Chicken Noodle Soup
This chicken noodle soup is hearty with a deep flavor brightened with a squeeze of fresh lemon. It’s loaded with juicy chicken, tender egg noodles, carrots, and other veggies. Treat yourself to a bowl when you need a little comfort.
It’s no secret that the best chicken noodle soup is made with homemade chicken broth. I’ve aspired to this level of cooking, intentionally freezing chicken bones and leftover veggies to turn into a broth at some point. But somehow, it never happens, and I keep on with the boxed chicken broth stashed in my pantry.
Now I’ve found a delicious comprise. This chicken noodle soup has a deeply rich flavor, but you don’t have to start with homemade chicken broth. Instead, I use storebought broth and amp up the flavor by poaching the chicken in the broth. I use a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast – it adds so much flavor and richness. So much so that the soup tastes like it was made entirely from scratch, but – and this is the best part – it only takes about an hour from start to finish.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Unsalted butter
- Bone-in skin-on chicken breast: You can use the same amount of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, but the soup will have more fat.
- Diced yellow onion
- Sliced celery
- Sliced carrots
- Dried oregano
- Kosher salt
- Low-sodium chicken broth: If you use regular chicken broth, you may want to dial back the amount of added salt in the recipe. You can always add more salt at the end if you think the soup needs it.
- Egg noodles
- Lemon juice
- Chopped fresh parsley
How to Make It
☑️ Brown the Chicken Breast
First, melt the butter with the olive oil in a soup pot. Brown the chicken breast skin-side down over medium-high heat. This will brown the skin and will also create all kinds of delicious browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Once browned, remove the chicken.
☑️ Saute the Vegetables
Add the veggies and scrape up all the browned bits left behind by the chicken as they release moisture.
☑️ Poach the Chicken
Add the oregano, salt, and pepper. Place the chicken back in the pot, skin side down, and cover it with the broth. Bring the broth to a strong simmer, lower the heat, and gently simmer the chicken breast in the soup for about 20 minutes.
☑️ Shred the Chicken
Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the soup. Discard the skin and bones and shred or chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Return the chicken to the pot.
☑️ Cook the Noodles
Bring the soup to a low boil and add the egg noodles. Simmer them in the soup until they’re tender.
☑️ Garnish and Serve
Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Add the lemon juice and parsley and the soup is ready to serve.
More Soup Recipes
Chicken Noodle Soup
This chicken noodle soup is hearty with a deep flavor brightened with a squeeze of fresh lemon. It’s loaded with juicy chicken, tender egg noodles, carrots, and other veggies. Treat yourself to a bowl when you need a little comfort.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoons butter
- 1 bone in skin on chicken breasts (about 1 pound), seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery ribs, sliced
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup egg noodles
- Juice from ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat in a large pot. Once the butter is melted and foamy, place the chicken breast skin side down in the pot. Brown the chicken until the skin has turned a nice golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pot. As the release their moisture scrape up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook them for five minutes, or until the onions start to brown. Add the oregano and salt and stir.
- Add the chicken broth. Place the chicken breast back in the pot with the skin side down. Bring the pot to a strong simmer and then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (internal temperature 165°).
- Remove the chicken from the pot and cut the meat away from the bone. Discard both the bone and skin. Dice or shred the chicken and return it to the pot.
- Bring the pot back to a strong simmer and add the egg noodles. Simmer the soup for 5-7 minutes or until the noodles are cooked. Taste and check for seasoning. If needed, add additional salt. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and serve.
Notes
If you use regular chicken broth, omit the additional salt in the recipe. Give the soup a taste before serving it – if it needs more salt, add it then.
Nutrition
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 3.6g
- Sodium: 1439.8mg
- Fat: 13.5g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17.4g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 63.9g
- Cholesterol: 199.4g
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
More Chicken Recipes
I hope you love this chicken soup as much as I do! If you want even more chicken soup recipes, check out my chicken soup recipe round-up with more ideas.
Happy cooking,
The photos in this chicken noodle soup post were updated from the archives. The post was first published in February 2017.
April….That is one hearty lookin’ Chicken Soup recipe! Stopping at the store this afternoon to pick up the mixin’s!
I was wondering what i want to eat, here is the answer, love it, thanks!
There are few dishes quite like chicken noodle soup, it seems to be one of those ubiquitous dishes than most cultures have a version of… If everyone eats it then it must me all kinds of right and your version sounds delicious.
Thanks, Brian! Yes, the comfort of chicken and noodles seems to cross all cultures 🙂
Oh I love chicken noodle soup! I spent a lot of my teens drinking those noodle cuppa-soup.
This version looks so much better 😉
I love those carrots, I bet they add a beautiful sweetness!
Hooray for homemade soup. <3 Congratulations on 8 years blogging, it's a big deal to stick to something this long, and what you wrote in the more "personal" section is very relevant to me right now. For what it's worth, I love to read bloggers where I hear their voice and know a bit about their story. Thank you for sharing yours.
Your take on this gold standard of all soups is blue ribbon worthy. Some things are worth waiting 8 years for, clearly a bowl of this would qualify. Thanks for the lovely narrative and the great bowl of soup. A perfect start to this weekend for me.
Your posts always make me feel like I’m sitting down to coffee with a good friend. I’ve been struggling with being a little more me on my blog as well so this post really resonated with me <3 Thank you for sharing! And as its decided to be winter here again in Michigan I will absolutely need a cup of this soup!
Thank you, Meaghan – I’m so happy you enjoyed the post 🙂
Eight years? Wow that’s impressive April – kudos to you for keeping it going all that time. And it’s your blog – you keep sharing whatever content you like. Folk can always scroll down to the recipe if that’s all they want but the rest of us will enjoy reading your story whilst we tuck into a bowlful of this wonderful chicken soup 🙂
Thanks so much 🙂
This was my first time making soup. This recipe is delicious and easy to follow. My family loved it! 🥣
your site is my go-to recipe book when I need to find a good recipe quick and I know it’s going to be good.
Thank you for sharing! 💙
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is absolutely AMAZING. I was looking for a chicken soup recipe that was
“different” and this fit the bill. My goodness, I could bathe in this (tho I promise I won’t) Thank you for posting this.
i made this and it was YUMMO!! so good and not super heavy!!
So glad you like it!
I’m sure this soup tastes delicious. All of your recipes that I have tried have been an absolute success!
When would I add rice if substituting for the noodles?
Hi Kathy – it’s hard to say because it depends on the kind of rice you are using and how long it needs to cook. If your rice takes 20 to 30 minutes to cook (check the package), my best recommendation is to hold off adding the cooked chicken and cook the rice in the soup. Just at the end – in the last five minutes or so – add the cooked chicken and finish cooking the rice. I haven’t tested this so this is just my best guess. If you try it please let me know how it goes!
Best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had! Loved it!
That makes my day!
I have a new appreciation for chicken noodle soup thanks to you.