Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

This Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup goes in the slow cooker in the morning and is ready when you are. Chicken cooks right in the broth, gets shredded, and the egg noodles go in for the last hour so they come out perfectly tender instead of mushy. Five minutes of work and the pot does everything else.

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken noodle soup is my favorite soup, and the crockpot version is the one I make most because it asks almost nothing of me.

Everything goes in at once. Chicken, carrots, celery, onion, water, seasoning. Lid on, walk away. Eight hours later the chicken is tender enough to shred with two forks and the broth tastes like it’s been going all day, which it has.

The noodles come in at the very end, and that timing is the one thing that’s important here. Egg noodles cannot survive 8 hours in a slow cooker. They’d be gone. One hour at the end and they’re perfect, and there’s a whole section below on why.

Bone in chicken with the skin on makes a noticeably better broth than boneless breasts. All that collagen in the bones breaks down into the soup over a long cook and gives it body you don’t get otherwise. Boneless works and it’s easier. The bones are better.

This one’s been on the blog since 2014 and it’s still what I make the moment anyone in the house starts sniffling.

When To Add The Noodles

The whole trick with crockpot chicken noodle soup, and it’s a timing question rather than a technique one.

Egg noodles cook in about 8 minutes in boiling water. A slow cooker on low sits at a gentle simmer for hours. Put noodles in at the start and by hour 3 they’ve dissolved into the broth, thickening it into something closer to gravy with no noodles left to find.

So they go in for the last hour, on high. By that point the chicken is cooked and shredded, the broth is built, and all that’s left is cooking the pasta. An hour on high is enough for dry wide egg noodles to soften properly.

Check at 45 minutes rather than trusting the clock. Different brands and widths vary, and once noodles go past done in a slow cooker there’s no bringing them back.

Or cook them separately, which is what I do when I’m making this for the week. Boil them in their own pot, keep them in a separate container, and add them to each bowl as you serve. The broth stays broth, and every serving gets noodles with actual texture.

That extra pot is worth washing if these are going to be lunches. If it’s dinner tonight, put them straight in the crockpot.

Vegeta Or Bouillon

The recipe calls for chicken bouillon and that’s what most people will use. It works, it’s in every grocery store, and it does the job. What I actually use is Vegeta, and it’s worth a mention.

It’s an Eastern European seasoning made from dried vegetables and salt, and it’s been in my family’s kitchen for as long as I can remember. It gives soup a beautiful golden color and a savory depth that’s hard to place. Coming from Romania, it’s just what I reach for.

Where to find it: any Eastern European grocery, the international aisle of larger supermarkets, or online. A tub lasts a very long time.

If you use it: 2 tablespoons in place of the bouillon. It’s saltier than you’d expect, so hold back on the salt until you’ve tasted the finished soup.

And if you’d rather not: chicken bouillon, chicken base, or swapping the water for chicken broth all give you a good soup. This isn’t a recipe that falls apart without one specific ingredient.

What matters is that you use something. Water alone gives you a very thin soup, no matter how long it cooks.

Ingredients in Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

• Olive oil (2 tablespoons, optional): A little richness. You can leave it out entirely, especially if you’re using chicken with the skin on, since that’ll render some fat of its own.
• Onion (1 large, peeled and left whole): It goes in whole and comes out at the end, having given all its flavor to the broth without anyone having to eat soft onion. If you’d rather leave it in, chop it first.
• Carrots (2 large, peeled and sliced): Sweetness against the savory broth, and they hold up well over a long cook.
• Celery (2 stalks, chopped): The third of the trio. Worth including even though it’s listed as optional, since onion, carrot, and celery together are the base of every good soup there is.
• Chicken breasts (1½ pounds, bone in with skin on, about 2 or 3): Bone in and skin on gives you a much better broth. The bones release collagen over 8 hours and that’s what gives the soup body. Boneless skinless works and is easier, and you’ll notice the difference. Thighs are excellent here and stay a bit juicier.
• Chicken bouillon (1 cube, or 2 teaspoons chicken base): Or 2 tablespoons of Vegeta if you have it. Something has to season this broth, and water alone won’t do it.
• Salt (1 teaspoon) and pepper (½ teaspoon): Taste before adding more. Bouillon and Vegeta are both salty, so start light and adjust at the end.
• Water (8 cups): Or chicken broth if you’d rather skip the bouillon. If you use broth, go low sodium, since this reduces a little over 8 hours.
• Bay leaves (2): Quiet background savoriness. Fish them out before serving.
• Dried rosemary (½ teaspoon, optional): A little herby depth. Thyme works beautifully too.
• Wide egg noodles (4 ounces, about 2 cups dry): Wide egg noodles are the classic and they hold their shape better than thinner pasta. Added at the very end, never at the start.
• Fresh parsley (¼ cup, chopped): Over the top at the end. Bright and green against a soup that’s otherwise pretty muted.

How To Make Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

Everything in the pot. Olive oil, whole onion, carrots, celery, chicken, bouillon, salt, pepper, water, bay leaves, and rosemary straight into the slow cooker. Give it a stir and put the lid on.

That’s the prep. Five minutes, and most of that is peeling carrots.

Low for 8 hours, or high for 4. Low is better if you have the time, since the chicken comes out more tender and the broth has longer to build.

Fish out the onion and the bay leaves, then lift out the chicken. Pull off the skin and bones and shred the meat with two forks. It should give way easily, and if it’s fighting you it needs more time.

Chicken back in, then the noodles. Stir the shredded chicken through, add the dry egg noodles, lid back on, and cook on high for 1 more hour. Check at 45 minutes, because noodles go from done to gone quickly in a slow cooker.

Taste before serving. Eight hours of cooking concentrates things, so it may want more salt or pepper. Then parsley over the top and ladle it out.

Things Worth Knowing

• Noodles at the end, never the start. An hour on high is all they need.
• Check them at 45 minutes. Brands vary and there’s no recovering an overcooked noodle.
• Bone in chicken makes better broth. The bones give the soup body you can taste.
• Use something to season the broth. Bouillon, Vegeta, base, or broth instead of water. Plain water gives you a thin soup.
• Go easy on the salt at first. Bouillon and Vegeta are both saltier than they look.
• Leave the lid on. Every peek lets out heat the pot has to make back.
• Cook the noodles separately if it’s for the week. The leftovers are much better that way, and there’s a section below on why.

About The Leftovers

Worth knowing before you put a container in the fridge.

Egg noodles keep absorbing liquid after the cooking stops. Overnight they’ll swell up and drink a good amount of your broth, and what you put away as soup comes out closer to a thick noodle stew. The noodles also go soft, since they’ve been sitting in warm liquid for hours.

Nothing has gone wrong. That’s just what pasta does in broth.

• If you’re eating it within a day, it’s fine. Add a splash of broth when you reheat and it loosens back up.
• If you’re making it for the week, cook the noodles separately from the start. Keep them in their own container and add them to each bowl. Your broth stays broth, your noodles stay noodles, and day 4 is as good as day 1.
• And if you’re freezing it, definitely leave the noodles out. Frozen and thawed pasta has a texture nobody enjoys. Freeze the broth and chicken, and boil fresh noodles when you reheat.

Variations

• Creamy. Stir in ½ cup of heavy cream when the noodles have about 15 minutes left. Turns it into something rounder and richer.
• With a whole chicken. Use a small whole chicken instead of breasts for an even better broth. Same timing, and you’ll get more meat out of it.
• Chicken and rice. Swap the noodles for ½ cup of long grain rice, added for the last hour and a half. Check it before you commit.
• With more vegetables. Sliced mushrooms, chopped potatoes, or a few handfuls of spinach stirred in at the end.
• Lemony. A good squeeze of lemon juice into each bowl right before eating. It lifts the whole thing and it’s a nice surprise in a soup people expect to taste one way.
• With dumplings. Drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough in for the last 30 minutes instead of noodles.
• Gluten free. Gluten free pasta works, and check it early since most cooks faster than egg noodles.

What To Serve With It

Crusty bread, and there’s a lot of good broth here so make it something absorbent. My artisan bread is what I make most often alongside this.

Saltine crackers if that’s how you grew up eating it, and plenty of people did.

A grilled cheese on the side turns it into the full comfort food situation, and a sharp green salad works if you want something fresh.

Make Ahead And Storage

Make ahead: the whole soup can be made a day ahead, and it’s better for it. Just cook the noodles separately if you’re planning on leftovers.

Fridge: 3 to 4 days in an airtight container. The noodles will swell and soften overnight, which is normal. Add a splash of broth or water when reheating.

Freezer: 4 to 6 months, and freeze it without the noodles. Frozen and thawed pasta comes back with a texture you won’t enjoy. Boil fresh noodles when you reheat and add them to the bowl.

Reheating: low on the stove with a little extra broth stirred in, or the microwave at medium power. It’ll need liquid either way.

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