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Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup + VIDEO

This slow cooker chicken noodle soup is comforting and easy to make. Toss your soup ingredients in, sit back & let the appliance work its magic. This easy chicken soup can also be cooked in the Instant Pot.

overhead shot of chicken noodle soup in a bowl with a silver spoon

There’s nothing like a good bowl of chicken noodle soup. After an easy chili recipe (what I consider the ultimate slow cooker food), chicken soup is one of my favorite meals to cook in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Ingredients For Chicken Noodle Soup

  • Chicken
  • Uncooked Pasta
  • Broth
  • Garlic
  • Mirepoix: diced onion, carrots, and celery
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper & dried herbs
raw chicken, celery, onion, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and seasonings in the slow cooker with broth being poured in

before

How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup In The Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker

  1. Add all ingredients EXCEPT for the noodles into the slow cooker. Stir gently.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 or LOW 6-8.
  3. Remove chicken, shred & add back into the slow cooker.
  4. Add the pasta noodles and cook on HIGH an additional 10-20 minutes or until noodles are soft.
  5. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté. Once hot, add the oil to the pot.
  2. Add the celery, carrots, and onions and cook for a 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Turn off the Instant Pot.
  3. Add broth & water. If needed, deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  4. Stir in the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the uncooked pasta.
  5. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook for 20 minutes.
  6. Natural release pressure for 10 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.
  7. Remove chicken from the pressure cooker. Shred the meat. Stir the shredded chicken back into the pot along with the uncooked pasta. Cook on the warm setting 10-15 minutes or until pasta is tender.
  8. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

cooked, shredded chicken and uncooked wide egg noodles on a white bowl

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot?

I love the simplicity of making chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker. You add everything, stir, and let it cook. Yes, the noodles are added later but they don’t take long to cook. I still consider this chicken noodle soup a good set-it-and-forget-it slow cooker recipe. Of course if you’re crunched for time, you can make this in your Instant Pot too. Having made it both ways, I can honestly say that I don’t have  a preference when it comes to taste. I think it depends more on convenience or which appliance you have/prefer to use. With the Instant Pot, it’s a little more work because you sauté the vegetables first, but it’s still easy to make.

add uncooked noodles to the slow cooker for chicken noodle soup

What Cut Of Chicken To Use

I like to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs for this chicken noodle soup recipe. Having said that, you can use your preferred cut of chicken whether it’s bone-in or boneless, skin-on or skinless. Thighs work well because dark meat in general tends to have more flavor and is less likely to overcook. Bone-in chicken breasts are a good alternative if you don’t want to use dark meat.  Whatever cut of chicken you use, cook the chicken until it shreds easily. If you’re using skin-on or bone-in chicken, don’t worry about it getting messy. When the chicken noodle soup is done cooking, the bones should slide out easily and the skin should pull right off.

after pic of cooked chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker

after

Chicken Soup Recipes

Chicken Soup

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Caprese Chicken Soup

Chicken Zoodle Soup

close up, side shot of chicken noodle soup in a white bowl

What Type Of Noodles To Use

I used wide egg noodles. As with most of my recipes I encourage you to use the ingredients that works for you. In other words, you can use your preferred noodle in this soup. If not wide egg noodles, other suggestions include farfalle, spaghetti, linguine, penne, fettuccine, fusilli, or orzo.

overhead shot of chicken noodle soup in a bowl with a silver spoon

Variations To This Soup

When making chicken noodle soup, I believe you should use ingredients that you have or can easily find. Like a lot of broth? Use 8 cups of liquid instead of 7.  I use a mixture of broth & water. Feel free to use all broth. Make this recipe work for you. I only add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt but I try to lead a low-sodium lifestyle. Add more salt to this if you want to, I will not be offended.

overhead shot of chicken noodle soup in a bowl

Freezing & Storing Leftover Soup

If you have leftover chicken noodle soup, you can store or freeze it for later use. Store leftover soup an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To freeze leftover chicken soup, let the soup cool completely. Once cooled, add the soup to an air tight container, freezer-friendly plastic bag, or souper cubes. Store the soup in your freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat frozen chicken noodle soup you have two options. You can either thaw the soup overnight  in the refrigerator OR add the soup directly to the slow cooker or Instant Pot & thaw on the warm setting.

FAQs & Tips

Print
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overhead shot of chicken noodle soup in a bowl with a silver spoon

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 4 reviews

  • Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs seasoned with salt & pepper
  • 6 ounces uncooked pasta
  • 4 cups low-sodium or homemade chicken broth
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 2 medium size carrots, sized
  • 1/3 cup onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more)
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme or rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon oil (for Instant Pot)

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. Add all ingredients EXCEPT for the noodles into the slow cooker. Stir gently.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 or LOW 6-8.
  3. Remove chicken, shred & add back into the slow cooker.
  4. Add the pasta noodles and cook on HIGH an additional 10-20 minutes or until noodles are soft.
  5. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select sauté. Once hot, add the oil to the pot.
  2. Add the celery, carrots, and onions and cook for a 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Turn off the Instant Pot.
  3. Add broth & water. If needed, deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  4. Stir in the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the uncooked pasta.
  5. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook for 20 minutes.
  6. Natural release pressure for 10 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.
  7. Remove chicken from the pressure cooker. Shred the meat. Stir the shredded chicken back into the pot along with the uncooked pasta. Cook on the warm setting 10-15 minutes or until pasta is tender.
  8. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 291
  • Sugar: 3.6 g
  • Sodium: 1643.6 mg
  • Fat: 6.7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 22.1 g
  • Fiber: 2.4 g
  • Protein: 34.6 g
  • Cholesterol: 99.2 mg

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup + VIDEO
Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Sandra

Wednesday 14th of December 2022

When using egg noodles- how many cups of dry egg noodles?

Shannon Epstein

Thursday 15th of December 2022

3/4 cup of egg noodles. Enjoy!

Ma

Tuesday 21st of December 2021

Easy and delicious. I made in my instapot and forgot to sauté the veggies first, but still came out wonderful!

Sara

Monday 17th of May 2021

This is easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. My family fabourite when we are sick as well. Thanks for the delicious recipe

Avu

Saturday 23rd of May 2020

I'm vegetarian but made this for my husband tonight. He loves chicken noodle soup and his stomach was a bit off - so I thought this was the perfect occasion to continue experimenting with our new Instant Pot. The soup was a hit and he loved it!!! Said it was a perfect 5/5. Thank you!

Alyssa

Monday 20th of January 2020

I love this recipe!it is so easy to make and for me that is a big win!!! I add more veggies and pasta to the dish but the family loves this!