About the Recipe
This isn’t a brothy, sippable chicken noodle soup — it’s a real meal. Tender shredded chicken, plenty of vegetables, and just enough broth to hold everything together. Cozy, hearty, and closer to a stew than a soup, this is the chicken noodle soup I’ve quietly worked on for over a decade until it fed people the way I wanted it to.
Ingredients
2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
(or a mix of thighs and breasts)
2 cups carrots, chopped
2 medium sweet yellow onions, diced large
5 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp sea salt, or to taste
½ tsp fine ground black pepper, or to taste
½ tsp freshly ground peppercorn medley, or to taste
32 oz low-sodium chicken stock
32 oz low-sodium chicken broth
1 small bag frozen peas
16 oz medium egg noodles
(or 1 box fettuccini noodles, or 1½ bags Reames frozen egg noodles — preferred)
For serving:
Preparation
In a large slow cooker, add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, poultry seasoning, olive oil, bay leaves, parsley, and fine ground pepper. Nestle the chicken directly on top of the vegetables.
Pour the chicken stock and chicken broth over everything. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce to LOW and cook for 7–8 hours, until the chicken is very tender and easy to shred.
Remove and discard the bay leaves. Using two forks, shred the chicken directly in the slow cooker until fine and well incorporated with the vegetables.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. This may take a few adjustments — the final seasoning depends on the vegetables and the salt level of your broth.
In a separate pot, cook the egg noodles according to package directions. Drain well and add the noodles to the slow cooker. Stir gently to combine, then fold in the frozen peas.
Taste once more and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the soup is thicker than you prefer, add additional chicken broth or water a little at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
Ladle into bowls and finish with extra black pepper if you like it peppery. Serve with crusty sourdough for dipping.
Leaven Heaven Notes
This soup is intentionally thick and hearty — closer to a stew than a broth-heavy soup.
For a lighter version, use chicken breasts only.
For richer flavor, use mostly thighs or a thigh-heavy mix.
Cooking noodles separately prevents them from absorbing too much broth and keeps leftovers perfect.
If your slow cooker is small, transfer everything to a large pot before adding noodles
To reheat if too thick once the noodles have been sitting in the broth in the fridge, just mix a little water into your bowl of "soup" before popping in the microwave