Sometimes I just want my dinner to give me a hug without asking questions. That’s when I make a pot of Healthy Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup.
Creamy chicken noodle soup embraces without explanation. It doesn’t try to solve my problems, nor does it find it strange when I cry for no reason. It’s a girl’s best dinner friend: complete comfort, no pretense.
I first made this recipe for creamy chicken noodle soup while being dominated by the worst stomach bug I’ve had in years.
Nothing tasted appealing to me, and the last thing my body was prepared to tolerate was standing at the stove for a sustained interval.
How to Make Creamy Chicken Soup from Scratch
This easy creamy chicken noodle soup recipe saved me. You see, the ironic thing about chicken noodle soup is that the time when you most need it—when you are sick, weak, and generally feel as if the world is rejecting you—is also the time when you’re least equipped to cook for yourself.
Fortunately, this easy chicken noodle recipe requires only about six minutes of sustained effort. Once the veggies are chopped, the rest of the recipe consists of throwing things into the pot and sitting immobile as they simmer.
(Want easy prep AND hands-off cooking time? Check out my Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup!)
Rather than fuss with a cream-sauce base, the method used to thicken most creamy chicken soup recipes, I simply stirred in a can of evaporated milk during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
It adds richness to the soup, keeps the prep minimal, and limits the dishes to a single pot. Plus, it makes the soup lean, mean, and new year’s resolution-friendly.
In fact, this soup is so slim, we have room to add bling. I topped my soup with crunchy blue tortilla chips (is it just me, or do they taste better than the yellow ones?), cilantro, and shredded chipotle cheddar cheese, but feel free to adjust these to suit your soup preferences.
The only thing you really need for this soup is a spoon.
What to Serve with Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Salad. Soup + salad = my ideal meal. Pair this soup with a simple salad like Arugula Salad.
- Bread. Soup’s best friend is a crusty loaf of bread that’s perfect for dunking.
- Vegetables. Add more veggies to your meal by serving this soup with a side of Brussels Sprouts Chips.
More Easy Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Curried Carrot Apple Peanut Soup
- Healthy Corn Chicken Chowder
- Ultimate Lean Beef and Pepper Chili
Make it a big spoon.
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 carrots peeled and chopped
- 3 celery stalks diced
- ½ yellow onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken*
- 2 ½ cups uncooked egg dumpling noodles
- 1 can evaporated skim milk (12 ounces)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Crushed tortilla chips, shredded pepper jack cheese, and cilantro, optional for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Sauté the carrots, celery, and onion until beginning to soften, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook for 1 minute, stirring continually. Slowly stir in the broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes.
- Add the chicken, noodles, evaporated milk, salt, oregano, and pepper. Stir to combine. Cook the soup for 10 minutes, until the noodles are al dente.
- Serve warm, garnished with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and cilantro.
Notes
- *To cook the chicken in the Instant Pot instead, see this post for Instant Pot Chicken. To cook the chicken in the oven, see this post for Baked Chicken Breast.
Nutrition
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The blue chips definitely taste better than the yellow ones! This soup looks wonderful!
Gak!!! Sorry about the stomach bug. Really sorry. Great soup. Love the noodles that were chose and the blue chips for something different. I never tire of this flavor of soup.
That looks really really good! Those photos, goodness, I just want to grab a spoon and dive right in!
Love your version of chicken noodle! It is so cold here right now, I am practically hibernating and totally in need of comforting food like this :)
This chicken soup looks great and super comforting! I could use a big bowl of this right now!!
Dear Erin, I hope you are feeling good.
I think this soup sounds like a perfect pick-me-up. I like the added tortilla chips on top and the cheese too. The creaminess adds a bit of richness to the soup as well. Great soup!
xo Catherine
I made this on Tuesday thinking it would be enough to eat and have for the freezer. My kids loved it so much that they all had seconds, including my 4 year old who was eating dinner for the second time after spending the evening with his grandfather. My husband didn’t get to eat at all (he works nights in the ICU ) and he is begging me to make it again so he can try the soup the kids keep telling him about! Great recipe! Looking forward to the time you put together a cookbook! For now, I have the recipes in page protectors in a binder!
Hayden, I’m so happy to hear that your entire family loved this!! It makes my day :) Thanks so much for letting me know, and I hope you enjoy the second batch just as much!
Any chance this can be done in a crockpot??
Hi Emily, this is really meant to be a quick heat it up on the stove type of recipe, but I think that with some experimentation you could make it in the crockpot, though I haven’t tested it this way. My best suggestion is to complete the recipe through step 1 on the stove, and then transfer it to the crockpot, add the ingredients in step 2, and cook until the noodles are done, which usually takes around 30 minutes in the crockpot. Basically you would be doing everything on the stove then just transferring it to the crockpot to cook the noodles and stay warm. It wouldn’t really save much effort, but if you’re looking to keep it warm for a while without having the stove on, that may work. (You also might be interested in this crockpot Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup!)
Thank you so much! The Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup is the perfect substitute!
This is such a yummy and easy chicken noodle soup! I love the smoothness of it thanks to the evaporated milk! I actually had to leave the chicken out because I didn’t have any thawed and I wanted to make this immediately when I read it. I added a can of cannellini beans to give it some protein and it’s pretty good. I’d imagine next time when I use chicken it’ll be even better! Thanks for another great recipe!
Jess, I’m so glad you enjoyed the soup! Thanks for sharing this great review!
Quick easy and deliciously creamy! Love the cilantro on top, never thought of that before with chicken noodle!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it, Kristin! Thank you for sharing this kind review!