The Best Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (We Tested 6 Popular Contenders!)
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When it’s cold and blustery outside, few foods do as much to warm and comfort you as chicken noodle soup. Leaning over a steaming bowl of this brothy goodness is a delicious way to soothe whatever ails you. In fact, if you’re suffering from a cold, science shows that sitting down to a bowl of chicken soup can help soothe symptoms with hydration and anti-inflammatory properties.
Canned versions don’t hold a candle to homemade ones, and they tend to be full of preservatives and excess sodium. Making your own soup is time well-spent — it rewards you with a pot full of deliciousness. But with so many recipes out there, which one truly delivers chicken noodle soup bliss?
To find out, I scoured the internet for chicken noodle soup recipes and selected six heavy hitters for this cozy recipe showdown. (One quick note: I skipped Ina Garten’s version because the stock portion of the recipe calls for simmering three whole chickens for four hours, resulting in tough meat that’s ultimately thrown away. Not only is this expensive, but it’s also wasteful, which I just couldn’t stomach). After lots of slurping, I’m happy to report that I finally found the best chicken soup I’ve ever tasted.
The brothiest, most chicken-y soup that has occupied the majority of my daydreams ever since I made it is Smitten Kitchen’s My Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup. The intro to the recipe states that it “embod[ies] all of our chicken noodle soup hopes and dreams,” and indeed it does.
Meet Our 6 Chicken Noodle Soup Contenders
The recipes in this showdown follow different paths to achieve cozy comfort. They range from ones that long-simmer bone-in chicken and aromatics for their broths to quick versions that lean on store-bought broth. All include some form of noodles — either dried or, in one case, frozen. And of course, they all include chicken — some relying on breast meat only and others using both dark and light meat.
Tyler Florence: This is the only recipe to call for simmering a whole chicken to make its broth. Slowly simmer the bird with lots of aromatics: carrots, celery, onions, garlic, turnip, thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns. You use most of the meat in the finished soup, along with more aromatics and noodles.
Pioneer Woman: This recipe calls for a cut-up fryer chicken, making a broth with just the bird and water. To finish the soup, add fresh veggies and spices, including turmeric, along with frozen egg noodles.
Smitten Kitchen: Although this recipe offers several options for the broth, I went with the author’s preference of chicken wings, which slowly cook with aromatic vegetables, spices, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Fresh chicken breasts are poached in the broth to finish the soup, along with more diced veggies and thin egg noodles.
Sohla El-Waylly: This recipe, posted on Serious Eats, is the only one to first brown the chicken pieces before simmering to make the broth. This soup stays very simple, with just chicken breasts, orecchiette for the noodles, fresh dill, and a squeeze of lemon.
Kardea Brown: One of the quickest recipes in the bunch, this version starts with sautéed veggies, stirs in chicken base and spices, then tops things off with water. It’s finished with rotisserie chicken, frozen peas and carrots, and noodles.
Rachael Ray: Another quickie recipe that’s done in just 30 minutes. It features sautéed veggies, store-bought chicken stock, raw chicken breast tenders, dried egg noodles, and a finish of fresh herbs.
How I Tested the Chicken Noodle Soup Recipes
I tested the recipes in three batches. On three separate days, I dug in and tested two recipes. I grouped the two quick recipes together in one batch, then the two longest-cooking recipes in another batch, and the two mid-length ones in the last batch.
I used store-brand “natural” chicken. I opted for the level just below organic and above standard. (One exception: Tyler Florence’s recipe calls for a free-range chicken, and the only free-range option I found was also organic.)
I used heavy pans. For my testing, I used either a large, heavy stockpot (if the recipe specified a stockpot or required that pot’s capacity) or an enamel-coated Dutch oven (if it could accommodate the volume).
I tasted each recipe “fresh.” Chicken noodle soup is at its best just after you make it. Noodles tend to swell and absorb lots of liquid if you have leftovers, so I took all of my notes and based all of my ratings on just-made soups.
Why You Should Trust Me as a Tester
I have spent the last 26 years in food media — 20 as a magazine editor, 6 as a freelance recipe developer and food writer. Over the course of my career, I have written, tested, and developed literally thousands of recipes. I know how to evaluate a recipe for flavor, texture, and clarity, and success (or failure) of the process.
1. The Fastest Chicken Noodle Soup: Rachael Ray’s Quick Chick and Noodle Soup
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Get the recipe: Rachael Ray’s Quick Chick and Noodle Soup
For this speedy recipe, start by sautéing vegetables in a Dutch oven, dropping them in as you chop. Then add bay leaves, salt, pepper, and “good-quality chicken stock” (I used Swanson unsalted chicken stock). Once the liquid comes to a boil, toss in diced chicken breast tenders, and add dried wide egg noodles. When the noodles are tender, remove the pot from the stove and stir in fresh parsley and dill.
There’s a note at the end of the recipe that if the soup is thick, you can stir in up to 2 cups of water if you want more broth. I skipped this step and had the soup as is; it was chock-full of noodles and chicken, and not especially brothy (but not dry, either). The dill and parsley lifted the soup with bright herbiness, which I loved, and the parsnip offered little sweet nuggets in most bites. But the chicken ended up dry, and the overall flavor was weak.
I understand that cooking to a half-hour maximum (the recipe is from 30 Minute Meals) comes with lots of challenges, and it’s a feat to get a homemade chicken noodle soup done in that timeframe. But rotisserie chicken might have been a better choice here, as the breast meat seized up and toughened in the broth during cooking. Overall, the soup suffered from a lack of depth.
2. The Soup Most Similar to Chicken and Dumplings: Pioneer Woman’s Homemade Chicken and Noodles
Overall rating: 7/10
Get the recipe: Pioneer Woman’s Homemade Chicken and Noodles
To make this recipe, place a whole cut-up fryer chicken in a large pot, cover it with a gallon of water, and simmer for 30 minutes. At that point, you’ll remove the chicken from the pot, shred the meat off the bones, and return the bones only to the liquid to simmer for another 45 minutes. Strain the broth, return it to the pot, and add diced carrots, celery, and optional onion (which I included), along with salt, white pepper, ground dried thyme, dried parsley flakes, and a half-teaspoon of ground turmeric. You’ll simmer this for about 10 minutes, then add frozen egg noodles. The final step is to stir in a slurry of flour and water to slightly thicken the broth.
The broth had a mild chicken flavor, and the meat was very tender. I loved having a mix of light and dark meat for different textures and levels of richness. The noodles were thick and chewy, and with the slightly thickened broth, the bowl had a chicken and dumplings–like feel. However, the turmeric gave the whole pot an almost fluorescent yellow hue, and the spice’s flavor paired with white pepper and ground thyme had a slightly musty effect.
If I were to make this again, I would omit the turmeric and toss in some fresh thyme sprigs instead of using dried. One final note: The recipe states that the total time to make the soup is 1 hour and 10 minutes. But the minimum cooking time adds up to 1 hour 40 minutes, and the whole recipe took me closer to 2 hours from start to finish.
3. The Most Veggie-Forward Chicken Noodle Soup: Tyler Florence’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Overall rating: 7.25/10
Get the recipe: Tyler Florence’s Chicken Noodle Soup
This recipe begins with a homemade chicken stock made from a whole free-range chicken. You place the chicken in a stockpot with water, carrots, celery stalks, onions, a head of garlic, a turnip, fresh thyme, baby leaves, and peppercorns. After slowly bringing this mixture to a boil, simmer it for an hour and a half. Strain the stock and remove the chicken meat from the bones. The soup comes together with sautéed onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, and bay leaf, the chicken stock, dried wide egg noodles, and most of the chicken meat. A handful of fresh parsley is the finishing touch.
The chicken meat was wonderfully tender and moist, and I found it easy to remove from the bones of the whole chicken. I appreciated having white and dark meat in the soup for different flavor hits (mildness of breast meat and richness of dark meat), and the finished soup was wonderfully brothy. I did find, though, that the broth tasted very heavily of vegetables, to the point of being slightly tangy. Of all the homemade broths, this one used the largest volume of vegetables, which I found detracted from the flavor of the chicken.
4. The Surprisingly Hearty Soup: Kardea Brown’s Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Get the recipe: Kardea Brown’s Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup
This recipe begins with diced onion and celery that you sauté in a Dutch oven until softened. You then stir in concentrated chicken base (such as Better than Bouillon), dried Italian seasoning, and a big pinch of garlic and onion powder. Add water, salt, and pepper, and bring the mixture to a boil. At that point, stir in shredded rotisserie chicken, frozen peas and carrots, dried egg noodles, and fresh parsley and boil until the noodles are tender. The whole thing is done in roughly 35 minutes.
The resulting soup is heavy on peas and carrots, which I liked, and with profoundly more depth than I expected. The key is a smart technique that involves sautéing the chicken base before adding water to the pot. You end up with lots of good fond (browned bits) on the bottom of the pan as these bits build flavor in the finished soup, which is supremely savory and hearty. The rotisserie chicken (I used light and dark meat) does absorb a fair amount of broth, but the meat stays wonderfully tender. I opted for wide egg noodles, which also absorbed a good bit of broth and made me want more liquid. If I make this again, I would increase the liquid (and the chicken base accordingly) as well as add the parsley at the very end to keep it more vibrant.
5. The Most Pared-Down Chicken Noodle Soup: Sohla El-Waylly’s Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
Overall rating: 8/10
Get the recipe: Sohla El-Waylly’s Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
For this unique take on chicken noodle soup, you start by blasting chicken wings in a 500°F oven until browned, pour off and reserve the rendered fat, then simmer the wings (and their deglazed browned bits from the roasting pan) in water for roughly 2 hours. You then add charred onion slices and simmer for another hour, all the while adding more water as needed to keep the liquid level consistent. The main recipe asks you to sous vide some boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the soup, but I took the option (detailed at the end of the recipe) of very gently poaching the breasts in stock that’s held at 150°F. You also cook orecchiette in a separate pot, then drain and toss it with the reserved chicken fat. To finish the soup, you place diced poached chicken breast, cooked pasta, and fresh dill into serving bowls and top with hot broth (à la pho). The final touch is a spritz of fresh lemon juice.
While this recipe is more involved than any of the others, the results are quite tasty. Admittedly, the poaching of the chicken required lots of babysitting, as you’re required to hold the broth at 150°F. For me, this required constant monitoring and tweaking of the stovetop flame. The broth is darker in color (it’s brown) and possesses more depth than any of the others, with meaty flavor from the browned chicken and hints of bitterness from the charred onion. The choice of orecchiette is unconventional, but the little cupped shape holds the broth beautifully and fits neatly into each spoonful. It’s a minimalist bowl of soup — no carrots or celery or onion bobbing in the broth; there’s simply chicken, broth, pasta, and dill.
I don’t know that I would make this again, but I don’t regret having experienced it. It’s by no means a traditional chicken noodle soup and doesn’t exactly satisfy a craving for it, but it’s a delicious bowl nonetheless.
6. The Chicken Noodle Soup of My Dreams: Smitten Kitchen’s My Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
Overall rating: 10/10
Get the recipe: Smitten Kitchen’s My Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup
To make this recipe, I piled the following into a large stockpot: onion and leek (an option given instead of all onions), garlic cloves, carrot, parsnip, celery, water, kosher salt, dried thyme (chosen over fresh because the intro makes a point of it), pepper flakes, tomato paste, and a bay leaf. The recipe offers several chicken options for the stock — either bones or fresh wings, backs, necks, or feet. I went with 4 pounds of wings (the author’s stated preference). I simmered the mixture for 2 1/2 hours, then added whole, bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and simmered them until done. Then I strained the broth, pulled out the chicken breasts, shredded the meat, and added the meat plus diced fresh vegetables to the strained broth with dried thin egg noodles, which cooked in a flash.
If I could, I would rate this recipe 100/10. It is the platonic ideal of chicken noodle soup: brothy, profoundly chicken-y, wholesome, and (to use a cliché, because it’s so true) the ultimate hug in a bowl. I was skeptical of the small amount of thyme (just a half-teaspoon — and dried, at that), but it adds just the right hint of woodsy depth. And for a gallon of liquid, a tablespoon of tomato paste? Well, it delivers the perfect whisper of sweet acidity and helps to create the most gorgeous golden broth. Of all the recipes, this one’s broth tasted the most of chicken, with no aromatics fighting for the spotlight. It’s loaded with thin, tender, slurpable noodles and a modest and perfect amount of sweet-earthy carrot and parsnip bits.
The recipe yields a large amount of soup, about 5 quarts, so if you know you can’t enjoy all of that at once, try this tip: Before adding the noodles, divide the broth mixture in half. Freeze or store half for later, then boil half the amount of noodles in the remaining half of the broth to enjoy right away. It’s not that leftovers aren’t spectacular (they are!), but those noodles do swell up and steal a good bit of that luscious broth.
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