This Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup recipe is a pot of the perfect comfort food just how grandma makes it: an easy from-scratch chicken broth, tender chicken thighs, fresh vegetables and herbs, hearty egg noodles, and a lot of love.
Cold weather is here, my dears, and that also means it's time to make a big pot of homemade soup from scratch! There is nothing like a hot bowl of soup with fresh herbs and a rich broth kicking your kid's cold on its butt during flu season...trust me, I know.
This homemade chicken soup is essential in our home on a cold winter night, along with my husband's amazing tomato soup and beefy french onion soup. I think those three are the trifecta of cozy soul warming soups, they are must haves in any home on a cold day this time of year.
I honestly believe this is the best chicken noodle soup you're ever going to make; it has so much flavor, it's so easy to make in one pot, and it's freezer friendly!
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Jump to:
- Why you're going to love this Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
- Why Dutch Oven Cooking is Perfect for Chicken Noodle Soup
- Equipment Needed
- Key Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- How to Make Delicious Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup
- Serving Suggestions
- Variations and Substitutions
- Pro Tips for the Best Chicken Soup
- Make Ahead Instructions
- Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
- FAQs
- More Chicken Soup Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
Why you're going to love this Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
- One Pot Plan - No need to end up scrubbing a bunch of dishes, everything from the chicken stock to the noodles are cooked in the large dutch oven.
- Perfect Recipe for Beginners - there's no difficult techniques to use here, but a beginner will learn how easy it is to sauté a mirepoix, make a homemade chicken stock, and layer flavors in a soup.
- Foolproof - using bone-in chicken thighs instead of chicken breast, which can quickly become dry, crumbly, and flavorless when overcooked, ensures you have juicy, tender, flavorful shredded chicken in your soup!
- Simple Ingredients - there's nothing in here that you need to hunt down in a specialty store. It's how classic chicken noodle soup should be: simple and easy.
- Perfect for Freezer Meals - you can freeze chicken noodle soup and have it on hand any time you want an easy dinner (perfect for sick days!)
Why Dutch Oven Cooking is Perfect for Chicken Noodle Soup
A Dutch oven is a heavy, large, wide pot made of cast iron and often enamel coated so the cast iron doesn't react with any acidic ingredients like tomatoes.
In my professional (and personal) opinion, everyone should have a dutch oven in their home! Cast iron dutch oven pots are my most used in the kitchen, they're so versatile: bake bread in them, make soups and stews, sear and braise a pot roast, the list goes on.
The reason why we want to use a dutch oven here is because we are making our homemade chicken broth, where the ingredients need to maintain a consistent temperature for a long period of time so we can pull the nutrients from the chicken bones and flavor from the chicken meat and vegetables.
Equipment Needed
- A Dutch Oven Pot - this is an essential tool in the kitchen for any home cook! A standard 4-5 qt pot will handle any and all soup needs unless you've got a crowd to feed.
- Cutting Board and a Sharp Chef's Knife - a need for chopping up veggies.
- Tongs - to maneuver the chicken in the pot while searing.
- Mesh Sieve - to strain the homemade chicken broth.
Key Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
A classic chicken noodle soup recipe is simple, full of fresh ingredients, and above all...warms the soul!
- High heat oil. You want a high heat oil, like grapeseed or vegetable oil, to give the chicken thighs a good sear for flavor. A light olive oil also works, just don't use extra virgin olive oil
- Bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs. They gives us all that good-for-you collagen just hiding in those thigh bones and skin. For chicken noodle soup, I am very particular about my cuts of chicken, the meat on thighs can handle the long cooking time and still remain, tender and juicy.
- Fresh thyme, a bay leaf. These babies go into the broth as well, I love a well-seasoned broth full of flavor! I like taking the thyme and giving it a little sizzle it with the soup vegetables as well.
- Black pepper. Whole peppercorns infuse our broth with that pepperiness and are strained out, and of course we are seasoning everything with freshly ground pepper as well.
- Yellow onions, carrots, and celery. The classic mirepoix ingredients, it's a must for American style chicken noodle soup, we use them in both the broth and the soup itself. We give all of these a good sear which not only makes the broth a beautiful golden brown, but also brings out the sweetness in the carrots.
- A whole head of garlic. If you're not a garlic fan, you can omit them or use garlic powder instead.
- Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. This gives a much-needed acidity to the soup and apple cider vinegar is so good for you if you have a cold or just feeling a little icky.
How to Make Delicious Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup
Step 1 | Pat the bone-in, skin on chicken thighs dry, then season generously with salt. Put them into the hot dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the chicken until the flesh and skin are golden brown, then remove the chicken from the pot and put it on a plate.
Step 2 | Turn the heat down to medium and add all the broth-making veggies to the pot and give them some color!
Remember to only use half the veggies. The other half will be sliced smaller for eating and seared later.
Get that head of garlic seared, too. The browning will give you that classic garlic flavor you're looking for instead of disappearing while it simmers in the broth.
Step 3 | Pour in your cold water, return the chicken thighs to the pot, and simmer that baby for an hour and a half.
When time's up, it's time to strain those solids. They've given up their good nutrients and flavor.
Pull out and shred the chicken or chop it into bite-sized pieces, you can compost the veg.
Step 4 | Sear the thinly sliced veggies over medium heat until they're gaining some nice golden brown color, then add the chicken broth back and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Step 5 | Finally, add the cooked chicken back to the soup, then add the egg noodles and cook them until al dente.
Serving Suggestions
Everybody knows that soups and stews are only elevated when served with a nice slice of hearty, crusty bread or a soft, buttery roll. Here are a few of my favorite homemade recipes:
Parmesan Garlic Butter Rolls - absolutely love how easy and fluffy these garlic knot style rolls are.
Sister Schubert Copycat Parker House Rolls - these are no-knead, super buttery, and absolutely perfect to keep in the freezer. If you love those rolls from the frozen section, you'll adore these.
Biscuits - southern biscuits are so fast and easy to make, and so delish with soup and stew, too! Make the classic buttermilk biscuits or go a little sweet with honey butter biscuits.
Focaccia - if you've never had the pleasure of having homemade focaccia with the crispy bottom, you need to make it. It's a little more time consuming (a few hours of rising in a warm area, mostly) but between the bubbly dough and the crispy olive oil saturated goodness baked in a baking sheet, it's simple and delish.
Variations and Substitutions
- Gluten free chicken noodle soup - this recipe is gluten free if you buy gluten free egg noodles! I've found the ribbon wide egg noodles at big grocery store
- Swap the chicken for turkey after Thanksgiving for some delish leftover turkey noodle soup.
- Spicy chicken noodle soup - want some heat? Make this soup spicy by adding chopped fresno, jalapeño, or calabrian chiles to the veggies and a few dashes of hot sauce to the soup before serving.
- Creamy chicken noodle soup - want a rich and creamy chicken soup? Go for the half and half or heavy cream, or you can do it avgolemono soup style with eggs!
- Use leftover or rotisserie chicken - use a low-sodium chicken broth and boneless skinless chicken thighs, a fresh rotisserie chicken, or leftover chicken instead of making the chicken broth, then continue the process with the sliced up vegetables.
- The type of noodles you use are really up to you, but taking some cultural cues with Jewish matzo balls, fluffy Southern drop dumplings, white rice, vermicelli, tortellini or others is not a bad idea! Use your favorite!
- Add in some different additions like toasted sesame oil, chili crisp, aromatic oils, mushrooms, ginger, really the sky's the limit!
- Beef up the veggie intake with baby spinach, mushrooms, or whatever you like...(maybe not brussel sprouts or broccoli though, they're pretty strong veggies that might overpower our soup.)
- You can use a whole chicken instead of just chicken thighs, the textures will be different, just so you know!
Pro Tips for the Best Chicken Soup
Thicken your chicken noodle soup by adding in flour to the sautéed veggies before whisking in small amount of stock until the soup is smooth, then simmer until the soup is thickened. You can also use a cornstarch slurry with 1 tablespoon cornstarch to 1 tablespoon cold water.
Always wash your celery stalks, they're pretty dirty at the base!
Make Ahead Instructions
The soup can be made 2-3 days ahead of time. Just make the chicken soup without the noodles and store in the fridge in an airtight container until you're ready to heat up and add the noodles.
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
Let the leftover soup cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Keep in mind that the noodles will absorb more broth and get more mushy as a leftover, so if you know you'll have a lot of leftovers or are going to freeze this, cook the noodles separately!
Reheat this soup in the microwave or by returning it to the soup pot and heating on the stove top.
How to Freeze
Homestyle chicken noodle soup is a great make ahead freezer meal, but freeze without the noodles. They will become mushy when you thaw it out.
If you're making chicken noodle soup as a freezer meal (great idea!) make the soup as directed, but don't add the noodles.
Cool the chicken soup to room temperature, and then transfer to a freezer-safe container or zip top/vacuum seal bag. Remove all air from the bag, if using, label it with the date, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating Instructions
Put the frozen soup in the fridge and allow to thaw overnight to a day ahead of time OR place into a sous vide safe bag.
Place the thawed soup in a pot and cook on the stove top until thoroughly heated.
Add the uncooked noodles and cook until al dente. Serve hot!
FAQs
If you're looking to make this a weeknight dinner, absolutely use leftover chicken! The bones from the rotisserie chicken can be used to make the stock, so you don't have to sear the meat!
You totally can, it'll just taste less chicken-y.
Because this soup isn't acidic, you can use a dutch oven that is well seasoned, but not enamel coated, like the Lodge dutch ovens.
More Chicken Soup Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Dutch Oven Chicken Noodle Soup
This time of year just calls out for classic dutch oven chicken noodle soup, just how grandma makes it. This recipe is exactly what you need on a cold day: made-from-scratch flavorful broth, shredded chicken, fresh herbs, noodles, and plenty of vegetables.
Ingredients
Homemade Chicken Broth
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
- Kosher salt and pepper
- ½ large yellow onion, quartered
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 2 celery ribs, washed and chopped in half
- 1 head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups cold water
- Capful of apple cider vinegar (2 tsp)
Chicken Noodle Soup
- ½ large onion, small diced
- 2 celery stalks, washed and sliced ¼ inch pieces
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch coins
- 12 ounces dried egg noodles
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the Chicken Broth
- In a large dutch oven pot, heat the oil and butter over medium high heat until the fat is shimmering hot.
- Pat the chicken thighs' skin dry with a paper towel, then season generously with salt and pepper. Place the thighs skin-side down in the hot oil and sear for 3-4 minutes, until the skin is crispy and golden brown.
- Flip the chicken over and sear the meat for another 3-4 minutes, until there is a golden brown crust. Remove them from the pan and place onto a plate.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the quartered onion, celery, carrots, halved garlic head, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves. Season with a teaspoon of kosher salt. Sear until the vegetables gain some color, for 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the cold water and the apple cider, then add the chicken thighs back to the pot.
- Let the broth come to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 90 minutes.
- After the 90 minutes are up, remove the chicken thighs with tongs to let cool enough to shred, and carefully strain the chicken broth into a wire mesh strainer lined with paper towels over a large mixing bowl. Try to keep the vegetables in the bowl so the fat and liquid fall into the paper towels (only if you're using the fat in the next steps).
- Set aside. Transfer the fat from the paper towels into a small container, if using.
Make the Chicken Noodle Soup
- Add the chicken fat back into the dutch oven and turn the heat to medium heat.
- Toss in the diced onion, sliced celery, and sliced carrots into the pot. Give them a teaspoon of kosher salt, then sauté for 4-5 minutes to gain some brown color.
- Add the broth back to the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the vegetables are simmering, shred the cooked chicken and discard the skin and bones.
- After the 10 minutes are up, add the shredded chicken and egg noodles to the soup. Turn the temperature up to medium high and cook the noodles until al dente according to package directions.
- Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot in soup bowls with crusty bread.
Notes
Storing, Freezing, and Reheating
Let the soup cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days.Keep in mind that the noodles will absorb more broth and get more mushy as a leftover.
Reheat this soup in the microwave or by returning it to the soup pot and heating on the stove top.
How to Freeze
If you're making chicken noodle soup as a freezer meal (great idea!) make the soup as directed, but don't add the noodles.
Cool it to room temperature, and then transfer to a freezer-safe container or zip top/vacuum seal bag. Remove all air from the bag, if using, label it with the date, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating Instructions
Put the frozen soup in the fridge and allow to thaw overnight to a day ahead of time OR place into a sous vide safe bag
Place the thawed soup in a pot and cook on the stove top until thoroughly heated.
Add the uncooked noodles and cook until al dente. Serve hot!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 253Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 96mgSodium: 266mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 18g
All nutrition facts are estimations. Please see a physician for any health-related inquiries.
Eden Westbrook is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Sweet Tea and Thyme. A classically trained chef, Eden has inspired home cooks into the kitchen with cultural comfort foods, easy family-friendly eats and sweets, and glorious spreads for date night and entertaining since 2015.
Teri says
Love the fact that you used chicken thighs for this recipe, they are so delicious. Saving this one, as I know we will need it.
Lauren Vavala @ DeliciousLittleBites says
My mama always told us that chicken soup heals a cold because "there is actually stuff in there to make you feel better." She never did say what the "stuff" was but I agree with you - it' works! This recipe is absolutely one to keep on hand!
Cindy @ The Sweet Nerd says
Homemade ginger ale too? I feel like maybe your family feigns illness just to get your delicious sick treatment. The soup looks divine.
Dana says
Chicken noodle soup is one of my favorites! This recipe looks amazing and delicious. I love how hearty it is!
Annissa says
This chicken noodle soup looks so hearty and comforting! Lovely photos!
Rae says
There are some soups in life that are basically a necessity in order for one to recover from an illness. Chicken noodle is one of those soups, and nothing beats homemade chicken noodle soup.