If you are looking to make someone's cold feel better, try our creamy chicken noodle soup. It's a healthy, lightened-up version that has immune-boosting properties to aid the healing process.
Warm up with more of our favorite soup recipes! We think you'll also enjoy chicken and wild rice and chicken tortilla.
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Ingredients
The ingredients for our creamy chicken noodle soup are easy to find at your local grocery store. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Aromatics: We used onion, carrot, celery, and garlic.
- Spices: We used lemon pepper, basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
- Noodles: We used egg noodles and they are traditional when making creamy noodle soup, but feel free to use rotini, mini lasagna noodles, or zucchini noodles.
- Chicken: We used a whole fryer that was 4 to 5 pounds for our recipe. But you can also use roasted, poached, or rotisserie that's been shredded or chopped.
- Dairy: We used evaporated milk and freshly grated Parmesan cheese to make a creamy soup. If you are allergic to dairy, use full-fat coconut milk and omit the Parmesan cheese for a dairy-free creamy soup.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients to make creamy chicken noodle soup: a whole chicken, onions with the peel on, celery with the leaves, carrots, and spices.
- Place the whole chicken in a Dutch oven and cover it with 9 cups of filtered water. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and spices. Cover the pot with a lid. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 hours.
- Remove the bird from the Dutch oven and let it cool and drain in a colander. Keep the celery and carrots to eat later, and remove the bay leaves. When it has cooled, discard the skin and remove the bones. Shred it with your hands or with two forks.
Strain any bits out of the broth with a large metal spider or a large slotted spoon. If you want it really clear, strain the broth by pouring it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. When the broth has cooled, skim off any fat with a large metal spoon.
Now that the homemade broth is done, it's time to make the creamy chicken noodle soup. If you are using store-bought broth and rotisserie chicken, this is where you would start on this recipe.
3. Melt the butter over medium-high heat, then sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the dry spices, except the bay leaves, to the onion mixture and cook for 30 seconds to bloom the spices. This will bring out more flavor.
Deglaze the pot. Do this by pouring in ½ cup or so of broth and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the Dutch oven with a wooden turner.
5. Pour in the homemade broth and add the bay leaves.
6. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.
7. Take the pot off the heat and pour in the evaporated milk and stir with a large wooden spoon.
8. Add the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve the soup over egg noodles and garnish with extra cheese.
If you have a sick child in the house, or you are just craving something homemade, make up a big batch. This classic pairs well with our rustic cob loaf.
Recipe FAQs
Our recipe doesn't use a thickening agent, as we wanted the broth to be thinner. If you'd like it thicker, here are some options. First, use a roux. Sprinkle flour over the sauteed vegetables and the spices and let it cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Second, make a slurry of cornstarch or arrowroot in a bowl with 1 cup of hot broth. Whisk until smooth, then mix into the broth. Last, add one and one-half cups diced potato to the pot. As it cooks, the starch from the potato will help thicken the broth.
A variety of different dairy products can be added to make a soup creamy. These include sour cream, yogurt, cream, half and half, and milk. The higher the fat, the more creaminess the ingredient will add to the soup.
Sauteeing and roasting vegetables before adding them to a soup can enhance the flavor of the vegetables making the soup taste better. Also, try adding a handful of chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, thyme, or basil just before serving. One of our favorite ways to make a bowl of soup tastier, squeezing a bit of lemon juice right at the end which really brightens the flavor of the bowl of soup.
You can make dishes creamier without using dairy in a variety of ways. First, pureed vegetables work well. Cauliflower, potatoes, winter squash, and broccoli all blend up well to give dishes a creamier texture. You can also use ground and pureed nuts, blended silken tofu, and coconut milk. Start by making the dish with a roux (oil and flour) which will naturally thicken the liquid or you can also add a cornstarch slurry to thicken and sauce and make it creamier.
Store
- Leftovers: Store the cooled creamy chicken noodle soup in an airtight container. It should keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Seal it inside of an airtight container or a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight. For best results, freeze it without dairy or with evaporated milk. If you are using milk or cream, it's not recommended to freeze since the higher-fat dairy can have a poor texture when thawed. Also, don't freeze the noodles as they tend to get soggy.
- Reheat: Return the amount you want to eat to a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until it is warm. Add more grated Parmesan and the cooked noodles.
Variations
- Need creamy chicken noodle soup to be dairy free? Use coconut milk.
- Don't want a creamy noodle soup? Add ⅔ cup of uncooked rice.
- Don't want traditional noodles? Try zoodles or sweet potato noodles.
- Want less fat in the creamy chicken noodle soup? Skim off extra fat while it cooks or while it cools.
- Want to brighten the flavor? Stir in 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice at the end.
Expert Tips
- Make your own broth for the best flavor and health benefits when making creamy chicken noodle soup.
- Leave the onion skins on for the broth to give the broth more color.
- Don't want to use a whole bird? Use bone-in thighs, brown them first, then cook in the broth.
- Saute the mirepoix (celery, carrots, and onions) for more flavor.
- Bloom the spices (cook them with the veggies for 30 seconds) for an extra delicious creamy chicken noodle soup.
- Keep the noodles separate to keep them from getting soggy.
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Recipe
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
For the Broth
- 1 whole chicken, 4-5 pounds
- 9 cups water
- 1 ½ yellow onions, quartered with skin on
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks with leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs of fresh parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Creamy Noodle Soup
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cups yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups carrots, chopped
- 2 cups celery, chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried basil leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 ½ cups chicken, shredded
- 9 cups homemade chicken stock
- 12 fluid ounces evaporated milk
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (reserve two tablespoons for garnish)
- 2 ½ cups wide egg noodles, uncooked
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
Making the Broth (2 hrs 30 min)
- Rinse the chicken and remove the giblets. Place it in a Dutch oven and cover with about 9 cups of filtered water. Add the yellow onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, and parsley.
- Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then let the broth simmer for 2 hours. Remove the chicken and let it cool in a colander to allow the extra stock to drain out.
- Strain the broth by using a metal spider or slotted spoon to remove any chunks. If you want, you can pour it through a sieve lined with cheesecloth to strain out the smallest pieces. Discard the onions, parsley, and bay leaves, and keep the celery and carrots for another use.
- Once the stock has settled for a while, the fat will rise to the top. Skim off the fat that floats to the top with a large metal spoon.
- When cool enough to touch, discard the skin and bones and shred the meat with your fingers or with two forks. Measure out 4 ½ cups (570g) for this recipe, and reserve the other cup of shredded meat for another use.
Stovetop Instructions (1 hr 15 min)
- Melt two tablespoons of butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute the carrots, onion, and celery for 6 minutes, then add the garlic and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon.
- Add all the dried spices, except the bay leaves, to the Dutch oven. Cook the spices for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. This is called blooming the spices.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and deglaze the pan. Do this by pouring in a little bit of broth and scraping the bottom of the Dutch oven with a wooden turner.
- Mix in the shredded chicken back into the pot along with the chicken broth and 4 bay leaves.
- Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Skim off any fat from the top of the broth with a large metal spoon and discard it. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Remove the 4 bay leaves with a slotted metal spoon.
- Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the heat. To make it creamy pour in the evaporated milk and stir in the freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Crockpot Instructions
- Follow steps 1 to 3 from the stovetop instructions above.
- Mix together the shredded chicken, onion mixture, chicken broth, and bay leaves to a 6-quart crock pot.
- Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaves and skim off any fat.
- Turn off the crockpot, then pour in the evaporated milk and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
- Cook noodles separately and serve them with the soup.
Cooking the Noodles & Serving
- Cook 2 ½ cups (153g) of wide egg noodles for 5-7 minutes in a pot of salted boiling water, stirring occasionally. Drain the noodles, then toss them in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil to prevent sticking.
- To serve the creamy chicken noodle soup, place some noodles in the bottom of an empty bowl, then ladle the soup on top. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley, grated Parmesan cheese, and black pepper.
Notes
- For the best flavor and health benefits when making creamy chicken noodle soup, make your own broth.
- To give the broth more color, leave the onion skins on.
- Use bone-in thighs, brown them first, then cook in the broth, if you don't want to use a whole chicken.
- To keep the noodles from getting soggy, keep separate them until you're ready to serve.
- Cook the celery, carrots, and onions until brown for more flavor.
- Bloom the spices (cook them with the veggies for 30 seconds) for an extra delicious creamy chicken noodle soup.
Nutrition
Our creamy chicken noodle soup recipe post was originally published on November 9, 2017.
Leigh
I have made this Chicken soup for my family many times. My husband and I were so blessed with a visit from Brooke and Emma when our family was going thru hard times. They brought us Chicken Soup and French bread. The noodles were cooked but in a separate container to add to the soup when we were ready to eat it. I remember it was so delicious, comforting, and it warmed our bodies and our spirits. This was the first of several dishes I have cooked from Savor the Flavour. It really does make a difference to cook the noodles separately! Thank you Brooke and Emma for such wonderful recipes and instruction. You are teaching me to be a better cook and to actually enjoy cooking!
❤️
Emma
You are so kind, Leigh! We are so honored that we could be a blessing to you and your family, and we're so glad that you have enjoyed our recipes. Thank you so much!