Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Warm up to this Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup! It’s the perfect dish when you want something cozy and comforting that tastes amazing. Finely diced vegetables are simmered with herbs, shredded chicken and tender egg noodles in a rich, flavorful broth. This meal is easy to make and comes together quickly for a satisfying dinner the whole family will love!
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is an even more delicious take on the classic recipe! It’s packed with delicious bites of chicken, soft noodles, colorful veggies, the perfect blend of herbs and seasonings, and an incredibly creamy, flavorful broth. When it’s cold outside or I’m feeling under the weather, a piping hot bowl of this soup is all I want! There is simply nothing more comforting!
My whole family gets excited about this creamy chicken soup recipe. When they smell a big pot simmering away on the stovetop, they come running. And as much as we love classic chicken noodle soup, this version just cannot be beat! It still has all the same great flavor, but now the chicken and noodles get to swim in a thick, creamy broth that will keep your belly full and your winter blues at bay.
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s my go to for Chicken Noodle soup! You absolutely cannot go wrong with this recipe!
— Cathleen
Reasons we love this recipe
- It’s delicious: This soup is packed with vegetables, chicken and noodles! In every bite, you’ll enjoy all the wonderful textures with pops of delicious flavor from the seasonings.
- Healthy: The nourishing ingredients in this recipe offer a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber.
- Major comfort food: If you’re craving a meal that’s comforting and will warm you up, this is it! With a creamy consistency, wonderful richness and plenty of vegetables, it’s our go-to lunch or dinner in the wintertime.
- Easy to make: The hardest part of this recipe is chopping the vegetables. Once they are all prepped, you throw everything into a pot and let it simmer. You can also make this ahead of time for busy weeknights.
Ingredients needed
This creamy chicken noodle soup recipe is made with simple ingredients that are nutrient rich! It’s just what you need when you’re sick or it’s cold outside. Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
- Olive oil: For sautéing the vegetables.
- Carrots: Slice 2 medium carrots as thick as you prefer.
- Celery: You can chop these into larger or smaller pieces. We like all of the vegetables finely diced into very small bite-sized pieces.
- Onion and garlic: Along with the other veggies, yellow onion and garlic will provide a flavorful and aromatic foundation for the broth.
- All-purpose flour: Gives the broth a thicker consistency.
- Herbs: Thyme and oregano add deep, complex flavor to the broth.
- Salt and black pepper: Brings out all of the delicious flavors.
- Chicken broth: You can use homemade chicken broth, or keep this recipe simple and opt for a high-quality, low-sodium chicken broth from your grocery store.
- Egg noodles: Wide egg noodles are the classic type of pasta used in chicken noodle soup. They add lots of wonderful texture and soak up the tasty broth for deliciousness in every bite!
- Shredded chicken: You can use leftover chicken that you have on hand. Or make it easy on yourself and grab a rotisserie chicken, and shred that up! They work great because they always have so much flavor!
- Half and half: To make this soup perfectly rich and creamy. Sub with whole milk or heavy cream, if preferred.
- To garnish: For an extra pop of color, sprinkle freshly chopped parsley or thyme leaves over the top.
How to make this recipe
This soup is as easy as 1, 2, 3! It takes just about 40 minutes to cook, but most of that time is hands off while the soup simmers away! Here’s the simple process:
- Sauté veggies: Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for an additional minute.
- Simmer: Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients: Stir in the cooked chicken, egg noodles and half and half, and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until the noodles are tender and the soup is heated through.
- Serve: Taste the soup and add more seasoning, as desired. Enjoy warm and with crusty bread or crackers.
Expert tips
This creamy chicken noodle soup recipe is simple and easy to make. It also comes together with very little effort and tastes AMAZING! With these helpful tips, you will have one fantastic steaming bowl of deliciousness!
- Prep ahead: To get a head start on dinner, chop your veggies the night before. It will then be very quick to dump everything in the soup pot and get it all cooking.
- Pre-chopped veggies: To really save time, consider buying pre-cut vegetables either in the produce department or frozen foods aisle of your grocery store.
- Fresh herbs: We like to use fresh herbs best, but if you’d prefer to use dried, you’ll need 1 tsp dried thyme leaves and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano.
- For creaminess: We typically use low-fat half and half. However, for more richness, feel free to use heavy cream, full-fat half and half or whole milk for similar results.
Frequently asked questions
This soup is plenty thick and creamy from the addition of half-and-half and flour. However, to make the soup richer, keep in mind that the more fat used in the broth will yield a creamier, richer soup. Heavy cream will give you the creamiest results.
Yes! To cook this in a crockpot, start by sautéing the vegetables, then add everything but the egg noodles, chicken and half and half to the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. About 30 minutes before it’s done cooking, add the noodles, cream and shredded chicken. You also may want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding them into individual bowls and topping off with the soup.
To prevent soggy noodles, cook the egg noodles separately from the soup. This will help them stay nice and al dente. Add the desired amount of egg noodles to each bowl and then top with the soup. Store the egg noodles in a separate container, if you have leftovers.
Serving suggestions
This easy chicken noodle soup makes such a wonderful meal, serve it as-is or with some crusty bread or crackers on the side. Here’s some other serving options:
- Salad: A soup-and-salad lunch is the best! Pair this with a fresh green salad with toppings of cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, crotons and a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Or make this easy kale salad.
- Sandwiches: Another classic pairing option is soup and sandwich! You can’t go wrong with a grilled cheese sandwich!
- Bread: Sop up all that creamy broth with crusty French bread or sourdough bread.
- Crackers: Whether you choose saltines or classic oyster crackers, the added crunch with the soup is wonderful!
Variations
This creamy chicken noodle soup recipe is fabulous as written, but it’s always fun to experiment and use what you happen to have on hand.
- Butter: You can use butter for sautéing the veggies instead of oil.
- Beans: Adding beans to this soup makes it even more satisfying. Cannellini beans or Great Northern beans would be a great addition.
- Vegetables: Change things up and use different veggies in this soup, such as corn, spinach, green beans, peas, tomatoes or potatoes. You can add up to 1 cup of any of these.
- Seasoning: Try adding or substituting any herbs for fresh or dry. Fresh rosemary would be a delicious add-in.
- Broth: Switch out the chicken broth for turkey broth or bone broth.
- Meat: We always like to make this after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey, and you can use different variations of chicken like chicken thighs, grilled chicken breasts, poached chicken, or shredded ham is always great.
- Noodles: Try bowtie pasta, fusilli, spaghetti or small shell pasta instead of the egg noodles.
Storage recommendations
My family enjoys this soup so much, we usually don’t have much leftover, but if you do it can easily be stored in the fridge or freezer. It’s perfect for lunches the next day!
- In the refrigerator: Let the soup cool completely before storing it in the fridge. Store it in a tightly sealed container. It should keep well for about a week. Add more broth when reheating, if it’s too thick.
- In the freezer: For best results, freeze the soup before you add the noodles and half & half, then when you reheat it later, add the noodles and half and half to cook through. You can freeze it with the noodles, but the texture of the noodles will be quite soft upon thawing. Also, if you freeze it with half and half or cream, that may separate a bit when you thaw it. Freeze the soup once it has fully cooled in a freezer-safe airtight container or in large freezer bags. It will keep well in the freezer for up to about 4 months. Be sure to label the container with the date.
- Reheat: Ladle the soup into a bowl and pop it in the microwave or into a pot and warm on the stovetop.
Recommended tools
- Ladle: A good ladle is a must when you make soup as often as we do! It’s the best way to fill your bowls and storage containers with soup.
- Dutch oven: You’ll need a large soup pot or a dutch oven to cook your delicious soup recipes.
- Chef’s knife: A good chef’s knife makes chopping vegetables a breeze.
More soup recipes you’ll love
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment and if your family loves it as much as mine does, be sure to give it a five star ⭐️ rating! Also, tag @kimscravings on Instagram with a picture of your creation. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy delicious recipes straight to your inbox.
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup sliced carrots, about 2 medium carrots
- ½ cup finely diced celery, about 1 medium stalk
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt + more to taste as needed
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups wide egg noodles
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken, rotisserie chicken works great
- 1 cup half and half or whole milk*
- optional: chopped fresh parsley or thyme leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for an additional minute.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and add the basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the cooked chicken, egg noodles and half and half and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, until the noodles are tender and the soup is heated through. Taste the soup and add more seasoning, as desired. Serve warm and with crusty bread or crackers.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Hands down the BEST Chicken Noodle Soup I have ever had. I have been making it for 3 years now and have friends ask me to make them a batch
I used leftover turkey in place of chicken. It turned out great.
Awesome recipe! It’s now my go to!!
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s my go to for Chicken Noodle soup! You absolutely cannot go wrong with this recipe!
The perfect noodle soup — especially this time of the year! My whole family really loved it!
Soup is a big hit! Love the flavor profile! I used the last serving of spaghetti noodles in the box instead of egg noodles. Thank you for the recipe!
This is the most delicious chicken noodle soup I’ve ever made! I prepare it just as written and we enjoy this soup about once a month or more at my home. Thank you for this!
This was amazing! And the leftovers tasted even better and next day!
A family favorite!!! It’s perfection!
If you want, use instant potato flakes to thicken your soup. It makes it appear creamy as well
Great tip! Thanks.
I was hesitant to make a cream soup, but this was so easy. It turned out great. Everyone enjoyed. Will definitely be making this again. Thank you.
Yay! So glad that it turned out great for you!
Our entire family is feeling under the weather this week so we were looking for a good soup recipe. We loved how creamy this one was and it really hit the spot!