Craving Panera's chicken noodle soup, but you don't live near the restaurant? Check out our copycat recipe. It's classic comfort food that's so warm and cozy, you'll want it on repeat.
If you're a fan of Panera's soups, you'll definitely want to try our copycat recipes for their 10 vegetable soup and their bistro French onion soup.
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Ingredients
All the ingredients for this copycat Panera chicken noodle soup are very easy to find at your local grocery store. In fact, you probably have most of the ingredients already in your pantry. Let's talk about some of the key ingredients.
- Vegetables: We used yellow onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.
- Dried Spices: We used bay leaves, thyme, sea salt, black pepper, onion powder, and turmeric. If you would like to add another spice, try rosemary.
- Broth: We used reduced sodium chicken broth.
- Meat: We used 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- Pasta: We used 4 cups of wide egg noodles.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for this Panera noodle soup. Dice the onion. Mince the garlic, and chop up the carrots, celery, and parsley.
- Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook until the onion is soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir constantly until fragrant, then bloom spices for a minute while stirring.
3. Deglaze the pot with a wooden turner and ¼ cup of chicken broth. Scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pot to give more flavor to the soup.
4. Pour in the rest of the reduced sodium chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Taste then add the salt, black pepper, onion powder, and turmeric. Stir well.
5. Submerge the 2 chicken breasts in the broth, cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes, then check the meat to see if its internal temperature is 165°F.
6. Allow the meat to cool enough to handle, roughly 10 minutes, then cut it into bite sized pieces and stir it back into the soup. Taste and adjust any seasonings, if necessary.
7. Cook the wide egg noodles in salted water according to the package directions. Drain, and toss the noodles with 1 teaspoon of olive oil to prevent sticking. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the freshly chopped parsley.
8. To serve, place ½ cup of cooked noodles in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle this copycat Panera soup on top and serve hot with fresh bread, a side salad, and fresh fruit.
Recipe FAQs
On January 7, 2016, Panera changed all their soup recipes so that they are clean. This means there is no artificial flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives. Their home style chicken noodle soup is low in calories and in fat and has carrots for extra vitamin A. Unfortunately, this soup from Panera is very high in sodium.
Yes, the new recipe rolled out on January 14, 2021. In their own words, they say it's packed with tender egg noodles, warm veggies and chunks of white chicken meat, but will feature a new and enhanced flavor.
For a cup and a half (large order) of Panera's chicken noodle soup, it has 160 calories, 5g fat, 19g carbs, 14g protein, amd 1920 mg sodium. Our copycat recipe has 168 calories, 5g fat, 14.5g carbs,15.8g protein and 917 mg sodium for the same serving size.
The good news for lactose intolerant people is that there is no dairy in Panera's chicken noodle soup or in our copycat version.
Serve
Panera serves their noodle soup in their bakery cafes with your choice of baguette, kettle chips, or an apple.
We suggest to round out your homemade copycat Panera chicken noodle soup with a light green salad, a slice of crusty bread, and some fresh fruit.
Store
- Make Ahead: Yes, you can make everything the night before except the noodles. This copycat noodle soup tastes even better the next day.
- Leftovers: Anything that you have leftover can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat: Reheat the soup in a large pot on the stove over medium heat.
- Freeze: This soup freezes well, just leave out the noodles. When ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight and cook up the noodles fresh the same day.
Expert Tips
- For the best flavor, use fresh ingredients, not frozen.
- Cook the onion until it's soft and golden brown.
- Deglaze the pot with chicken broth.
- Taste before adding the uncooked chicken and then again at the end, and adjust seasonings to your preference.
- Don't cook the noodles in the soup; they will absorb the liquid and will get soggy.
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Recipe
Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Copycat
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup onion, diced
- ¾ cup carrots, chopped
- ½ cup celery, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups chicken broth, reduced sodium
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- 1.3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 4 cups dried wide egg noodles or gluten free noodles
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed pot set over medium high heat, melt the butter until foamy. Add the mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery), stirring frequently until the onions are soft and a light golden brown, roughly 6 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant then add the dried thyme and the 2 bay leaves. Bloom the spices while constantly stirring for a minute.
- Pour ¼ cup of broth into the pot and use a wooden turner to scrape the browned fond off the bottom of the pot. This will create additional flavor.
- Pour in the rest of the broth and stir with a wooden spoon. Cover and bring to a boil, roughly 5 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Taste the broth, then stir in the salt, black pepper, onion powder, and turmeric.
- Submerge the two chicken breasts, making sure they are covered with the broth, then cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Cook the egg noodles in a separate pot in salted water according to the package directions. Drain the noodles then toss with 1 teaspoon olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside.
- Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, then stir the meat back into the pot. Taste and adjust any spices, if desired, then remove the 2 bay leaves. Stir in the fresh parsley.
Notes
- For the best flavor, use fresh ingredients, not frozen.
- Cook the onion until it's soft and golden brown.
- Deglaze the pot with chicken broth.
- Taste before adding the uncooked chicken and then again at the end, and adjust seasonings to your preference.
- Don't cook the noodles in the soup; they will absorb the liquid and will get soggy.
Nutrition
This copycat Panera chicken noodle soup was originally published on August 20, 2021 and was republished with resized photos and updated content on September 16, 2022.
Shannon
My family loves this soup!
Emma
Shannon,
Thanks for sharing how it turned out. We're thrilled that your family loves this soup.
Barb
Chicken Broths all seem to have different flavors
To me the broth makes this soup. Do you know what kind of broth they use? Other than
Low sodium??
Emma
There's no way to know what brand Panera uses. We used Great Value reduced sodium broth when developing this recipe.