This Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup is as comforting as it is delicious. Packed with juicy chicken, tender vegetables, and hearty noodles it is a satisfying soup that practically cooks itself!
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Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup is an absolute winner, especially on busy weeknights when you don't have the energy to whip up a complicated meal. Here are some reasons why I think you will love it too:
Reasons to Love this Recipe
- No Pre-Cooking: Once you have chopped your vegetables you can literally throw everything into the slow cooker and walk away with no need to sauté anything beforehand.
- Everything You Need in One Bowl: With fresh vegetables, lean protein from chicken breast, and carbohydrates from the pasta, it's a well-balanced and satisfying bowl of soup.
- Dinner Time Breeze: You can have everything prepped in the morning and when you come home in the evening you have a delicious hot meal waiting for you.
- Cozy and Comforting: There is just something about a bowl of chicken noodle soup that feels just like a warm hug! This is the perfect soup to cozy up with on a cold day or when you are feeling under the weather.
Video Tutorial
Ingredient Information (With Alternative Suggestions)
For the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Chicken Breast: You can also use thighs if you prefer.
- Onion & Celery: This is the flavour base of the soup. You can replace the celery with extra onion or vice versa. You could also use leek.
- Carrots: The carrots add a little sweetness (as well as providing vitamins and fibre). You could try replacing them with other root vegetables such as parsnips.
- Garlic: Adds depth of flavour to the soup.
- Dried Thyme: Adds a warm, earthy flavour to the soup. Rosemary could be used as an alternative.
- Bay leaves: Adds an earthy flavour. If you don't have any you can skip them.
- Chicken Stock/Broth: This is the liquid base for the soup and adds flavour. Vegetable stock/broth would also work instead. If cooking for young children use homemade chicken stock or low sodium.
- Spaghetti: You can replace with other types of pasta, such as macaroni or farfalle.
- Lemon Juice: Added to the end of cooking to add a tangy, citrus flavour to help balance out the richness of the broth.
- Parsley: Added to the end to help balance out the soup and add brightness and freshness.
Step By Step Instructions (With Images)
- Add Raw Ingredients to Slow Cooker: Add all the ingredients except the pasta, lemon and parsley. Cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 3.5 hours).
- Remove Chicken Breasts and Shred: Transfer the chicken breasts to a clean chopping board and use two forks to shred the chicken meat.
- Return the Chicken and Add the Spaghetti: Break the spaghetti into thirds before adding to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 15 mins. Be careful not to overcook or the soup can become starchy.
- Finish with Lemon Juice and Chopped Parsley: Don't skip this step, it really elevates the soup by adding brightness and freshness.
Recipe FAQs
As there is a good bit of liquid in this recipe I recommend you use at least a 6-quart slow cooker (5.6 litres). If your slow cooker is smaller I would recommend cutting the recipe in half.
No, you can use thigh meat if you prefer it. Cooking with the bone in will also provide more flavour.
It is not recommended to cook frozen chicken in a slow cooker due to the extended time required for the chicken to reach cooking temperature. This can increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. You should always thaw the chicken in the refrigerator prior to slow cooking.
Yes, you can easily customise this recipe. I do feel the carrot, celery and onion give the soup great flavour but I often add some extra vegetables. Just consider the cooking time. I often add some peas or corn but always towards the end of the cooking time (when I add the noodles).
I grew up with chicken noodle soup made with spaghetti noodles so that is how I enjoy it. You can, of course, use any pasta you wish. The cooking time may vary slightly. I recommend cooking it for the stated time and if not ready, continue to cook on high and check it every couple of mins until done.
The better quality the stock is, the nicer the soup will be.
If cooking for young children you want to make sure you keep the sodium levels down. I recommend using homemade stock but if that sounds too much like hard work then look for low-sodium stocks.
Any leftovers I usually store in the fridge and eat the next day. If you want to freeze it, I recommend freezing it before you add the noodles.
If making this for a baby I recommend that you use homemade chicken stock in order to keep sodium levels down. Alternatively, you can add water and use split chicken breasts (bone-in chicken breasts) which will provide more flavour in the absence of chicken stock/broth.
Make sure that the vegetables are cut so that they aren't a choking hazard and are cooked soft enough that you can squish them between your fingers.
A great way to serve this soup to a baby is to use a slotted spoon to remove the solid pieces into a bowl and then add just a little of the broth.
Read more about soup for babies.
Other Slow Cooker Recipes to Try
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Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- Slow Cooker 6 quart
Ingredients
- 700g (1½ pounds) Skinless Chicken Breast See Note 1
- 1 medium Onion, finely chopped
- 240g (approx. 3 medium) Carrots, peeled and chopped *See Note 2
- 80g (approx. 3 stalks) Celery, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
- ½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 2 litres (8 cups) Chicken Stock See Note 3
- 250g (8.8 oz) Spaghetti, snapped into thirds See Note 4
- 1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Add chicken, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and chicken stock to a slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 3.5 hours). (Cook until the chicken reaches 74ºC (165ºF) adding more time if needed.
- Remove the cooked chicken breast and shred using two forks, the meat should fall apart easily.
- Add the chicken back into the cooker along with the pasta. Switch to a high setting, cover and cook for around 15 - 20 mins, until the noodles are cooked.
- Stir in the lemon juice and parsley.
- Serve
Video
Recipe Notes
- You can replace the breast meat with thigh meat if you prefer. Just remove the bone and shred it at the same stage as you would the breast meat.Â
- I slice the thinner part of the carrot to give rounds and then dice the thicker end of the carrot. Slice/dice to your preference.Â
- For young children you should use homemade or low-sodium chicken stock to reduce the sodium level. Alternatively, reduce the amount of stock and replace it with water.Â
- You can use any pasta you wish but the cooking time may vary, check every five mins after the set cooking time until cooked. I like to use spaghetti and snap it into thirds, you can snap it into smaller pieces if you prefer. Do not overcook the pasta as the soup can become overly starchy. Some readers have mentioned that they prefer to cook the noodles separately and add them to the soup after to rectify this.Â
Jack says
Hello! I'm going to attempt this recipe soon, I was just wondering if its possible to use frozen chicken? Or would that mess everything up?
Amy says
Hi Jack, I would not add frozen chicken to the slow cooker. You can defrost overnight in the refrigerator and then use in the slow cooker. 🙂
Stacey says
I am going to make this recipe Wednesday and will let you know how I go if the family like it it will become a weekly meal
Amy says
Thanks Stacey, I hope you enjoy 🙂
Dawn Wilson says
I’ve just finished making this and it’s really bland, any tips on how to get more flavouring there?
Amy says
You maybe just need to add more salt. Did you use chicken stock to make this?
Becky says
I have made this several times and delicious … can I cook this on high? … with winter upon us, I usually hear of a neighbor who is ill and want to make the this soup … don’t want to take 6 hrs to make it for them especially when ya have to shop for the ingredients…
Amy says
Hi Becky, if cooking on high I'd cook for 3.5 hours. I'm so happy you enjoy this soup 🙂
Becky says
Thank you Amy for your quick reply …making tomorrow- have a couple friends who need some good soup ..
Louise Helliwell says
I love this recipe and have made it before. I think this time I’ve added too much thyme and it’s tasting too herby is there anything I could to rectify this?
Amy says
Hi Louise, I'm sorry for the delay, this advice is probably too late now (unless you froze it). I can only really suggest that you try to seive some of the thyme out. You can also remove some of the liquid and replace with fresh stock.
Danielle says
So easy! I’m a shift worker with 2 little ones so this absolutely will become a staple dinner for us
Amy says
Thanks Danielle, an easy dump and go recipe. So glad you liked it 🙂
Isabella Johnson says
Great soup enjoyed by all
Amy says
Thanks Isabella 🙂
Nadia says
Hi I’m looking at cooking this tomorrow night for the first time dump question but do you have to brown the chicken first?
Amy says
Hi Nadia, no need to brown. Everything goes in raw in this recipe 🙂
Cam says
Followed the recipe to a tee. Ours ended up in the bin. It tasted like the merky water you rinse off pasta. So before spending 7hrs and a heap of cash like we did, you may want to cook the 'noodle' (spaghetti) separately, thoroughly rinse it, and then add it later. Otherwise you'll be getting take out like us.
Amy says
Hi Cam, I'm sorry you didn't have success with this recipe. I've had so many positive comments on it so I'd love to know where it went wrong for you. When did you add the pasta? It should only be added at the end of cooking.
Carianne says
I agree with Cam about the spaghetti addition. Next time I'll cook the spag separately because the starch from the pasta affects the taste of the chicken stock liquid. Normally you get the chance to rinse pasta before teaming it with something, whereas adding it within the soup while cooking gives it a murky look and taste. I also used less spag because 250g is quite a lot. But it's a delicious flavour and a huge quantity which is handy. Lovely flavour otherwise.
Amy says
Thanks for your feedback Carianne, this information is very helpful for other readers. I'm glad you enjoyed the flavour and hopefully, it will be perfect when cooking the noodles separately 🙂
Em says
This is my go-to chicken noodle soup recipe. The lemon juice makes all the difference. So easy, so fresh. Have made this so many times... it's finishing off in the slow cooker right now.
Amy says
Thank you Em! The lemon juice really does make a difference, just rounds it off! Thanks for the 5 stars, so glad you enjoy it 🙂