This easy homemade chicken noodle soup comes together quickly, since it’s made with already cooked chicken (such as rotisserie). Adding lemon and dill at the end brightens the whole thing up and adds delicious fresh flavor to this wholesome, comforting, and cozy soup that only takes about 25 minutes to make!
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When I’m feeling under the weather, I crave homemade chicken noodle soup. But since I’m feeling under the weather, I want it to be easy to make.
So I developed this recipe with ease in mind, still with a wonderful homemade taste. Using already cooked chicken, such as rotisserie, and a pre-made or store-bought broth, takes all the lengthy fuss out of this homemade classic.
If you cook chicken noodle soup from scratch, usually it involves boiling a whole chicken in water, removing the chicken, letting it cool, removing the meat, and adding it back into the pot. It’s delicious! But labor intensive and time consuming.
I keep shredded chicken and homemade bone broth in my freezer usually. But use what you have here! Bouillon will work for the broth, and any cooked chicken will do. You can also use uncooked chicken, even straight from the freezer. I’ll get more into that below.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – or oil, or schmaltz (chicken fat).
- Onions
- Celery
- Carrots
- Chicken broth – I used homemade bone broth, but any chicken broth, stock, or bouillon will do.
- Noodles – I used dry egg noodles, since they cook very quickly and are classic and comforting. Use any pasta you have! You can even break spaghetti into pieces. For a gluten free option, you can easily use rice here.
- Cooked Chicken – I used rotisserie. Use any cooked chicken you have (keep in mind the flavors!). Canned can be used in a pinch. Or, you can use uncooked chicken and poach it directly in the broth (more on that below).
- Lemon juice and fresh dill – You can leave these out if you don’t have them, but they add a lovely little something to the soup! Not to mention vitamin C from the lemon juice.
How to make Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
First, sauté the onions, carrots, and celery in butter. Then, pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the noodles and chicken and simmer covered until the noodles are done. Then, turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill, and season to taste. Told you it was easy!
Can you freeze chicken noodle soup?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is: the thing about the pasta is that it will get mushy if you freeze it. Here’s what I suggest:
- I recommend making the soup exactly as directed but without the pasta. Then, when you are ready to make it, you can defrost it, heat it up, and cook the pasta as it heats directly in the soup. It should be perfect and ready to go! OR..
- You can use a very tiny pasta, like acini di pepe, orzo, or pearl couscous. Small pasta tends to freeze much better than larger pasta!
Using uncooked fresh or frozen chicken
If you don’t have pre-cooked chicken, no worries. It’s still really easy to make this soup.
Just add chicken – straight from the freezer, or unfrozen – into the soup after you bring it to a boil. Poach the chicken by simmering the soup covered until it’s fully cooked, then remove, shred, and add to the soup along with the noodles.
You’ll probably want 1 large or 2 small boneless skinless breasts, or 2-3 boneless skinless chicken thighs for this. Just depends on how much chicken you want in the soup (or how much you have to use!).
Other easy chicken soup recipes
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Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter or oil, or schmaltz
- 1 large carrot finely diced, about 1 cup
- 2 stalks celery finely diced, about 1 cup
- 1 yellow onion finely diced, about 1 ½ cups
- 4 cups chicken stock/broth more if needed
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken such as rotisserie (see notes for uncooked)
- salt and pepper
- 4 oz. egg noodles or any shape or kind of pasta
- juice of 1 lemon optional, plus wedges for serving
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill optional, plus wedges for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced 1 large carrot, diced 2 stalks celery, and the diced 1 yellow onion. Sauté over medium high heat until softened about 5 minutes.
- Add the 4 cups chicken stock/broth. Bring to a boil. Add the 4 oz. egg noodles and the 2 cups cooked shredded chicken.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes, or until noodles are fully cooked. If the soup seems too thick, add more broth or some water.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the juice of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon fresh dill, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper (you may not need a lot of salt, depending on if your broth was salty), and serve with lemon wedges and more dill to garnish if desired.
Notes
- For a gluten-free option: Use gluten-free pasta (such as chickpea) or substitute the pasta with 3/4 cup rice.
- To make ahead and freeze: Do everything as directed except don’t add the noodles. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months. When you are ready to serve, defrost on the stovetop and add the pasta to cook. Alternatively, you can use a tiny pasta such as orzo or pearl couscous, since small shapes freeze better.
- To use uncooked chicken, add it to the broth after it comes to a boil. Poach it until it’s fully cooked, remove and shred, and add back to the pot, and proceed with adding the noodles from there. You can do this with frozen or unfrozen chicken.
- Egg noodles only take 5-8 minutes to cook. If you use another type of noodle or pasta, adjust the timing according to the package.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
This post was originally published in March, 2013. It’s been since republished with new information and an updated recipe and photos.
Phyllis Adams
This is the best chicken noodle soup I’ve had. I love every one of Elizabeth’s recipes I’ve tried. She has inspired me to enjoy cooking again.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thank you so much, Phyllis – I’m glad you liked the recipe and this is one of the loveliest comments I’ve ever received. I really appreciate you, and it makes my heart happy to hear that my recipes have reignited your love of cooking ❤️
SJP
Instead of the lemon juice, I used a small, well-chopped Beldi preserved lemon for the lemony taste without the acidity. I also didn’t have to add very much salt. It worked really well. And I used fine rice noodles. This is a good recipe but, as with everything, you can add your own little tweaks.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I love this idea! And I fully agree – I’m all in favor of adjusting to your own tastes and what you have available with tweaks, for this or any recipe. Lemon zest is another way to add lemon flavor without acidity, and can be added to the veggies after they’ve sautéed for a bit. Thanks for chiming in!
DLF
You mention that vitamin C from lemons in conjunction with feeling better if one is sick. There is no connection between vitamin C and cold/flu.
Elizabeth Lindemann
I mentioned that vitamin C is good for you if you are feeling sick, not that it will make you feel better. Vitamin C is widely known to help support the immune system. Hope that helps!
sue
Very good and I used about 2 cups of wide noodles. I would omit the lemon if you don’t want a little lemon flavor.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Glad you liked it!