Easy Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
This warm and filling crockpot chicken noodle soup is perfect for busy families who want to dump the ingredients into the slow cooker and go. Serve it with warm fresh bread for an easy dinner the kids will love.
Homemade chicken noodle soup is easier than you think! Especially when you use a handy slowcooker to do most of the work for you.
Build the soup base with softened fresh vegetables and then let it slowcook all day with real chicken thighs and a hint of tomato paste for a rich and hearty soup for family dinner.
Pair it with a bread machine recipe for an easy meal that cooks itself!
Why This is the Best Recipe
I love making homemade soup for my family but I think this is the best Crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe because:
- Fresh Vegetables: The biggest difference between a homemade soup and a canned one is the fresh vegetables and all the flavor they bring to the dish. The texture is perfect in the slowcooker.
- Real Chicken: You cook the chicken thighs right in the soup which adds so much flavor but chicken stock keeps it very easy.
- Easy Prep, Hands Off Cooking: Once everything is in the slowcooker, you can turn your attention to other things on your list.
Ingredients
The basic ingredients for this soup are so easy and affordable:
- Boneless Chicken Thighs: You could substitute cuts of white meat chicken but the thighs are deliciously tender and give more flavor to the broth.
- Fresh Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Tomato Paste: This does not make the soup taste tomato-y, it just adds a little "something" to the broth that makes the soup feel richer and more hearty.
- Minced Garlic
- Frozen Peas
- Chicken Stock
- Pasta: I used a wavy egg noodle. You could use any short soup noodle you love including ditalini, pasta stars, or acini de pepe.
- Dried Thyme
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: These do not make the soup spicy, they just add a little heat. If you're sensitive to spice, you can omit them.
- Bay Leaves
- Vegetable Oil
Prep the Veggies
You may be surprised to discover that the first step of this recipe is to saute the fresh vegetables.
This gives your soup a kick start but more importantly, it adds a ton of flavor to the vegetables. Browning them up a bit in the pan first makes them sweeter and more tender.
Cook the onions, celery, and carrots in a large saute pan with the olive oil over medium heat until the onions have softened and are translucent.
Then add the tomato paste, minced garlic, and dried thyme and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir them in and cook until the tomato paste has coated all the veggies.
Want to Save This for Later?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Pour 1 cup of chicken stock into the skillet. Use this to deglaze the pan and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom.
It will also help to smooth out any clumps of tomato paste.
Assemble the Soup
Scrape the vegetable mixture and all the sauce into the bowl of your Crockpot.
Pour the remaining chicken broth into the vegetables and stir.
Add the chicken thighs to the soup and nestle them down under the broth so they are submerged. Add the dried bay leaves and then cover the slowcooker.
Slowcooker Cooking Instructions
Cook the chicken soup in the Crockpot for 4 - 6 hours on LOW or 3 - 5 hours on HIGH.
Shred the Chicken
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken thighs to a clean plate.
Shred them with two forks or use a knife and cut them into a small dice. Transfer the meat back to the soup and stir.
Add the bag of frozen peas to the soup and stir. Let them warm through while you cook the pasta.
Perfect Soup Noodles
I absolutely prefer to boil my soup noodles in a separate pot, drain them, and stir them into the soup before serving.
This is very important for two reasons:
- Firm Pasta: You can cook the pasta to exactly the firmness your family prefers. I always reduce the cook time by 1 - 2 minutes so that the pasta can absorb some soup broth and still remain firm.
- Brothy Texture: To keep the liquid ratio balanced in the slowcooker, you wouldn't want to cook the noodles right in there or you'll have to add more broth.
Cook your pasta according to the package instructions, strain the pasta, and add it to your soup.
If you undercook the noodles by a minute or two, you can let them sit in the soup on the Keep Warm setting so they soften up a bit more before serving.
Serving Suggestions
We love eating fresh bread with our soups. You could pick almost any one of these easy bread maker recipes to pair with your soup or a cozy quick bread like my pumpkin bread.
Rosemary pull apart rolls with butter or a slice of bread machine Italian bread are two of our favorite options.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
Chicken soup is one of my favorite picks for soup season all winter long. We mix it up with lots of different flavors, here are some of our favorites:
📖 Recipe
Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- 1 onion diced
- 2 celery ribs diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs about 8 thighs
- 1/2 (16 oz) bag of egg noodles or your favorite soup noodle
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley minced
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the carrots, onion, and celery and saute until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are softened, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic, tomato paste, dried thyme, and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in just one cup of the chicken stock and use it to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the entire mixture to the slow cooker bowl.
- Pour the remaining 7 cups of chicken stock and the 2 bay leaves into the slow cooker. Use a fork to open up the chicken thighs and nestle them into the broth so they are fully submerged.
- Cover the slowcooker and cook for 4 to 6 hours on LOW.
- Use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove the chicken thighs from the soup and place them on a cutting board. Dice the chicken thighs and return the meat to the Crockpot.
- Discard the bay leaves. Pour in the frozen peas and let them heat through while you cook the pasta.
- In a separate pot of salted boiling water, cook the egg noodles or your pasta shape of choice for a minute less than the minimum time the package suggests. This will prevent them from getting mushy as they sit in the leftovers. Drain the pasta and stir the noodles into the soup.
- Sprinkle the parsley over the soup and season it with salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe Notes
Note About Leftovers:
If you plan to make the soup ahead of time, you may want to store the pasta separately from the soup so the noodles don't absorb too much of the broth and get mushy. You can reheat the soup by itself first and then just add the noodles for a minute or two to warm through before serving.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
Find this delicious recipe next time you visit by saving it to your very own recipe box on my site. All your favorites stored in one easy place!
So, so good! My family loved it!