much attention as it simmers away! Be sure to simmer over a low heat to avoid overcooking the chicken and veggies.
- Season to taste. Salt doesn’t just make food taste “salty,” it actually helps our tongue distinguish different flavors. Different chicken broths have different levels of salt. So make sure you season to taste at the end to get the full effect of all of those delicious flavors.
- Try bone-in chicken. The bones can give the broth a TON of flavor! I’d go for skinless, bone-in chicken breast because I prefer white meat in my chicken noodle soup. If you’re more of a dark-meat person, feel free to use thighs or drumsticks! Follow the recipe as written, but remove the bones when you shred the chicken.
- You can make this recipe even faster by swapping out the raw chicken with cooked, shredded chicken. Just stir in the shredded chicken at the end!
- Want to use the slow cooker? Follow my slow cooker chicken noodle soup recipe to make this yummy soup in the crockpot!
The Best Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Cost $11.11 recipe / $1.39 serving
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.99)
- 3 garlic cloves ($0.12)
- 4 carrots ($0.65)
- 2 ribs celery ($0.70)
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.38)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.25)
- ½ tsp dried thyme ($0.24)
- 1 bay leaf ($0.12)
- ¼ tsp black pepper (freshly cracked, $0.02)
- 1-3 tsp salt (divided, $0.02)
- 2 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless $6.21*)
- 8 cups chicken broth ($0.72**)
- 6 oz. egg noodles (uncooked, $0.61)
Instructions
- Gather your ingredients.
- Dice onion, mince garlic, peel and dice carrots, dice celery, and mince the fresh parsley. Set the parsley aside.
- Add olive oil, onion, carrots, and celery to a large soup pot and cook on medium heat until vegetables have softened, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the minced garlic, dried basil, dried thyme, bay leaf, black pepper, and 1 tsp salt to the pot. Stir and cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Add chicken breasts to pot and cover with the chicken broth.
- Cover the pot with a lid, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour. Make sure the pot continues to simmer for the whole hour. If the heat is turned down too low and it is not bubbling away, the chicken will not shred easily.
- After an hour of simmering, remove the chicken from the pot. Using two forks, pull the meat and shred it. Taste the broth and season with additional salt, if needed. Begin with one teaspoon and add more to your liking. I didn't need to add much salt because there’s already plenty in the bouillon I used to make the broth.
- Add the egg noodles to the pot, turn the heat up to high, and boil the noodles until tender (about 7 minutes). Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Taste and season again with salt if needed (I didn’t need to).
- Finish with fresh parsley and serve hot!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Large Soup Pot
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Step-By-Step Photos
Gather all of your ingredients.
Prep the veggies and aromatics: Begin by dicing 1 medium yellow onion, mincing 3 cloves of garlic, peeling and slicing 4 carrots, dicing 2 ribs celery, and mincing 1 Tbsp fresh parsley. Set the parsley aside.
Sauté the mirepoix: Place the onion, carrots, and celery into a large pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are softened, stirring occasionally. This should take about 6 minutes.
Add the seasonings: Add the minced garlic, 1 tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, ¼ tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp salt. Stir to combine and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and broth: Add 2 chicken breasts to the pot along with 8 cups of chicken broth. (Refer to the recipe card for homemade broth).
Bring to a boil: Cover the pot and bring up to a boil over high heat. As soon as it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for one hour. Make sure you don’t turn the heat down so low that it stops simmering. It needs to simmer the whole time.
Shred the chicken: After an hour of simmering, pull the chicken out of the pot. Use two forks to shred it into bite-sized pieces. Now taste the broth and season with additional salt, if needed. Begin with one teaspoon and add more to your liking. I didn’t add much salt because there’s already plenty in the bouillon I used to make the broth.
Add the noodles: Now stir in 6 oz. egg noodles, turn the heat up to a boil, and cook until tender (about 7 minutes). You can use any noodle that you like, but I really like egg noodles for this soup. They have a nice firm texture, and they don’t disintegrate in the soup.
Finish the soup: Add the shredded chicken back to the chicken soup, stir to combine, and you’re ready to eat! It’s never a bad idea to give it one last taste and adjust the salt if needed. (I didn’t need to add any more).
Now your homemade chicken noodle soup is ready to serve and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
When I make chicken noodle soup, I usually like to have some bread on the side to soak up the broth. A crusty store-bought baguette or sourdough works great in a pinch, but if you’ve got a little time, my no-knead focaccia or our hearty soda bread make the whole meal totally homemade! Some soft, pillowy dinner rolls would also be delish for dipping. 🤤
Storage & Reheating
This recipe makes about 12 cups, so it’s not a bad idea to freeze some for later. To freeze it, I divide it into single portions, make sure it is chilled completely in the refrigerator, then transfer it to the freezer for up to 3 months. A quick reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stove makes it an easy go-to meal when you’re short on time or feeling under the weather!
You can also store this soup in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Just note the noodles will soak up some of the broth during storage and become much softer.
More Cozy Chicken Recipes
Our Chicken Noodle Soup recipe was originally published 1/15/12. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be better than ever 9/22/25.
Can I have the old recipe as well please.
Sending now!
Hi – can I have the original recipe please?
Yep! Just emailed it!
I had the same thought!! I thought I had the wrong recipe until I saw your comment. I did mostly the same thing that I could remember from before and did 8c water with bone in thighs. Hopefully it turns out like it used to! We love this recipe!
Sad! Beth’s recipes were my go to for anything I wanted to make for years. I know there are now others running the site, but I thought those recipes could still be available, but those recipes are being changed. This was such a great recipe, without needing prepared broth. I always just pull up the recipe, and it’s an easy, clean quick, delicious soup. Went to make it yesterday, and it required 8 cups broth. I had not made it in a long time so just followed the recipe, but did not remember it ever requiring 8 cups broth! I remembered it only needing water, then salt at the end. So I adjusted and used good boillion, but that’s a lot. It bothered me, and when I googled and saw there had been a recent change in the recioe, and other disappointed fans, it made sense.
ever having to use that much boullion ever. It was so different, and not nearly as “clean” seeming, although still tasty.
This is my go-to chicken soup recipe! I use BOTH bone-in chicken drumsticks and whole boneless chicken breasts. I let the bone-in chicken simmer for a long time with all the other ingredients to make the flavorful broth, then I add the whole breasts later on to let them poach gently. Then I take them out, let them cool, slice them, and return them to the soup. This is a great hack for when you don’t feel like slicing up raw chicken (honestly, who likes dealing with raw chicken?).
I like using both kinds of chicken so I can get the flavor from the bones, but also the great bulk and extra protein of having a LOT of breast meat.
Easiest and tastiest soup! 10/10. Will make it again and again.
Hi! Can I have the old recipe too please? Thank you
Sent!
Sending now!
Hello. Can I have old recipe as well.
Just sent it to you!
I made this today and loved it but I would like to try the old recipe. Could you please send it to me? Thank you!
The old recipe notes are in the recipe card at the bottom. Not many changes were made: Omit bouillon and use water instead. Use bone in chicken instead of boneless. Salt as needed.
If I’m doing the home made broth bone in, do I need to use the better than bouillon also? And does it still only need to boil for an hour or longer?
No, you do not need the bouillon. Replace the amount of broth with water and adjust salt to your liking. The notes for the bone-in recipe are at the bottom of the recipe card.
This is by far the best homemade chicken Soup I’ve ever had, it is very robust. The only thing I had to add was more chicken broth as it cooked along..
I’ve never left a recipe comment before but wanted to say I have this saved to my bookmarks and have made it so many times! I need to eat gluten free, so I use arborio rice – which my mom taught me makes it easier to freeze and defrost! Also my son doesn’t love when chicken is stringy so I just chop it up instead of shredding and works great! Thank you so much for making such an easy, SIMPLE, delicious soup. My son learned to love soup from this recipe! Thanks so much <3
Old recipe was better and don’t have a copy would you email me the original recipe
Sent!
I would love the old recipe also…..thank you!
Sent!
Great receipe! This turned out really good. Easy and tastes great. I have made it numerous times now, so this review is tried and tested! Highly recommend.
This recipe is so easy and so flavorful! I left out the dried basil and did half butter half oil when I sauteed the veggies and squeezed a wedge of lemon in my bowl of soup before eating
10/10 would make it again! 🙌🏼