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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
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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.
Stacey
Hi iam looking forward to trying this I bought a slow cooker yesterday. Iam only cooking this soup for two and using chicken pieces is it still 6 hours to cook? Thanks
Amy
Hi Stacey, I would personally stick to the recipe and freeze any leftovers. What do you mean by chicken pieces? Thighs / leg / wings etc? Thighs work well in this recipe. If you mean breast cut into pieces I'd be worried it would be too dry.
Jodie dean
Hello do I need to add water x
Amy
Hi Joidie, no just the 2 litres of stock. 🙂
katie
Hi, Im making this tomorrow for my lunches at work whilst the weather is still chilly. Thank you for the recipe xx
Amy
Thanks Katie, hope you enjoyed it 🙂
Melinda Nibbelink
Made this yesterday! Took to a Christmas Eve family gathering! Was a hit! Very good! Will make again!
Amy
Thanks Melinda, glad it was a hit! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas 🙂
Max Jordan
I’m sure this soup tastes delicious. All of your recipes that I have tried have been an absolute success!
Amy
Thanks Max!
Katrina
i made this and it was YUMMO!! so good and not super heavy!!
Amy
Brilliant! Glad you liked it, thanks for taking the time to tell me. 🙂
Terra
Hi. I'm not much of a cooker Haha crockpot recipes are my go to. Is the chicken supposed to be frozen or no?
Amy
Hi Terra, I used fresh chicken. 🙂
Ivy
I have frozen chicken and can take it out to thaw for 1.5hr can I then put it in the crock pot on low for 6hrs even if still 1/2 frozen?
Amy
Hi Ivy, personally I wouldn't cook frozen chicken in the slow cooker. Cooking from frozen means that the chicken will hover in the danger zone of warmth where bacteria can easily grow without being killed off in the cooking process.
Kate
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.
Amy
Ha ha!! My first ever comment saying that someone would like to bathe in my soup!!!! Thank you for taking the time to rate and comment!
Debbie
What other vegetable can I add to the soup?
Amy
Hi Debbie, you could try adding corn, turnip, parsnip, spinach, broccoli...
Kirsten
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your lovely recipes.
I made this earlier following the recipe exactly but with about 30g less chicken (next time id add even less chicken!) and it didn’t have much flavour. I wonder what I’ve done wrong as everyone else says it’s extremely tasty! I added 4.5 chicken stock cubes and 2l water, does that sound right?
Best wishes,
Kirsten
Amy
Hi Kristen, sorry that this didn't work out for you. I don't tend to use stock cubes but I'd say 4.5 stock cubes sounds about right, is that what it said in the packet? Maybe the stock cubes weren't flavourful?
Jill
Hi Amy! I love this recipe. I’ve made it for my daughter several times, freezing it into individual portions. And I’m actually making it this week for the entire family. I was adding the ingredients to my shopping list, and noticed that the description of the dish is “A delicious and comforting soup with very little soup” 🙂 I’m sure the second “soup” was supposed to be “prep”! Wanted to let you know 🙂 Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Jill
Amy, I love this recipe and have made it several times now for my daughter - freezing it into small portions. It’s amazing! I’m making it this week for dinner for the entire family. I came to the page to add ingredients to my shopping list and just noticed this so wanted to give you a heads up. Right under the name of the dish, the description says “A delicious and comforting soup with very little soup” 🙂 I’m thinking it meant to say very little prep! Haha. Thanks again for the great recipe.
Amy
Hi Jill, thank you for your lovely comment. I'm delighted that you love this soup! Thanks for pointing out the error, I do get my husband to proofread but he misses a lot!
Janice
Hi, this looks great. Can it be frozen?
Amy
Hi Janice, yes. I usually freeze it before adding the noodles. 🙂
Cameron Gilmore
I want to half the ingredients to get around 4 servings. Should I half the cooking time?
Amy
Hi Cameron, no I wouldn't half the cooking time. The heat may be distributed differently unless you use a smaller slow cooker. The soup freezes well so you could always freeze half of the soup.
George
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!
Amy
Thanks so much, George. Comments like this really make my day and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback. I hope you continue to enjoy the site 🙂
Sami
Hi, I’ve just seen this recipe. Looks delicious will certainly be trying this. Just used my slow cooker for the first time in ages. I made a lovely beef stew and was looking for some soups I could make with it.
Amy
Thanks Sami, hope you enjoy it 🙂
Sami
Hi Amy,
It was absolutely delicious!
Thank you for the recipe.
Zoe
Came across this recipe so I cooked it exactly the same and it was great 🙂
Amy
Thanks for the feedback, Zoe. Glad you liked it 🙂
Kristie
Kids loved this and so did I (with a little salt). Will be adding this to our meal plan rota. So easy! Thanks
Amy
Fab, Kristie! I have actually just made this, ready for when we get back from soccer practice tonight!