This is a slow cooker (Crock-Pot) recipe for the best homemade chicken noodle soup! I will make this on cold days or when the whole house has the sniffles. My kids can’t get enough of this soup and even when they have very little appetite, they can eat a whole bowl. Hearty and full of delicious flavours, this recipe is also extremely easy to make.
Ingredients for homemade chicken noodle soup:
- Chicken or turkey, as much or as little as you want (see important notes below)
- 3 – 4 large Russet Potatoes or 5 – 6 Red potatoes, cut into large chunks*
- 4 stalks of celery, chopped*
- 15-20 baby carrots (cut in half) or 3 regular sticks (peeled and chopped)*
- 1 12 oz cans of sweet yellow or white and yellow corn*
- 1 12 oz can green beans*
- 3 48 oz boxes of Swanson’s chicken broth (I use the 33% less sodium)
- Approximately 1/2 box or bag of pasta (see important information for recommendations on noodle types)
- Salt and pepper to taste.
What cooking utensils will I need?
- Crock-Pot
- Knife to cut up vegetables
- Cutting board
Prepare the chicken noodle soup:
- Get your Crock-Pot ready! Plug it in and turn it on to high
- Pour in 2 boxes of the chicken broth
- While the Crock-Pot is starting to heat up, open the cans of corn and green beans, pour those into the Crock-Pot
- Slice your potatoes, celery, carrots and anything else you are adding in
- Place them into the Crock-Pot
- Cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and throw them into the Crock-Pot
- Simmer in Crock-Pot on high for approximately 8-9 hours
30 minutes prior to eating:
- Taste your broth and add flavouring as needed (more salt or pepper)
- Add half a box of the noodles, the amount really depends on what the family would like. My kids love extra noodles and they need the carbohydrates so I add a
- Little more than half of the box.
- Watch the broth level and add more chicken broth as needed, the noodles will soak up some of the existing broth
- Stir your soup and let the noodles cook for about 30 minutes
- Turn your Crock-Pot off (time to cool down a little before putting the leftovers away)
- Serve with some bread or crackers and enjoy!
Important information for you
*Optional – these are add-ins and they are optional. I have found they enhance the flavor. If you don’t like one or any of the ingredients with the *, you do not need to add. It is your creative design, so you decide what to add!
What kind of chicken: I will use chicken breast and cut up 3 or 4 depending on the size of the breast. If you have a chicken that you have leftover from another meal even if it is spiced, this is a perfect meal to make to use the leftovers. I did that with our Turkey from Thanksgiving, shredded up breast, leg and thigh to throw into the soup. It was delicious!
Recommended Noodles: The noodles that I have found to be the most durable are bow tie pasta, small elbow macaroni, or small shell pasta. Otherwise, the noodles get too soft and mushy
You can modify the vegetables to whatever you like in your chicken noodle soup, be creative! I would not recommend using yellow potatoes as they get pretty mushy when simmered all day.
Canned vegetables: Always feel free to use the fresh stuff, snap your own green beans or fresh corn kernels cut off the cobb. Its just harder in the winter to find these vegetables fresh and they tend to be expensive if you do find them.
Broth: There are many choices for the broth lower sodium, 99% fat-free or regular. Use whichever broth you feel fits your family the best.
Seasoning: I don’t add seasoning to ours because we like the natural flavors of the chicken and the vegetables cooked together all day. I have in the past used Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Basil…different variations but we always go back to the unseasoned because we like it the best.