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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.
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).
- Cook Spaghetti: Once the soup has cooked for the set time, snap the spaghetti into thirds and cook according to pack instructions.
- 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
- 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
Full Recipe
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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
- 200g (8oz) Spaghetti, snapped into thirds
- 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.
- Snap the spaghetti into thirds and cook according to the pack instructions, drain.
- 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 spaghetti. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Danii
My go to chicken noodle soup recipe. My kids love it. Making it on Christmas day for them as they won't eat the lentil soup. However making it in a pot as the slowcooker will be used for cauliflower cheese.
Amy Whiteford
Fantastic Danii, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. 🙂
Linda
Hi Amy, my family loves this recipe , thank you so much. On another note, what slow cooker do you use for this recipe and how many litres is it ? Is there one you can recommend? I am looking to replace my old one. Thanks again.
Amy
Thanks Linda, I'm so happy you like it.
I have the Cuisinart Cook Central which I love as you can sear/brown the food right in the slow cooker before setting it to slow cook. It also has a steam function but I haven't used that function. It is quite a large pot, I believe 6L but I'm not 100% sure.
Linda
Hi Amy, my family loves this recipe , thank you so much . On another note, what slow cooker do you use ? Recommend? I am looking to replace my old one. Thanks again.
Hansen
Possible to cook this in an instant pot?
Amy
You could but I can't give you timings without trying, sorry.
Nicole W
Hi can you use any type of cooked pasta for this? Or is spaghetti the best choice?
Amy
Any pasta will work : )
MA
I tried this recipe in an instant pot this evening - 20 minutes on High Pressure. It was so good!
Amy
Good to know, thanks MA
Ameina
This is my go to chicken noodle recipe. The kids love it and my husband, who’s not a soup fan, always goes for seconds!
Amy
Brilliant! Thank you for taking the time to rate and let me know 🙂
Danielle Weir
My go to recipe! I use this recipe every time I make chicken noodle soup. It's so tasty! I've got it in the slow cooker just now for kids coming home from school however this time I'm using turkey (chicken is too high in price so hoping it will work nicely) and letting them choose between chicken noodle or chicken and potato for a wee change
Amy
Hope the turkey went well, glad you enjoy the soup 🙂
D Cinder
I had great hopes for the soup, but it did have lack luster in terms of broth or use high-quality chicken stock and ended up adding garlic salt to add some flavor. I really think this recipe is missing some thing.
Kate
So bland and tasteless. I used the stock and followed directions exactly. Ended up adding a ton of salt just so it didn’t taste like water.
Amy
Hi Kate, sorry you didn't enjoy the soup. I wonder if the brand of chicken stock makes a difference. We have always enjoyed this soup and the recipe has had a lot of positive feedback.
Bridget F
My family and I loved this recipe. The Spagetti noodles made such a difference for not getting so mushy.
Amy
Thanks Bridget, I'm so happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Pat Bl
This soup had no taste whatsoever. I had to add a ton of salt before we could eat it. I did cook the spaghetti separately.
Amy
Hi Pat, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the soup. Did you use chicken stock to make it?
Jack
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
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
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
Thanks Stacey, I hope you enjoy 🙂
Dawn Wilson
I’ve just finished making this and it’s really bland, any tips on how to get more flavouring there?
Amy
You maybe just need to add more salt. Did you use chicken stock to make this?
Becky
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
Hi Becky, if cooking on high I'd cook for 3.5 hours. I'm so happy you enjoy this soup 🙂
Becky
Thank you Amy for your quick reply …making tomorrow- have a couple friends who need some good soup ..
Louise Helliwell
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
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
So easy! I’m a shift worker with 2 little ones so this absolutely will become a staple dinner for us
Amy
Thanks Danielle, an easy dump and go recipe. So glad you liked it 🙂
Isabella Johnson
Great soup enjoyed by all
Amy
Thanks Isabella 🙂