This is, by far, my favorite homemade chicken noodle soup recipe because it’s simply the perfect mix of easy, wholesome, and satisfying. It’s creamy yet light, and benefits from the addition of potato, thyme, oregano, and convenient pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. If you’re looking for an easy yet incredibly delicious homemade creamy chicken noodle soup recipe, just read some of the reviews below, then try it for yourself!
This is one of those recipes I like to make a big double batch of on a cold, slow weekend in January, and freeze half for future busy weeknights. It’s also a great one to take to a friend or neighbor who’s in need of a comforting homemade meal. And it’s a perfect back to school recipe when schedules get very busy.
This creamy chicken noodle soup has only about 200 calories per 1 cup. The potato adds heartiness to the soup and, as it cooks, makes the soup even creamier. I’ve made this soup probably close to 100 times since I originally published the recipe in 2015. Trust me, don’t leave that potato out!
Reader Melinda commented: “I made this today and have to say that this is now our favorite homemade chicken noodle soup recipe, too! I followed the recipe exactly as written and hubby loved it. ★★★★★”
Reader DLand commented: “I first made this as a dinner for a new mom and dad. It was so good I couldn’t wait to make it again to keep for my own dinner. Thank you for another wonderful recipe! ★★★★★”
Reader Paula commented: “This soup was delicious, best chicken soup I have eaten. I added Italian seasoning since I did not have oregano or fresh thyme and it was perfect. ★★★★★”
Cozy up with a bowl of this soup, alongside a fresh salad and a warm slice of homemade artisan bread, for a meal that will leave you feeling satisfied, but not weighed down. If lightened-up comfort food is what you crave, be sure to try my creamy butternut squash mac and cheese, too!
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Light & Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Lightened up, yet still creamy and so satisfying
- Can be made on the stove or in a slow cooker
- 1-pot meal
- Using a cooked rotisserie chicken saves time
- So much more delicious than store-bought soup
- Make ahead of time and freeze
- Good way to use up leftover chicken
- Flavorful spices, herbs, and vegetables
- Ultimate winter comfort food!
Best Ingredients to Use:
You need 1 big pot and a few staple ingredients. This is a forgiving recipe, so let’s review what can change if needed.
- Butter: Just a Tablespoon, to soften the vegetables.
- Vegetables: Onion, carrots, and celery form the mirepoix flavor base for this soup.
- Herbs/Flavors: Use a blend of garlic, dried or fresh thyme and oregano, fresh ground pepper, and salt. Feel free to use other herbs you enjoy instead, if desired.
- Flour or Cornstarch: Flour (or cornstarch) thickens the liquid, taking this soup from brothy to creamy. See recipe Note for that substitution.
- Chicken Broth: Or stock.
- Potato: 1 medium potato is the first magical ingredient in this recipe, because it cooks down and makes the soup SO creamy, hearty, and satisfying.
- Chicken: This recipe saves time because you can use pre-cooked chicken. You could also use leftover cooked turkey, like we do in this turkey pot pie! I usually pick up a small rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, shred it, and add it right into the soup. Or you can boil/poach chicken breasts or roast them with a little garlic and thyme, let cool slightly (or refrigerate for a day or two), then shred or chop. If you have leftover chicken, you can also use it in recipes like my chicken quinoa salad or peanut chicken zucchini noodles.
- Milk or Half-and-Half: This is the other magical ingredient that turns your homemade chicken noodle soup into the creamiest soup ever. Use 1 cup of whole milk or 1 cup of half-and-half. If you want to make regular (non-creamy) chicken noodle soup, replace the milk with more chicken broth.
- Noodles: I prefer wide egg noodles in chicken soup, but you can use any type of dry pasta you like, or go noodle-less.
If you can find wide egg noodles, go ahead and use those in today’s soup. If you don’t have egg noodles, any dry pasta you like would work. Keep the noodles small enough to fit on a spoon, so break any large dry pasta before using if needed. A few readers have even used tortellini instead!
How Does the Soup Thicken Up?
Cooking down the onion, carrots, and celery is a key step in the recipe. After you cook them down, add flour and your herbs. The flour will absorb the liquid from the softening vegetables, and create a nice thick base for the soup. This is exactly how we start biscuit vegetable pot pie, too.
Whole milk or half-and-half also thicken up the soup. I’ve even made it with half the amount (1/2 cup or 120ml) heavy cream in a pinch. (Add more chicken broth if you use heavy cream; see recipe Note.)
Nice and thick, without being too heavy.
After the vegetable mixture cooks and you add the flour and seasonings (above), you’ll add the broth and potato. Boil, and then simmer on the stove before adding the milk/half-and-half, chicken, and noodles. Finish cooking. It’s all very simple.
*Slow cooker instructions in the recipe Notes below!*
Can I Skip the Noodles or Use Rice Instead?
Yes. Feel free to skip the noodles entirely with no other changes to the recipe. Or you can use 1 cup of uncooked rice instead. Add it when you would add the noodles.
This Soup Satisfies. Period.
One bowl of this light & creamy chicken noodle soup will leave you feeling satisfied for hours, without feeling weighed down. This is the meal that keeps on giving because if you have a smaller family, there will be plenty of leftover soup to enjoy during the week. Serve in homemade bread bowls or alongside a batch of deliciously soft dinner rolls or brown butter sage dinner rolls.
I calculated the nutrition details using the SparkRecipes calculator app, and a 1-cup serving of this creamy chicken noodle soup, when using whole milk, is only 203 calories, with 20 grams of protein. Creamy, yet light… best soup ever!
PrintCreamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: about 12 cups
- Category: Soup
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This creamy chicken noodle soup is creamy yet light, and benefits from the addition of potato, flavorful thyme and oregano, and convenient pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. You can make it on the stove or slow cooker (see Note for slow cooker instructions).
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (100g) chopped yellow onion (1/2 of a large onion)
- 1 cup (120g) sliced or diced carrots (1–2 large carrots or a handful of baby carrots)
- 1 cup (120g) sliced or diced celery (2–3 stalks)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (or 2 teaspoons fresh)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
- 8 cups (1.92 liters) chicken broth (I recommend reduced sodium)
- 1 medium potato, peeled and diced (around 1 and 1/2 cups or 280g)
- 2 cups (about 250g) shredded or chopped cooked chicken
- 1 cup (240ml) half-and-half or whole milk
- 3–4 cups (about 112-150g) uncooked wide egg noodles (or other dry pasta, see note first)
- optional for garnish: fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven (4-quart or larger) over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, thyme, and oregano and cook for 2 minutes.
- Next, add the chicken broth and potato. Give everything a quick stir, then increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the soup to a boil, without stirring, and boil for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover the pot, and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes have softened. Taste the soup, and add more seasonings to taste, if desired.
- Add the chicken, half-and-half/milk, and noodles. Cook for 10 minutes until the noodles are tender and the soup has thickened. Once again, taste the soup and add more seasoning as desired. Serve warm.
- Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To reheat, simply pour into a pot over medium heat and cook until warm. Feel free to add more chicken broth to the leftovers if it’s too thick. (Soup thickens in the refrigerator as the noodles and potatoes soak up the liquid.)
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze soup for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator the day before eating, and then reheat on the stove until warm.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Dutch Oven (4-quart or larger, like this Le Creuset Dutch Oven or Lodge Dutch Oven)
- Slow Cooker Instructions: Prepare the soup through step 1 on the stovetop. Transfer to a slow cooker (affiliate link) and continue with step 2, but do not add the potato yet. Allow to cook for 2 hours on low, then add the potato, chicken, half-and-half/milk, and noodles. Cook on low for 1–2 more hours.
- Flavor Tip: During the last few minutes of cook time, try adding a squeeze of fresh lemon. It’s so good!
- Flour: Instead of 1/4 cup of flour, you can use 2 Tablespoons (16g) cornstarch.
- Herbs: I love this soup with oregano and thyme. Or you can use 1 and 1/2–2 teaspoons pre-made Italian seasoning (found in the spice aisle).
- Broth: I use low sodium chicken broth. If you are using regular broth, start with only 1/4 teaspoon of salt. As the soup finishes up, taste and add more salt if desired.
- Chicken: I recommend using rotisserie chicken, and you can use either white or dark meat. Or you can roast some chicken breasts yourself. Rub with a little minced garlic and dried thyme, roast in the oven under tender, then shred or chop it. You can also boil 2 large chicken breasts until cooked through, then shred/chop and use in this recipe.
- Whole Milk/Half-and-Half: Either works wonderfully in this recipe. Avoid lower-fat milks, and if you need a nondairy milk suggestion, I recommend plain oat milk. Plain almond milk would be the second best option for nondairy. Keep in mind that the soup won’t be as creamy. You could use 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream instead. If using 1/2 cup of heavy cream, add another 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the recipe.
- Best Noodles to Use: I prefer wide egg noodles in chicken soup, but any homestyle egg noodles work. You can use other dry pasta too, such as elbow macaroni or fettuccine (break up to fit on soup spoon). If using a smaller pasta, reduce amount to 2-3 cups. A few readers have even used tortellini! Or you can use 1 cup of uncooked rice instead. Add it when you would add the noodles.
I am looking for a good vegetable beef stew. Do you have one? A best friend just had hand surgery. I am trying to fix the soups she likes the most thinking it would be easy to eat. I made your Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup today. My husband and I both loved it! Can’t wait to share it with Ann. By the way, I did not have 1/2 & 1/2 nor whole milk. I used heavy cream Very nice!
Hi Fran, we’re so glad you enjoyed this soup! We don’t have a recipe for vegetable beef stew, but your friend may enjoy this Homemade Alphabet Vegetable Soup!
Just made this recipe for my lunch this week and it is perfect on this snowy day in January. I followed the recipe and decided to make my own homemade noodles ( 2 cups flour, 2 beaten eggs, a little milk to bind together, roll and cut in bite sized pieces). I added the noodles before the potatoes so they had a little extra time to cook. At the end I added milk, parsley for color, and also 3 chicken bouillon cubes. The soup is excellent and I will make it again!
I use the crockpot approach. My diced potatoes did not quite soften up within the two hour time. I wonder if I should have done an hour on high. My noodles also seem to have disappeared otherwise have high hopes for a next attempt at this lovely recipe.
Hi Charlotte H, my daughter has MANY activities so I use my crock pot a lot! Just cook the noodles separately and put them in a container in the refrigerator. When someone wants to eat, they dish up the amount of pasta they want and microwave it and top with soup from the crock pot. You can accommodate many different schedules this way.
This recipe was delicious!! We boiled our chicken and reserved the broth. I added 2 tsp’s of better than bouillon.
I made this recipe for the second time today. It’s my new favorite soup! I decided to skip the celery this time, but it was still full of flavor! Because of dairy sensitivity, I used soy milk instead and it was just as delicious, just not very thick. I will be making this for years to come. Thank you for this recipe!
So comforting, so delicious. Absolutely amazing. This is the first time I’ve made this recipe, and it’s definitely something that I will be making quite often.
I did add about a quarter cup of vermouth During the 25 minute simmer, Because if I’ve learned anything about soup, it’s that wine makes it better. I also added in some leeks because I had them in my fridge.
Additionally, I did make my own stock. I used one of Alton Brown’s pressure cooker recipes, and I gotta say this is just the best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had.
Thank you Sally for all of the incredible recipes. I will keep making everything that you post.
Just as a side note, I don’t like to cook my noodles in the soup so that it’ll freeze better. I always just cook my noodles as I need them for eating. So if you’re planning on freezing this soup or any other soup, I highly recommend not throwing the noodles in with the broth.
I made this today, so after my surgery. I will have it! I added some Poultry seasoning, cause I love that flavor of sage in the winter, it is wonderful, incan tell this will be a regular item this winter! Thank you
My husband helped by boiling the chicken earlier in the day so we used the broth. Definitely on rotation. We really liked it!
Best seller tho did add cream of chicken soup
I made this soup last night for the first time and there was a slight graininess to it and I can’t figure out why…perhaps the potato broke down too much?
Hi Dawn, that could certainly be the culprit—did the potatoes seem extra soft? For next time, you can try adding the potatoes a little bit later so they’re not boiling for as long. Thanks for giving this soup a try!
Thanks for responding! Most of the potatoes you couldn’t even find – so I think that was it and probably cut a little too small. But soup was still fantastic!
The best chicken noodle soup ever!
This soup was delicious and very easy to make with ingredients that I already had on hand. There are only two of us at home now, so there’s plenty of soup leftover for days to come!
As a lifelong vegetarian, I saw this pop up and decided to modify using my “chix” broth and “chix” chunks (TVP). Made exactly as recipe called for except substituting my non-meat alternatives. ABSOLUTELY DELICOUS! I am thrilled as are my non-vegetarian friends who got to share the results. Thank you, Sally!!!!
I have had milk “separate” when I’ve frozen other soups. Can you add the milk or cream after thawing when you are reheating and still have the soup be rich and creamy?
Hi Linda, that should work just fine, but you may want to let it simmer for a bit so that the soup has time to thicken. Hope you enjoy it!
I was a little disappointed in this soup. I make a lot of different soups. I didn’t care for the half and half in the soup, it made my broth look gray, not yellow like in the pictures. I added a can of cream of chicken soup and a few frozen mixed vegetables. It helped a little, but I think I will stick to my own chicken soup recipe. But it’s always fun to try new recipes!
Omg… THE. BEST. EVER!! I made this last night because I was craving a cozy meal, and this recipe delivered just that. It is so creamy, it’s so thick with the egg noodles, and so so so flavorful. I will absolutely be adding this to my recipe book and making it during the winters from now on.
Do the noodles become soggy if cooked all together or better to cook them separately?
Hi Mellissa! The noodles will not be soggy when served, but will continue to soak up liquid if stored for leftovers. You can keep them separate if you prefer. You’ll need less liquid in the soup.
Such a great recipe! I’m making it tonight with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and homemade turkey stock that have been in my freezer. It’s delicious with chicken, but also a winner with turkey! I usually use 2.5 – 3 cups of noodles. Otherwise it becomes all noodles, and I like it to feel like soup.
This one was just OK for me. I boiled noodles in soup as recipe says. It was too much noodles to liquid. The creaminess didn’t really come through. Leftovers have no liquid at all. I did see where it said you could add chicken stock to loosen it up. It wasn’t bad – it just isn’t earning a spot in regular rotation.
This recipe sounded so good. I made it, but suggest a couple things, if I may. First I would add a little chicken broth at the beginning when melting the butter in the pan and softening the veggies with the spices and then the addition of the flour, etc. I almost burned the veggies and ingredients due to a lack of liquid at first before adding the chicken broth later as directed. Secondly, I added a couple teaspoons of chicken base. I used Orrington Farms that has a bit of sodium in it. If doing this, I would cut out the salt in the recipe, but still use the low-sodium chicken broth.
My mother used to be a cook at a restaurant and she said it was wonderful so you are mother approved on this one! Bravo
So delicious! My family is begging me to make it again
Great recipe! Added a little bit of cheese to add to the creamy. Would definitely make again.
Adapted with leftover turkey from thanksgiving, homemade turkey stock, and threw in some leftover ham also. Otherwise I kept the seasoning and proportions the same and added salt to taste. It was really delicious and the whole family loved it.
This soup is so incredibly good! I added some ginger while sautéing the vegetables. Will be making this again and again!
I finally found a creamy chicken soup
recipe!!! I’m making g it tomorrow for dinner
The only thing I do different is add 6 cups for a creamier consistency and cook my noodles separately and keep them separate because we don’t like soft noodles, especially for leftovers. I also cook my chicken in the souse vide and add in the last 5 min. Otherwise, this recipe is in our weekly rotation♥️
Made it with shell noodles, and thickened at the end with a bit of corn starch to make it clam chowder consistency
This had a good flavor. I do use chicken buillon instead of chicken broth which I feel amps up flavors. My only complaint is that I wish it were creamier. I will probably substitute heavy cream for some of the half and half next time.
This is absolutely the best chicken noodle soup ever! It’s so simple but it tastes like you’ve been working on it all day. It’s creamy, hearty and delicious. Definitely hit the spot especially since we are battling colds in my household. Even my 8 year old gave it 1 million stars out of ten, which is big for my picky eater. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This one is a keeper.
I’ve made this recipe twice and it’s been incredible both times. I am now copying it into my cherished favourite recipe cook book (with credit to this website). I have never made creamy chicken soup before, and was hesitant with the flour. It is delicious, creamy, perfect!