Homemade chicken noodle soup is already easy to whip up, but tossing all of your ingredients in a slow cooker makes it even easier. Simply toss all of your ingredients and go—the slow cooker will do all the work for you. After very little effort, you’ll have the coziest meal on your hands ready to warm you up all fall and winter long. Here’s everything you need to know:
What People Are Saying:“Great recipe…so easy! The soup was more delicious the next day. Yum!!” – CyanBlowdryer
“I had never made noodles in a crock pot before, so I followed the recipe exactly. It turned out so delicious!! I was hoping to have leftovers, but my husband and kids ate three servings! Thank you!” – Kricket
Chicken soup is a comfort food staple that can be found in many households. While there are endless ways to prepare chicken soup, one of the most popular additions is egg noodles. The noodles add heartiness and texture to the broth making it a more filling and substantial meal. If you want to add egg noodles to your chicken soup there are a few easy methods you can use.
Deciding When to Add the Noodles
The first decision you’ll need to make is when you want to add the noodles to the soup. There are a couple of options:
- Add uncooked noodles to the broth and cook them directly in the soup.
- Cook the noodles separately and add them to the soup right before serving.
Adding raw noodles directly to the soup is the easiest method. However cooking the noodles separately gives you a bit more control and can help prevent the noodles from getting soggy or overcooked.
Cooking Noodles in the Broth
To cook the noodles in the soup, just add the dry noodles when the broth starts to boil. There should be enough broth to cover the noodles while they cook. Bring the soup back to a simmer and add the noodles. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring them every now and then, until they are soft but still a little chewy.
The benefit of this method is that the noodles absorb flavor from the broth as they cook. Just be careful not to overcook them, as they can become mushy and fall apart if simmered too long.
Cooking Noodles Separately
Before adding the noodles to the soup, boil them in water until they are firm. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. The noodles should be cooked for 5 to 8 minutes for fresh noodles or 3 to 5 minutes for dried noodles, depending on the package.
Drain the noodles well and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Then add them to the simmering soup just before serving so they can heat through without becoming mushy.
Cooking the noodles separately prevents them from absorbing too much liquid from the broth so they maintain their texture better. It also allows you to adjust noodle and soup consistency independently.
Choosing Egg Noodles
When selecting egg noodles for chicken soup, you can use dried or fresh noodles. Some options include:
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Dried egg noodles come in both long and short shapes, such as elbow macaroni and spaghetti. They have a pleasant eggy flavor.
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Fresh egg noodles – Found refrigerated or frozen, fresh egg noodles have a soft, tender texture.
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Homemade egg noodles: When you make your own egg pasta, you can cut the noodles into any shape or width you want.
Wider, shorter noodle shapes like pappardelle or lasagna noodles work well in soups. Avoid delicate angel hair pasta as it can get lost in broth.
For chicken soup, medium width egg noodles around 1/4-1/2 inch wide are ideal. Linguine or fettuccine shapes are a good choice, whether using dried or fresh noodles.
How Much to Use
The amount of noodles you add depends on personal preference. A general guideline is 2-4 ounces of dried noodles or 4-6 ounces of fresh noodles per 4 servings of soup.
Start with less and you can always add more. Leftover cooked noodles will keep for a few days in the refrigerator to add to future batches of soup.
Cooking Tips
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Season the broth – For the most flavor, make sure the soup base is well seasoned with salt, pepper and aromatics like garlic, onions and herbs before adding noodles. The noodles will soak up that flavor.
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Use a large pot – Use a soup pot that’s large enough to allow the noodles to move freely while simmering. Crowding the pot can cause sticking and uneven cooking.
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Stir occasionally – Gently stir the noodles a few times as they cook to prevent sticking, especially if cooking them directly in the broth.
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Adjust consistency – If the soup seems too thick after adding noodles, thin it with additional broth, water or milk. For a thicker soup, mix some cornstarch with cold water and stir into the hot soup to reach desired consistency.
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Garnish just before serving – Sprinkle any garnishes like chopped parsley or green onion on individual portions rather than the whole pot to keep them vibrant.
With a few easy tricks, adding noodles to chicken soup is simple. Just choose your favorite egg noodle variety and decide whether to simmer them right in the broth or cook separately. In no time you’ll have a comforting bowl of chicken and noodles soup.
How To Make Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken: Any combination of bone-in, skin-on chicken parts can be used to make chicken noodle soup. For this recipe, though, I chose to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts because they were easier to work with.
- When I make chicken noodle soup, I always use onion, carrot, and celery as vegetables.
- Herbs: This soup has a cozy, herbal flavor that comes from fresh thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf. In a pinch, you can use dried thyme and rosemary in this recipe, but I love how easy it is to use fresh sprigs and how much better they taste.
- Garlic: I like three chopped garlic cloves for the best flavor, but you can add more or less depending on how much you love garlic.
- Chicken Broth: To keep the soup from being too salty, use low-sodium chicken broth.
- Egg Noodles: Most people use egg noodles, which are also my personal favorite. But any short pasta will do. Use it as a chance to use up that bowtie or rigatoni you’ve had for a long time.
The best thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to cook the chicken before adding it to the soup. Your slow cooker will do all the work. Add raw boneless skinless chicken breasts to the slow cooker, along with the veggies, and herbs. Season generously with salt and pepper (this soup is simple, so let the salt and pepper enhance all of the flavors), before pouring in your broth. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.
Once the chicken is tender, remove the breasts from the slow cooker and use 2 forks to shred the meat. The herbs and bay leaf should be thrown away. The chicken should then be put back in the slow cooker and mixed with the soup.
Now is the time to add in your egg noodles, stirring them in to combine.
Cook uncovered on Low until the noodles are al dente. This should take 20 to 30 minutes, but keep a close eye on it. You want to avoid your noodles growing overly soggy. If you want, you can sprinkle fresh herbs on top. Then, grab a bowl of this classic comfort food and put your feet up.
Full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.
- What can I put in chicken noodle soup to make it taste better? Fresh herbs, garlic, and a bay leaf will help your soup taste better. You may not have added enough salt to your chicken soup if you feel like it needs something. Add some flaky sea salt, olive oil, and lemon juice to the soup at the end to make the flavor stronger and brighter. For extra heat, you could also add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like spicy food.
If you have leftovers, I strongly suggest that you store the noodles separately from the broth. If they’re stored together, the noodles will soak up the liquid and turn to mush—and there won’t be any broth left. If you’d like to cook this soup in advance, the same recommendation applies, though if you’re making it ahead of time, we’d recommend skipping the noodles completely. You can add them into the broth when you reheat the soup, and they should be fully cooked in just 5 minutes.
Same deal if youre freezing—the soup itself freezes well and can be reheated whenever the craving hits, but the noodles will get mushy sitting in all of that broth, so Id recommend cooking them off fresh! Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
- 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled. sliced into coins
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 10 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 8 oz. egg noodles
- Step 1: Put the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour in broth. Step 2: Put a lid on top and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks. Discard herbs and bay leaf. Return chicken to slow cooker and add egg noodles. Step 3: Cover and cook on low for 20 to 30 minutes, or until noodles are al dente.
These Creamy Chicken & Noodles are the ultimate #comfortfood #yum #easyrecipe #dinner #food
FAQ
Do you cook egg noodles before adding to soup?
Most of the time, you should cook egg noodles separately before adding them to soup. This is especially important if you want to have leftovers.
Can I add noodles to my chicken soup?
Made the old fashioned way by boiling a whole chicken, you can toss in any vegetables, noodles or pasta and it’s going to be amazing. And everybody knowns Chicken Soup is the best soup for a cold!.
How do you keep egg noodles from getting mushy in chicken noodle soup?
They don’t get mushy in the soup because you let them sit in cold water before cooking them. Couldn’t you cook them in broth and store the noodles separately? Add them to the soup when serving. You could but this method means you don’t have to cook them separately.
How do you add egg to chicken noodle soup?
Just whisk the yolk in a large-ish bowl, and add broth to it little by little whisking all the while until warm (if you just stir the yolk straight into the broth the tolk will clot). Once the egg mixture has reached a warm temperature you can stir it into the broth.