The key to making killer chicken noodle soup is homemade stock. And in case you aren’t aware – it takes a little time to make 
homemade stock, but it is super easy! There are a few different methods for making chicken stock from scratch. You can use a whole raw chicken, bones from a chicken that has already been eaten, or raw chicken parts that people don’t normally eat (like the back, feet, etc.). I’ve tried just about all of these methods and my favorite stock is hands down made with the bones from the leftover “The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot” recipe. It gives you the darkest, richest stock full of so much flavor that I could just eat/drink it plain.
So since you need chicken for this recipe anyway, I highly recommend that you make the whole chicken in the crock pot recipe and eat about half the chicken with one meal the first night. Then make the stock with the leftover bones overnight, and you will be all set to make the soup the next day/evening with your freshly made stock and leftover chicken meat. If you can’t eat all the soup at once then just freeze the leftovers. Trust me – you do not need to be an expert chef to make this plan work, and I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed with the outcome! And hopefully it will convince you to never buy chicken noodle soup out of a can again. 
- 9 cups chicken stock/broth
- 3 cups dry whole-grain noodles
- 10 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 celery stalks, washed and chopped
- 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or diced
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- Bonus: If you want to go the extra mile make and add whole-wheat matzo balls to this soup. Just make sure you boil the matzo balls in a separate pot of water and not the stock!
- Bring chicken stock to a boil.
- Add dry whole-grain noodles to stock and set the timer according to pasta package directions.
- When there are 5 minutes left in the cooking time throw in the chopped carrots and celery. Keep the stock boiling.
- When there is about 1 minute left add the cooked chicken to the stock so it can heat up thoroughly.
- Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve warm and store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Hi Lisa,
Just made your crock pot chicken and it was so delish! Making your crock pot stock now. So next of course will be your chicken soup. I was just looking it over to see what I would need and noticed something about Matzo balls however, I can’t find the recipe on your site. Can you help me locate this please. Love your site! Thanks for all the work you do.
Tracy
Glad you are enjoying the recipes! And yes you can add matzo balls, but I don’t think I ever posted the exact recipe anywhere. Try searching online for a matzo ball recipe that uses crackers (and not a powdered packet) and then buy whole-wheat matzo crackers to make it. It’s pretty simple…crushed crackers, eggs, salt and maybe a few other things. Good luck!
I follow exactly the recipes for chicken in the crock pot and the home made stock. Now I am doing the home made soup. I tried the stock and it’s a little too spicy. What can I do for the soup to taste not so spicy so my 2picky kids to eat it?
Hi Andreea. The only thing I could think of that might be spicy is the pepper – maybe just omit that? Unless it’s another spice they do not like…you could always eliminate that. Jill
Wednesday I did your chicken in a crock pot whlie I was at work. After dinner, I threw everything back into the slowcooker with some garlic cloves, carrots, and celery and let the stock brew all night and Thursday during the day. Last night I drained all the yuck and made this soup! We added some matzo balls (not a fan!) and some chopped zuchinni from the garden.
All in all, a very easy and succesfull week of cooking! We had chicken for dinner Wed, chicken salad sandwiches for lunch Thursday and Chicken Noodle Matzo soup for dinner Thurs and again for lunch today.
AND now I have a freezer with quite a bit of frozen chicken noodle matzo soup!
Heading back to the recipe page to see what I’m going to do this weekend!
Just a question about freezing this soup. Won’t freezing it with the noodles make the noodles extremely soggy?
Hi Sarah. I’m not sure it will make the noodles soggy as much as the noodles tend to absorb the liquid. Once you defrost it you could always add a little extra chicken stock if that were the case. Jill
I really like my noodles al dente, so when I make this soup I’m going to leave the noodles separate and just ladle the soup over them for each serving. So when I freeze this, I’ll just make separate noodles the day after I pull it out.
[...] Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup [...]
Oh i just love the taste of chicken soup. They are very tasty and oh so yummy. i love to eat them everyday. *:”.’ Regards health and wellness information
Made this for the first time tonight. Never made homemade soup before so I was happy it turned out. Plus I was even able to cook the chicken and stock last night, then work today and put everything in a pot when I got home from work today.
I have a question about freezing portions for another time. I bought the small canning jars, when you reference freezing portions of soup on this website in the jars, am I following the directions for canning or can I just slap a lid on it and put it in the freezer?
I’ve wondered the same thing! Seems like a silly question, but what is the best way to put soup (or anything) in these glass jars? I tried just putting the lid on it but haven’t opened it so dont know the result yet.
Hi Lindsey. For the soup, we just freeze it, no canning. Jill
Hi Christie. For this soup, we’re just referring to freezing the portions. Jill
I just had one question – if the noodles are packaged, then how can they be clean? I’ve been looking high and low for a non-processed boxed noodle and can’t find it!
Hi Kim. We still allow products with 5 ingredients or less under “our rules”. Check out this brand of pasta here that we like…it’s called BioNaturae…http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/my-kitchen-essentials/#other. Jill
[...] Wednesday night, we had soup and grilled cheese. I made the soup using this recipe and this recipe. (Can you tell I’m a fan of Lisa’s blog?) The soup turned out pretty good. Not quite [...]
[...] Wednesday night, we had soup and grilled cheese. I made the soup using this recipe and this recipe. (Can you tell I’m a fan of Lisa’s blog?) The soup turned out pretty good. Not quite [...]
Has anyone tries barley in the soup instead of noodles? I tried a little bit of brown rice but ended up mushy after being reheated once. But thought barley might work.
Hi Christy. I make mine with brown rice (my husband is gluten free) and I just keep the rice separate and when I’m ready to eat the soup I add the rice to each individual serving. You might want to give that a try. Jill
We first made the crockpot chicken, then the chicken stock, and have just finished round 1 of the soup…YUMMY. We have typically purchased chicken noodle soup from Whole Foods soup bar and thought we hit the jackpot on delicious tasting soup until now. I love it that we made everything from scratch and that I am eating natural soup with NO preservatives or additives. The broth is SO delicious and hearty. All we added was a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I used whole wheat pasta shells that required just a little more boiling. My only lesson learned is to chop the carrots, celery, and chicken into larger pieces than I did this time around. I think I went a little crazy and chopped everything too small. But that’s the only thing I’d do differently. We love this soup and I can’t imagine buying chicken soup anymore when it’s this easy and tasty to make it ourselves. Thank you!
[...] Chicken Noodle Soup (using broth and leftover chicken from day before) [...]
The stock and soup are amazing! Shared it with my facebook friends and it was a total hit with them too. This is my new go to soup on a chilly winter night. Thank you for always sharing fantastic recipes
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=515828861783461&set=a.123677214331963.13283.123634807669537&type=1
This soup is delicious! Thank you, love your site
Would you happen to have a recipe for a healthy version of Ramen Noodles? If not, perhaps a suggestion for a great tasting noodle substitute, we could figure out which spices to use. I assume these ramen noodles are fried and that would be why they aren’t healthy…what’s your opinion? My son just loves them, but I have stopped buying them for him.
Hi Kim. No, we don’t have any such recipe. Jill
This chicken soup recipe is very close to one I use about every two weeks during the winter months. I make about 5 quarts at a time and freeze as needed. My go to veggies in the soup are carrots, celery, fennel (just the bulb), onion, garlic and frozen peas.
To really give the chicken broth some depth try the following (I know some of these items sound “out there” but try them):
Microplane fresh nutmeg, about 1/8 teaspoon or less to taste.
Crushed or ground whole coriander seeds, one teaspoon or more to taste.
Good squeeze of fresh lemon in the soup just before serving.
Fresh chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon added to soup just before serving.
Now you’ve got some serious chicken soup!
Noodles/pasta:
Make your own as it’s really easy and they cook in two minutes.
100 grams flour or about one cup, one large egg, pinch of salt and small drizzle of olive oil. Mix. Roll out thin keeping both sides well floured on your counter or board. Roll thin dough up like a wrap and cut in 1/4″ strips across. That’s it….pasta machine makes this process much faster if you find you like making your own pasta often.
So, I made the whole chicken, the broth, and the soup today for a family get together. Yum! Everyone loved it! Thanks!
What is the best way to defrost the soup once frozen? Stovetop? Thanks
Hi Erin. If you know the day before that it is on your menu, pop it in the fridge to defrost. If it is a last minute thing, I usually defrost in the microwave. If you use the stovetop, use a lower heat setting because it is easy to burn. Hope that helps. ~Amy
I made the whole chicken and then the overnight stock. I only have about a quart of stock. Now what?! I was going to make your soup, but obviously don’t have enough stock for some reason.
Hi Stefanie. You could always freeze it and add it to your next batch. You could use it to flavor another dish, as well. ~Amy
One tip I have for chicken noodle soup – add a little turmeric. It gives it a certain something.
Delicious! After serving crock pot chicken yesterday, I then made the stock and soup. My 7 and 4 yr old children were standing by the stove waiting to taste the soup! I added some pressed garlic and softened the carrots and celery in a bit of olive oil before adding them to the stock. My husband didn’t even want me to freeze any, he wants it all now! It’s a winner on a rainy spring day!
[...] we had homemade chicken noodle soup. I overcooked the noodles a bit, but it was pretty tasty nonetheless ^_^. Then for dinner we [...]