Chicken Noodle Soup – Once Upon a Chef

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Old-fashioned chicken noodle soup always makes you feel better, no matter what ails you.

Everyone needs a good chicken noodle soup recipe (or at least a loving person to make it for them). The golden, rich chicken broth teeming with egg noodles and veggies is peak comfort food — it always makes you feel better, no matter what ails you. This recipe, adapted from One-Hour Comfort: Quick, Cozy, Modern Dishes for All Your Cravings by America’s Test Kitchen, is super cozy and easy. It relies on good-quality store-brought chicken broth to deepen the flavor, so the soup doesn’t need to cook for hours and rest overnight like traditional chicken soup. In fact, it’s ready in about an hour, so you can make it on a weeknight.

If you don’t plan to serve the soup right away, wait to add the noodles and chicken to the soup so they don’t overcook. It takes less than 10 minutes to boil the noodles and warm the chicken, so it’s easy to do right before serving. Alternatively, if you don’t plan to serve the soup all at once, you can boil the noodles separately and keep them separate from the broth, then simply add them as needed when serving. Serve chicken noodle soup with saltine crackers, crusty bread, or biscuits.

What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Noodle Soup

Step-by-Step Instructions

Begin by prepping the veggies.

Next, season the chicken with the salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the chicken in the pot, skin-side down, and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes.

Flip the chicken and cook 4 minutes more.

Add the broth, onion, carrots, celery, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low.

Simmer until the chicken is cooked through (15 to 17 minutes for breasts and about 20 minutes for thighs). Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf.

Using tongs, remove the chicken from the soup and transfer to a cutting board. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-size pieces; discard the skin and bones.

Return the soup to a boil over medium-high heat and add the noodles. Cook, uncovered, until the noodles are al dente (check the package instructions for timing, and keep in mind that the noodles will continue to cook for a few minutes while you warm the chicken).

Add the shredded chicken and cook over medium heat until chicken is warmed through, a few minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste (I usually add about ¼ teaspoon more salt, but it depends on the saltiness of the chicken broth you used). Stir in the dill and serve.

Make-Ahead or Freeze Chicken Noodle Soup

If you’d like to make the soup ahead of time or freeze, stop at the point where you remove the cooked chicken from the broth. Shred the chicken and store in a container in the fridge or freezer. Let the soup sit until it’s cool enough to put in the fridge, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (or put in a sealable container in the freezer and store for up to 3 months). When ready to reserve, defrost if necessary, and then bring the soup to a boil on the stovetop. Add the noodles and proceed with the recipe.

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