Easy Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

A store-bought rotisserie chicken does the slow part of chicken soup for you. The meat is already cooked and seasoned, so this rotisserie chicken noodle soup only needs time to soften the vegetables, heat the broth, and cook a handful of wide egg noodles. The result is a clear, golden, broth-forward soup with tender shreds of chicken, thin carrot coins, celery, and soft folded noodles. It isn’t creamy and doesn’t try to be.

About the clock: many recipes for this soup promise 30 minutes or less. Counting honestly, plan on about 45 minutes, including 15 minutes to chop the vegetables and pull the chicken. The step that recipes tend to skip is bringing 7 cups of broth to a boil, which takes 10 to 12 minutes on most home burners. Warming the broth in the microwave or a second pot while the vegetables cook brings the total closer to 35 minutes.

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The Shopping List, Briefly

Rotisserie chicken: One average chicken gives roughly 3 to 4 cups of meat. Use 3 cups, shredded by hand into bite-size pieces, skin and bones discarded. Mixing white and dark meat keeps the soup from tasting dry. Refrigerate the chicken within 2 hours of buying it and use it within 3 to 4 days. It is already cooked, so it goes in at the very end only to heat through.

Broth: Seven cups of low-sodium chicken broth. Rotisserie chicken is salted, so starting with low-sodium broth leaves room to season at the end.

Noodles: Two cups of dry wide egg noodles, about 3 to 4 ounces. That amount keeps the soup brothy. Doubling the noodles turns it into chicken and noodles, especially after it sits.

Vegetables and aromatics: One onion, finely diced; three carrots cut into thin coins (about 1/8 inch); two celery stalks, thinly sliced; three garlic cloves. Butter and olive oil together give the vegetables a rounder flavor without browning too fast.

Seasonings: Dried parsley, thyme, and rosemary (crumble the rosemary between your fingers), garlic powder, black pepper, a bay leaf, lemon juice, fresh parsley, and kosher salt. Turmeric is optional; a 1/4 teaspoon in this much broth only deepens the golden color slightly. More than that turns the broth yellow and adds an earthy taste.

Step by Step

Soften the vegetables (about 7 minutes)

Melt the butter with the oil in a 6-quart pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring now and then, for 5 to 6 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. You aren’t looking for color. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. If you’re warming the broth separately, start it now.

Bring the broth to a gentle boil (10 to 12 minutes)

Pour in the broth and add the dried parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, turmeric if using, pepper, and bay leaf. Raise the heat and bring the pot to a gentle boil. Cold broth takes 10 to 12 minutes to get there; warmed broth, 2 or 3. The carrots keep cooking during this time, so by the time the noodles go in they are nearly tender.

Cook the noodles (6 to 8 minutes)

Stir in the egg noodles and keep the pot at a gentle boil, not a hard rolling one, which breaks the noodles apart and clouds the broth. Start tasting at 5 minutes. Pull the pot back to low heat as soon as the noodles are tender but still have some body. They keep softening in the hot broth.

Add the chicken and finish (3 to 4 minutes)

Add the shredded chicken and heat it for 2 to 3 minutes, until hot all the way through. Remove the bay leaf. Turn off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and fresh parsley, then taste and add salt a little at a time. The lemon goes in last, off the heat, so it brightens the broth without tasting sour.

Keeping the Noodles from Going Soft

Egg noodles absorb broth for as long as they sit in it. A pot that is served right away is fine. The trouble starts with leftovers: by the next day, rotisserie chicken noodle soup that was stored with its noodles has puffy noodles and much less broth. If you know you’ll have leftovers, cook the noodles in a separate pot of salted water, drain them, and add them to each bowl. Store the noodles and the soup separately. If the noodles are already in the soup, add a splash of broth or water when you reheat it.

Storing and Reheating

• Refrigerate: Cool, cover, and refrigerate within 2 hours. Because the chicken was cooked before it went into the soup, use the soup within 3 days.
• Reheat: Warm individual portions on the stove or in the microwave until steaming hot throughout (165°F), stirring once.
• Freeze: Freeze the soup without noodles for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, reheat, and cook fresh noodles to add.

More Soups

If rotisserie chicken noodle soup is your weeknight default and you want a change, start here. For a heartier, cheesy chicken soup made in the slow cooker, try our cheesy Rotel chicken soup. Our chickpea soup is a meatless pot with a similar brothy feel. You’ll find more in the fall soup recipes collection and the soups section.

Common Questions

Can I use leftover roast chicken instead?
Yes. Any fully cooked chicken works the same way: shred it and add it at the end just to heat through. Raw chicken needs a different method and more time.

Why is my broth cloudy?
A hard boil after the noodles go in releases more starch and breaks the noodles. Keep it at a gentle boil.

Can I use a different noodle?
Medium egg noodles cook a minute or two faster. Thicker frozen egg noodles take longer, so add them before the broth fully boils and follow the package time.

How much salt does it need?
It depends on your broth and chicken, which is why the salt goes in last. Start with 1/2 teaspoon, stir, and taste before adding more.

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