This is the best Crack Chicken Noodle Soup - it is a delicious, cozy, and hearty soup that is so simple to fix.
Crack Chicken Noodle Soup
I love making Crack Chicken Noodle Soup because it’s the perfect blend of creamy, savory, and comforting flavors.
While I usually focus on healthy, wholesome recipes, sometimes a cozy indulgence like this hits the spot—especially on chilly days.
I’ll guide you through the recipe with simple steps and helpful tips, so you can enjoy this rich, satisfying soup whenever the craving strikes.
This homemade soup is made with lots of fresh chunky veggies, shredded chicken, and my secret ingredient - Cream of Chicken Soup. You'll love it!
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Why It's Yummy
- Ideal for lazy weeknight meals, it's a picky eater-approved dish.
- Unlike other versions with numerous ingredients, frozen veggies, and canned soups, my recipe aims for a lighter, healthier soup.
- Lots of flavors yet this soup is still low-sodium. And one of the key ingredients to achieve this is my homemade cream of chicken soup (or mushroom soup).
I highly recommend taking extra time to make cream of chicken soup from scratch too.
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Chicken - Use leftover chicken from previous night’s dinner, grilled chicken breasts, or store-bought rotisserie chicken (check the seasonings on the packaging as these are often not all gluten-free). Chicken can be diced, shredded, or sliced into strips for this soup.
- Bacon - I love to cook the bacon in the pan until slightly crispy and then add them to the pan. Feel free to use standard or thick-cut bacon, store-bought bacon bits, or low-fat pork alternative turkey bacon instead.
- Pasta/Noodles - I recommend long noodles, egg noodles, angel hair pasta, and spaghetti for this soup.
- For gluten-free noodles, look for similar noodle types but with a GF label on the package. Jovial and Barilla's brands make our favorite noodles from brown rice. Don’t use red lentil pasta as it will quickly become mushy and fall apart in the broth.
- Packet Ranch Dressing mix - You can also make this yourself at home. You can also make your own homemade ranch seasoning.
- Or for a quick shortcut and healthier substitutions simply mix onion and garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic cloves and onion), flavored salt (try my celery salt), and some dried herbs.
- Cream of chicken soup - My homemade recipe version is easy and low sodium without sacrificing the flavor.
- Chicken stock/broth - Try to go for low-sodium chicken stock as it will allow you to control the number of seasonings yourself. Choose your favorite and best broth, because this is one of the most important base ingredients that will give your soup the right flavor.
- Vegetables - We will need the usual suspects that are generally used in most of the stews or soups - such as celery carrots, onions, or scallions. Or use whatever odd veggies you have forgotten in the fridge.
- Whole milk or plant-based milk, such as almond milk, along with chicken stock, are the base ingredients in this soup. You can use any fat milk, but for the best creamy result, use whole milk.
How to Make The Best Crack Chicken Noodle Soup From Scratch?
- In a medium skillet, heat a little vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil due to its high smoke point) and add roughly chopped bacon.
- Cook until done, drain, and set aside.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, combine cooked, cooked chicken, celery, carrots, cream of chicken soup, chicken stock, milk, cream cheese, and ranch dressing mix, and add bacon.
- Stir and cook on medium heat. Take it to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. About 20 minutes in total.
- Throw in your noodles, and sharp cheddar cheese, and simmer until spaghetti noodles are almost cooked.
- Add some boiled water, if needed.
- Garnish with freshly chopped green onions, and crispy bacon, and serve with freshly baked bread.
For more creamy chicken recipes, don't miss my creamy chicken pasta, chicken enchilada casserole or chicken stuffed zucchini boats.
Tips and Shortcuts
- Any part of chicken can be used, I prefer boneless skinless chicken thighs due to their tender and juicy texture. For a quick shortcut, leftover chicken from last night's dinner is perfect too.
- Break up the long pasta. To make it easier to eat, break down the pasta in half or even smaller pieces before adding it to the soup.
- To make this soup lighter, you can omit the cream of chicken and use half and half instead or simply milk. The texture will be not as thick but starch from the pasta will help to thicken the soup.
- If you get stuck with too watery soup, you can add a cornstarch slurry to the mix. Mix 1 or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water and slowly pour into the soup. Simmer on low until the soup has thickened.
- Avoid overcooking the noodles. Cook the noodles until almost cooked and remove the soup from the heat. The noodles will continue to cook in the hot soup.
- Don’t overseason the soup. Depending on the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup you’ll be using it is very easy to add too much salt, especially without tasting the soup first.
- Taste the soup multiple times during cooking and only add salt and pepper towards the end.
- Chicken broth matters - this gives the soup the main flavor along with the cream of chicken soup. Make sure the one you are using is true and tested and of the best quality.
- If you have time, one of the best chicken stock is when you make your own at home with dark chicken meat on the bone and vegetables such as celery, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, and spices.
Julia's Pasta Tip
If I cook the noodles directly in the soup, I try to eat it within 24 hours for the best texture.
If I know I’ll be storing the soup for a few days, I cook the pasta separately to keep it from getting too soft.
Storing, Freezing And Make Ahead Instructions
- Store in the fridge, in the same pot you cook it in, or in an airtight container. It should last for 3-4 days.
- Freezing. For best results consume the soup within 24 hours (best flavor). If you need to freeze it do it right away after cooking. Transfer the creamy soup into airtight containers or freezer-friendly ziplock bags and freeze up to 3-4 months.
- Make ahead. Place the soup back onto the stovetop let it come to a gentle boil, and add noodles. Cook until done. Or alternatively, you can cook the noodles separately and add then to the soup. As we are adding the cream of chicken soup here, the soup will be still thick even without noodles starch which helps to thicken the soup even further.
Serving Suggestions
- With freshly baked homemade garlic bread, ciabatta or panini, and bruschetta.
- Grilled cheese sandwiches will work amazingly here as well.
- Cornbread or cornbread muffins paired with crack chicken noodle soup taste quite incredible too. You can use less sweetener in the cornbread or omit it completely for a more savory flavor.
- Also for Gluten-free folks, we like to use Schar’s Gluten-Free Table Crackers or crostinis. You can find these on Amazon or Walmart.
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Crack Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
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INGREDIENTS
- 2 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cooked and diced or shredded
- 1 ½ cup homemade condensed chicken soup
- 1 cup milk
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 teaspoon packet ranch dressing
- 12 slices of bacon , + more for garnish
- 1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup cream cheese
- 8 oz. thin spaghetti, uncooked, GF if preferred
- 1 handful of green onions or scallions, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium skillet, heat vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil due to its high smoke point) and add roughly chopped bacon. Cook until done, drain, and set aside.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, over medium-high heat, combine cooked, pulled, or diced into cubes chicken, celery, carrots, condensed soup, chicken stock, milk, cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and add bacon. Stir and cook on medium heat. Take it to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. About 20 minutes in total.
- Throw in your noodles, sharp cheddar cheese, and simmer until spaghetti noodles are almost cooked. Add some boiled water, if needed.
- Garnish with freshly chopped green onions, crispy bacon, and serve with freshly baked bread. Delicious!
- I hope you and your family will enjoy this Creamy Chicken Noodle soup!
VIDEO
NOTES
- Make my easy Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup recipe instead of buying from he store.
- Avoid overcooking the noodles. Cook the noodles until almost cooked and remove the soup from the heat. The noodles will continue to cook in the hot soup.
- Don’t overseason the soup - depending on the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup you’ll be using it is very easy to add too much salt especially without tasting the soup first. Taste the soup multiple times during cooking and only add salt and pepper towards the end.
- Chicken broth matters - this gives the soup the main flavor along with the cream of chicken soup. Make sure the one you are using is true and tested and of the best quality.
- If the noodles were cooked in the soup, it is best to consume the soup within 24 hours. If at the stage of making, you know you want to keep it refrigerated for days, do not cook the pasta directly in the soup. Cook it separately and then add it to the soup. This way it will not thicken the soup so much.
- Store this creamy chicken soup in the fridge, in the same pot you cook it in, or in an airtight container. It should last for 3-4 days.
ADD YOUR OWN PRIVATE NOTES
NUTRITION
FAQs
Once the soup is cooked it should be on the thicker side. But as the noodles sit in the soup, they will become bigger and the starch from these will naturally thicken the soup.
The longer you store the soup, the thicker it gets, To thin it out add more water, milk or chicken broth.
For reheating, take a smaller pot and reheat on the stove until piping hot.
Naturally the soup will be thicker after refrigerating and you may need to add some extra liquid to thin it out.
For reheating individual bowls, simply microwave bowl of soup for a couple of minutes.
Sure, for this chicken noodle soup shorter pasta works very well too. Rotini, fusilli, penne, rigatoni all taste great in this creamy soup.
Once upon a time, there was a famous seasoning blend for chicken - it was called crack chicken. Later, the name evolved into dishes mainly consisting of chicken, bacon, ranch seasoning, and cheese.
Now all these combined ingredients will probably have crack chicken somewhere in the recipe name.
This offers an amazing way to repurpose leftover rotisserie chicken.
More Soup Recipes
If you enjoy soups and one-pot meal recipes, try these similar hearty soups next time.
- Chicken Soup With Kale
- Chicken Tortilla Soup (With Rotisserie Chicken)
- Crock Pot Chicken Chili With Cream Cheese
- White Bean Chicken Chili
ALL DINNER recipes.
Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
This recipe has been adapted from My Incredible Recipes
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
It's definitely soup season right now and this chicken noodle soup was perfect. Packed full of flavour and really satisfying too.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Glad you liked it Amanda
Ieva
So nice and comforting! We love soups during the colder months and this has been on repeat for us this year! Love how simple, but flavoursome your recipe is!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
thank you Ieva, it's incredibly flavorful!
Lima Ekram
Just made it - very tasty! Loved the flavor combination!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
thank you, we loved it too!
Vanessa
Yum! So comforting and delicious!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Thanks Vanessa
Sonal Gupta
I made this soup today and it was DELISH. I didn/t have to make any alterations. Will repeat it again.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
So glad to hear that you liked it Sonal
Lili
This is the best crack chicken noodle soup that you'll want to make again and again!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Yes thank you!