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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.
I have made the OLD recipe many times. This one is different. Why change something that was so delicious. Thankfully I saved the original one.
Most amazing chicken noodle soup ever! I make this on the first sign of cool weather and make it all through the season. Thank you for this amazing recipe Beth.
I found the original recipe years ago and have faithfully used it. I pulled up my link to find a recipe using already made broth!! Nope! Big nope. This isn’t from scratch anymore. I love the original recipe and thankfully I printed it out and was able to find my copy. I thought I was losing my mind! I get that you are trying to update old recipes and keep things fresh but the reason that Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch is an old favourite is because the old recipe is good. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. The original recipe gets 5 stars.
Catherine, could you share the original. I came here to put together an ingredient list and am also disappointed in the changes…I dont have the original saved anywhere. Thanks in advance!
I just emailed you a copy!
Could you send a copy to me also, please?
Sent!
Hi Paige would you also be able to send me a copy of the original recipe, I loved it !
Would you be able to post the original recipe? I also prefer that one! Thanks in advance!
Hey Catherine! I am now looking at the recipe again, unlike you, I don’t have a copy of the original. But I remember it calling for 8 cups of water, that is correct. I agree…this recipe was good as is, chicken broth not necessary!
I was thinking the same thing. I printed the recipe a year ago and I was double checking it now and it’s very different. Glad I have the original. Why the random edit to the recipe? Just have two different recipes available.
My family has been using this recipe for years and it is perfect as it was originally written. I’ve shared it with so many who love it as well. There’s no way these changes are as good using boneless chicken and store bought broth. I don’t understand why the change…could have just posted a new, easier version.
I’ve sent you the old recipe to keep just in case!
I’m in the same boat. I came back to my saved link to see that it’s updated and not the same. The old recipe was the best soup recipe. I’m sad I didn’t print it off.
Just sent it to you!
Same here! If someone can send me the original I would be so thankful!
Just sent it to you!
Catherine would you also be able to send me the original recipe ? I can’t find it anywhere!
Just sent it to you!
Another person looking for the original recipe here!! Please share!!
Hi! I thought I was going crazy!! Can you send me the original as well please?
Just sent it to you!
Hey, would you be able to send me the original recipe as well please? thanks a lot, Deborah
We just updated the notes with the old recipe swaps!
Absolutely best recipe ever! I didn’t have parsley or basil so i did oregano, thyme, and rosemary and eyeballed it. I did probably 2 cups of noodles cause i wanted a bit less broth. Subbed for chicken thighs accidentally and that’ll be how I make it again. Letting is simmer for an hour really makes the difference
I’m so frustrated because the cook and prep time on this recipe feels underestimated. Its not just an hour to cook. There’s at least an additional 20 minutes between cooking the vegetables, waiting for the soup to come to a boil, AND cooking the noodles!
Thanks, Alyse! There is an additional 30 minutes allotted in the cook time which accounts for the 7 minutes of cooking the noodles, 11 minutes cooking the vegetables, and 12 minutes to allow the soup to come to it’s boil and then shred the chicken after the hour. It can definitely be tough getting the timing right on these things though! :)
Delicious chicken noodle soup! I used two skinless bone-in chicken breasts, cooked in the soup as directed. Shredding the meat was simple and it had nice flavor from the broth (let it cool a bit and just use clean hands, it’s easier). At the very end, added 5 oz of egg noodles (finishing up the package), then the parsley and finally about 2 TBSP fresh lemon juice to the pot. Just ate for lunch and it is fantastic. I also used Better Than Bullion and didn’t have to add any salt at the end.
This is probably the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had. I’ve been a big fan of chicken noodle soup and it’s always one of my go to’s to eat but I’ve never made it. One thing I’ve learned though is that bad chicken noodle soup is pretty bad, and I was worried I’d mess this up and end up with bad soup since I’ve never made it before. WRONG!
The bones make it SO RICH in the best way, far more than I’d normally expect from soup like this. Think I may have messed up my measurements somewhere because I ended up with too little liquid but even then, this was so good. Didn’t have the basil so I subbed some of my thyme with poultry seasoning. Didn’t matter, delicious, amazing, fantastic.
I actually found this recipe to get rid of some chicken drumsticks that I saw about to pass the 6 month mark in my deep freeze. I wanted a quick set and forget recipe I could throw together after normal dinner, and this delivered. I think it may have actually been even better than I expected because I used so many drumsticks which made it extra rich. Bottom line, I will now go out of my way to buy more drumsticks so I can make this again. Wowow.
Some sage and rosemary help this soup to taste even better. I use the “Simon and Garfunkel” spices whenever I make almost every chicken recipe. I have never heard a bad review of any of my chicken dishes, quite the opposite as a matter of fact.
What if I am using regular boneless chicken? Thats what I have on hand
That’s fine! You might not need to cook them quite as long as bone-in so just keep an eye on them and pull them out to shred as soon as they’re cooked through. The bones do add a lot of richness to the soup, so just keep that in mind! It’ll still be delicious though. :)
Hello,
I am confused. The recipe calls for skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
This comment was prior to the recipe being updated to use boneless chicken breast!
Thanks Paige, I used boneless and it still turned out great regardless.
Love this recipe. Basic, easy, & tastes is wonderful. I will trying other soup recipes. My fav is chicken tortilla. I have left past a out of soup before only because it soaks up broth. Not to worried because it will be gone soon. Chicken noodle is a feel good comfort food. Canned soup tastes like salt.
I’m with you–learned to adore Chicken Tortilla soup when we lived in Austin, TX, the clear broth version, and this recipe is perfect for that. I always cook bone-in chicken to make broth and use the trinity of veggies–onion, celery, carrot–plus whole garlic cloves and a can of Ro-Tel. I also like to add a bit of minced chipotle pepper. The shredded chicken goes in a bowl over fried tortilla strips (or crumbled tortilla chips if in a hurry), along with crumbles of queso fresco or grated cotija, plenty of chopped cilantro, and diced avocado. I guess that’s chicken noodle soup Southwestern style–certainly Austin style as we gobbled it up in the 80s and 90s.
OMG I hadn’t made homemade chicken soup since my mom was alive to talk me through it. So I didn’t have a lot of confidence. But this recipe was easy and so delicious! I didn’t have basil, so I substituted rosemary. Also, my mom always added a cam of tomato juice at the end, which gives it a nice color and a hint of sweetness. I also only added 1 tsp of salt, but I would add less, maybe only half a tsp. would be enough. Definitely 5 stars!
I just needed a simple recipe for bone-in chicken thighs that were on sale. As always, you delivered. Delicious and nutritious. One pot. I’m on a low salt diet so omitted salt and went a little extra on the herbs. I didn’t have dried parsley so went with a handful of fresh cilantro. The weather turned chilly today and the noodles were wonderful comfort food. Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow! Thank you.
My family loved this soup. I had all the ingredients in the house which made it simple. The recipe was clear and the soup was really tasty. This is a keeper for sure!!
Great addition!
I made this recipe for the first time today. The soup was simple to make and it turned out perfect! Thank u for the excellent recipe! I will definitely make this soup again.