Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
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This Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup is a classic and hearty soup, requiring minimal effort giving you tender chicken, loads of noodles and a delicious broth.
Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Chicken Noodle Soup has got to be my favorite soup of all time. It’s hearty and so comforting. It’s the soup I go to whenever I feel a cold coming on and it always makes me feel better.
Usually when I make chicken noodle soup I use a whole chicken with skin and bones and all. However, I wanted to show you how easy it is to just use chicken breasts. This time I used chicken with skin and bones on, but I’ve made this before with just skinless boneless chicken breasts. It’s up to you but for more flavor I recommend using chicken with skin and bones.
If you like dark meat you could also use thighs instead. Basically making chicken in the crockpot is the same as making it in a regular soup pot on the stove top just easier and less babysitting.
Why You’ll Love This Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Super Easy! This amazing homemade slow cooker chicken noodle soup recipe is made with simple wholesome ingredients, requires almost no prep at all, and basically cooks itself right in your crockpot.
- Healthy Deliciousness! This unbelievably good soup is both hearty and healthy, full of tender chicken and loaded with lots of fresh veggies. A bowl of chicken soup is perfect for cold winter days.
- Perfect For Make-Ahead! Soup is always better the next day, stores in the fridge for days, and freezes incredibly well, which makes this crockpot recipe a great make-ahead meal.
- Olive Oil – I always use olive oil for the added flavor, but you can use any type of vegetable oil you like such as canola oil.
- Onion – Yellow onions are most commonly used in soups for their fantastic flavor.
- Carrots – Adds just the right touch of sweetness.
- Celery – No chicken soup would be complete without a bit of celery to go along with the onion and carrots.
- Chicken – I used whole chicken breasts with bones and skin on. But you could also use skinless boneless chicken breasts if you prefer or chicken thighs.
- Vegeta – This is a popular Mediterranean seasoning made from spices and dried vegetables. Yet, you can easily use chicken base or a chicken bouillon cube as a substitution.
- Salt – A touch of salt is always needed to develop the flavors.
- Black Pepper – Both regular or freshly ground black pepper is perfect.
- Water – All soup needs some water or stock to create a delicious broth.
- Bay Leaves – An aromatic leaf used in most chicken soup recipes.
- Rosemary – A bit of dried rosemary adds some more herby goodness to the soup.
- Egg Noodles – Wide egg noodles are the best choice for chicken noodle soup.
- Parsley – Fresh parsley is used to garnish the soup and add a final layer of flavor.
The days of slaving over a hot stove to make homemade chicken noodle soup are over! With this easy recipe, the crockpot does all the work. All you have to do is wait with your bowls in hand and be ready to serve!
This is an effortless recipe! Just put the olive oil, onion, carrots, celery, chicken, Vegeta, salt, black pepper, water, bay leaves, and dried rosemary into your slow cooker. Give it a stir and then put the lid on the crockpot. Now, cook the soup on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
After the soup has cooked, remove the onion from the crockpot along with the chicken breasts. Then remove the skin and bones from the chicken. Now, use 2 forks to shred the chicken breasts and then put the meat back into the crockpot.
Once you’ve put the shredded chicken back into the soup, add the egg noodles to the slow cooker. Next, give the soup a quick stir and put the lid back on the crockpot. Then cook the soup for 1 more hour on high or until the noodles are cooked.
When the crockpot chicken noodle soup is complete, ladle the delicious homemade soup into your favorite bowls. Then top with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley and serve with some saltine crackers or freshly baked Artisan Bread if you like.
What Is Vegeta
Coming from Eastern Europe we always use Vegeta in soups. Vegeta is a Mediterranean seasoning made from dry vegetables and other spices. I’ve always used this, it gives the soup a beautiful yellow colour and an amazing taste.
Many times I’ll use this whenever a recipe calls for chicken broth because I really love the flavour. If you don’t have Vegeta you can use chicken base, chicken bouillon or even just chicken broth or chicken stock.
Do You Cook Pasta Before Adding To Soup?
No, you just add the dry uncooked egg noodles to the soup for the last hour of cooking, which makes the soup even more delicious. By cooking the dried noodles in the soup they are able to absorb a lot of flavor.
Do You Defrost The Chicken Before Putting In The Slow Cooker?
It’s typically not a good idea to use frozen poultry for slow cooker recipes because there is a risk of bacteria starting to grow before it’s able to reach a safe temperature. So if your poultry is frozen, it’s always better to thaw it out in the microwave or in the fridge overnight before putting it in the crockpot to cook.
Expert Tips
- Use Vegeta or bouillon. If you don’t have Vegeta make sure to use chicken base or bouillon in place of it. If you just use water alone the soup will be quite bland.
- Don’t overcook the noodles. The noodles only need to cook for about an hour at the end, so don’t forget about them or they will turn to mush.
- Make it creamy. To make creamy chicken noodle soup just stir in a little heavy cream when the noodles only have about 15 minutes left to cook.
How Long Does Chicken Noodle Soup Last
Chicken noodle soup will last about 3 to 4 days in the fridge if properly stored in an airtight container.
You can also freeze it in airtight containers or heavy-duty freezer bags. If properly stored, chicken noodle soup could last 4 to 6 months in the freezer.
Craving More Soup Recipes? Try These:
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch!
- Flu Fighter Chicken Noodle Soup
- Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
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Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (extra virgin , optional)
- 1 large onion (peeled)
- 2 large carrots (peeled and sliced or chopped)
- 2 stalks celery (optional, chopped)
- 1½ pound chicken breasts (with skin and bones (2 or 3 breasts))
- 2 tablespoons Vegeta (or 2 tsp chicken base, or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
- 8 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon rosemary (dried, optional)
- 4 ounces egg noodles (wide dry (2 cups))
- ¼ cup parsley (fresh, chopped for garnish)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Add the oil, onion, carrots, chicken, celery, Vegeta, salt, pepper, water, bay leaves and rosemary to your crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours or 4 hours on high.
- Remove the onion and take out the chicken. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken and shred with two forks.
- Add the chicken back to crockpot and add egg noodles. Cook for another 1 hour on high or until noodles are cooked.
- Garnish with parsley.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- You can buy Vegeta on Amazon here.
- If you don’t have Vegeta, you can use 2 tsp of chicken base or chicken bouillon instead.
- Don’t overcook the noodles. The noodles only need to cook for about an hour at the end, so don’t forget about them or they will turn to mush.
- Make it creamy. To make creamy chicken noodle soup just stir in a little heavy cream when the noodles only have about 15 minutes left to cook.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Originally shared April 2014.
Cannot wait to try! Ok to use boneless/skinless breasts? It’s what I already have. PS just made your no knead bread and it’s beautiful!!!
Yes for sure. 🙂
I’m making the recipe now but whenever I make chicken based soups there’s always a ton of fat on top and my broth gets super cloudy. Should I skim the top at the end or is there something I’m not doing properly?
I mean there should be too much fat, I guess it depends on how fatty your chicken breasts are, but yeah you could definitely skim the fat off the top.
I have been making this Crock-Pot chicken noodle soup for years, and it’s still my favourite. So easy and delicious! Thank you!!!
Glad you like it!!
I’ve made this a couple of times already and my family and I always love it! It’s a great way to get some vegetables into my 9 year old too.. ha! I am going to try it with the vegeta next time, but have used bouillon and it comes out great anyway. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked it!
This recipe looks amazing! I had a question..Can I put condensed cream of chicken to thicken the soup a bit? If so should I put it at the beginning or when I add the noodles? Thank you!
I suppose you could, and I’d add it in the beginning.
Hi Jo, I just had a quick question! Would I be able to do this recipe in my 8 qt crock pot, and also, from what I read from one of the other comments below, instead of adding the 8 cups of water + 2tbsp vegata, I could add 8 cups chicken broth instead? Thanks!
Yes and yes. 🙂
I would like to make this for my family and parents but would need to double the recipe. Does doubling every ingredient work? Do I need to change the time needed in the crock pot if I do? Thank you in advance! 🙂
Yeah you can double each ingredient, the timing should be fine as is.
Can I use boullion cubes? If so, how many?
Follow the directions for your bouillon- you’ll be using 8 cups of water.
It is FABULOUS! I’m keeping this recipe for sure!
I’m about 2 1/2 hours into making this and it smells SOOOO good!!! Thank you for an easy recipe I can make with simple ingredients that I actually HAVE during this quarantine time. I’m using chicken legs since that’s what I’ve got and a bullion cube. Very much looking forward to the results!
Chicken legs are great especially because of the skin which will flavor the soup nicely. 🙂 Stay safe!
I developed a bad cold recently and came upon your recipe. It has helped me to feel better. The soup is very delicious via the Crock-Pot In the interest of time, I used better than buillion and it was so very tasty. Thank you for sharing your culinary talents with us.
8 servings is too large for my smaller Crockpot and I also don’t need to serve as many people. Could I cut the recipe in half and it would be okay?
Yes for sure!
I bought some Vegeta from Amazon and it MADE the soup! I followed the recipe and put a whole onion in, and 3 whole celery sticks. The only pasta I had on hand was fettucine, and that worked well.
Glad it turned out for you!
I’ve made this soup for years, but still need to look at the recipe. Is there anyway I could have the old recipe? I’m sure this is even better, but the other was so easy and with ingredients I usually have handy. Thanks!
I’m not sure which recipe you’re talking about, this recipe hasn’t changed. 🙂
I went to make this today and would also like the old recipe, I remember it used chicken breasts and chicken broth, I read through the comments and I don’t remember it being 8 cups of chicken broth? I’m sure this recipe is just as good if not better but the old one was so easy and delicious!
Hi Jan! This is the original recipe, if you’re using chicken base or vegeta you don’t need to use chicken broth, you can use just plain water, especially if your chicken is with bone in and skin on. If you don’t have those, I’d use the 8 cups of chicken broth for the extra added flavor.
Hi there! I have made this recipe for years and years – based off of your original 2014 post – it’s a favorite! Easy and healthy, so great on a chilly winter day! I just pulled up the recipe on here to make this week and noticed it only says 2t. of chicken base (I don’t use vegeta, it’s not available where I live) This seems new to me, I am 99% sure the recipe used to take chicken broth – can you verify? And/or maybe called for less water as well? I’m not sure I know what chicken base is? Thanks!
Yes, so you can you either 8 cups chicken broth, or 8 cups of water + 2 tbsp chicken base or vegeta. Does this make sense? We just want to add a bit of flavor to the soup. 🙂 Chicken base or bouillon is chicken, beef, or vegetable stock that has been dehydrated and shaped into a small cube.
Yes, that makes sense – thank you so much for your quick response!