BEST Chicken Soup Recipe (aka Sunday Afternoon Roasted Chicken Soup) – The ultimate comfort food, elevated! This chicken soup recipe has become a Wooden Skillet classic and I am so excited that you all love it as much as I do! Feel free to add noodles (gluten-free or regular) if you want or leave them out!
Best Ever Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
So I am beyond excited to share this Sunday Afternoon Roasted Chicken Soup recipe with you guys – promise me you will make it sometime soon!! Especially if anyone you know is fighting a cold! It combines two of my favorite recipes: roasted chicken and chicken soup!
So you are essentially roasting a chicken in your dutch oven first and then in that same pot and using that same roasted chicken, you are making some wickedly flavorful broth that will be the base of your soup! The depth of flavor is unreal! Comfort food at its finest :). Can’t wait for you to make some!!
Why This Recipe Works
- Roasted Chicken: the first step in this process is to roast a whole chicken – that just results in the most delicious chicken flavor ever!
- Broth: after we roast a whole chicken we then add in some chicken broth. Now, you CAN make your own, homemade broth through this process OR you can simply add in store-bought broth (or some of your own frozen homemade chicken broth) – totally up to you. But the flavor is just out of this world!
- Love: not to get too mushy .. but this recipe does require some love and attention. I know a lot of my recipes are pretty quick and easy, but I also have a place in my heart for “weekend recipes” or recipes that take a little bit more time and are meant for a cozy weekend in. This is one of them. It is also the perfect recipe to bring to a sick friend or relative that needs a little bowl of love!
What You Will Need
- whole roasting chicken (fresh or thawed): this is the base of our soup – we will be roasting it and then letting it sit in the broth before shredding and adding back into the soup.
- salt + pepper: to season the chicken before roasting.
- soft ghee or butter: this is also added on the chicken before roasting – feel free to just use olive oil if you can’t do dairy.
- yellow onion + celery + carrots: we will be using some of these to roast with the chicken and we will be using another batch to actually chop up and add in with the soup.
- garlic: for flavor!
- fresh rosemary + thyme + sage leaves + bay leaf + oregano + black peppercorn: some delicious fresh herbs to up that amazing flavor!
- chicken broth: this is added in after the chicken roasts.
Can you Freeze Homemade Chicken Soup
Yes! You can definitely freeze it – simply place in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 months. Note: if you are wanting to add noodles I wouldn’t recommend adding those in before freezing!
Leftovers
It makes the best leftovers! I love having this for leftover lunches during the week! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (store your noodles separately, if using) for up to 3 days.
How to Make Chicken Soup
Pat your chicken dry with a clean paper towel. Rub with butter and salt + pepper. Roast with veggies and garlic. Then remove from oven and place on stove top. Add broth and let simmer.
Remove chicken and let cool. Strain the broth.
Add the shredded chicken back in along with fresh, chopped veggies and let those cook until firm but soft.
Serve and enjoy!
If you want to add in noodles I HIGHLY recommend cooking those separately because otherwise they will soak up the broth in the soup!
Feel free to add noodles if you want, but make sure and cook them separately so they don’t soak up all the broth!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
- Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Salsa Verde Chicken (IP + Slow Cooker)
- Healthy Meatloaf
- Simple Seared Ahi Tuna
- Fried Zucchini
Feel free to add some noodles if you want – I love the Jovial brand if you are gluten-free!
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Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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BEST Chicken Soup Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 15 cups
- Category: Soup
- Method: Oven, Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
Best Chicken Soup – The perfect recipe to make on a relaxing, cozy Sunday afternoon – it is seriously the BEST chicken soup recipe! Feel free to add noodles if you want!
Ingredients
Broth
- (1) 5-6 pound whole roasting chicken (fresh or thawed)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons soft ghee (grass-fed butter, olive oil or vegan butter would work as well)
- 1 yellow onion, quartered
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 4–5 pieces
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 4 pieces each
- 1 head of garlic, cut of the top (or smash approx. 5–6 cloves)
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 3–4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1–2 fresh sage leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1–2 fresh sprig oregano
- 1 Tablespoon black peppercorn
Soup
- 8 cups chicken broth (you can also use 8 cups of water to make broth completely from scratch OR you could do 4 cups broth + 4 cups water. If you use broth your soup will only turn out that much richer. Just check your ingredients on the broth if concerned with Whole30)
- Shredded chicken
- 4 stalks of celery, sliced
- 6 medium-large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 sweet yellow onion, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- Optional: gluten-free noodles, diced parsnip, diced sweet potato, diced turnip
Instructions
Broth:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place chicken in 5 1/2 qt. Le Creuset Dutch Oven and rub all over with softened ghee
- Sprinkle with generous amounts of salt and pepper to coat.
- Place onion, carrots, celery and garlic around the chicken.
- Roast, uncovered, for 1.5 hours.
- Remove from oven and place on burner.
- Add broth (and/or water) and turn heat up to high.
- Add rosemary, thyme, sage, bay leaf, oregano and peppercorn.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover.
- Simmer (covered) as long as possible – if you used chicken broth I would suggest 2 hours – if you used water and broth I would suggest 3-4 hours – if you used all water I would suggest 4-6 hours.
Soup:
- Remove chicken and set aside to cool slightly.
- Strain broth and discard the cooked vegetables (they will be very soggy and not good for much after cooking for so long).
- Place strained broth back in your dutch oven.
- Once chicken is cooled enough, remove all the meat and place it in the broth (Note: depending on how big your chicken is, feel free not use all the chicken if you feel the chicken-broth ratio is off. If you want a thicker, chunkier soup then use it all, but if you want more of a broth-based soup then reserve some of the chicken for another purpose.)
- Also feel free to keep the chicken bones to make bone broth!
- Once the chicken meat is back in the broth, add your onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf.
- Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste, a pinch at a time.
- This would also be the time to add any other ingredients you want (sweet potato, turnip, parsnip or noodles).
- Let simmer approx. 8-10 minutes or until your vegetables are cooked, but still firm.
Notes
- Adaptable: This is one of those recipes that you can adapt very easily to fit what you like! My preferred method is to roast with ghee, use broth, simmer on low 2 hours (but I have also only simmered for 30 minutes – 1 hour and it is still amazing!).
- Time Saver: Since the chicken is already fully cooked you can reduce the cooking time in Step 10 of the Broth Instructions to whatever works for you!
- Bone Broth: you could add bone broth in Step 7 of Broth Instructions to make it extra gut-healing!
- Noodles: If you are adding noodles I would recommend cooking them separately beforehand and then adding to the soup – otherwise as they are cooking they will soak up all of the broth.
- Homemade Broth Version: I touched on this in the recipe card instructions, but wanted to highlight again – feel free to use water instead of broth in Instruction #7. It will need to cook much longer and you will need to add additional salt, but you will end up with some delicious homemade broth! If you have the time I highly recommend!
- Whole30/Paleo: If you are concerned with Whole30/Paleo just check those ingredients in your broth!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Approx. 1 cup
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 7.1 g
- Sodium: 1352.7 mg
- Fat: 5.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.3 g
- Protein: 9.7 g
- Cholesterol: 28.3 mg
Kendra Beckett says
After roasting the chicken in the oven, do you continue to cook it on the stove top another 2 hours? Or do you remove it after roasting and only cook the broth another 2 hours? I really want to try this, but I want to be sure I’m not over cooking the chicken!
Erin says
Hi Kendra! So after you roast the chicken you simply add the broth in with the chicken! The chicken will be fine! You can always watch the video I have linked in the recipe card too if you have questions -that might help to have a visual!
Jenna says
I love making this recipe! I bought enough ingredients to make it twice this week – once for a meal with left overs and another time to freeze for my upcoming maternity leave. Yummm!
Erin says
I am so happy to hear that, Jenna!:)
Sarah Thrasher says
By far the best chicken soup recipe I’ve made. My family loved it too.
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Sarah! This is a favorite of mine as well 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time leave your feedback – I really appreciate it!
Grace says
So good and it makes your house smell like heaven.
Erin says
I agree! It really does make your house smell amazing 🙂 Thanks so much for the feedback, Grace! I really appreciate it.
Lauren B says
Hello! So excited to make this today. The largest chicken my store carries was 3lb. Do you think it would make sense to reduce the initial roasting time? Or keep it the same to get the color & flavor developed? Thank you – great job with the takeover this week!!
Erin says
Hi, Lauren! I think you could reduce the cooking time a bit (you don’t want the chicken to dry out!). And thank you so much – I really appreciate that!
Heather says
Just finished your roasted soup and my house smells amazing! Thank you for sharing a great recipe!
Erin says
Aw yay!!! Of course – glad you enjoyed it!
ROBIN OLDFIELD says
My favorite chicken soup recipe! The flavors are so delicious. It’s a true labor of love and worth every minute.
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Robin! and I agree – totally worth every minute 🙂 Thank so much for the feedback – I really appreciate it!
Morgan says
Making this now! It’s a dreary fall day and I wasn’t prepared, so I’m using chicken thighs from the freezer and dry spices. It smells delicious!
Erin says
Yay!! What a perfect day for this recipe – enjoy!!!
Patty Nunes says
Erin,
I made this soup twice and I love it. I shared with friends and they loved it. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks
Patty Nunes
Nashville, TN
Erin says
So, so happy to hear that, Patty! It is truly one of my favorites 🙂 Thanks so much for your feedback – I really appreciate it!
Kathy says
I made this today and it was delicious!! Little time consuming but well worth it. I used orzo and added corn.
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Kathy! Yes, homemade chicken soup is definitely a labor of love! I love the addition of orzo and corn!
Deanna Atkinson says
I like the look of this recipe. Going to give it a try. Only instead of roasting the chicken and adding premade stock, I always roast my chickens, then make a stock from the carcass. That goes into my soup. So much better than store bought.
My question is, how to do you DE-thaw a chicken? Do you take a thawed one and put it back in the freezer? If so, that is extremely unhealthy. It should state “thawed chicken”.
Erin says
Hi Deanna. If you read the recipe card there is an option to create your own broth using the roasted chicken, it just takes longer. Totally up to you which way works best for you! Just a simple typo with the “de-thaw” – fixing it.
Stefanie says
I made the soup a couple of weeks ago when I was really sick and it gave me life. It is delicious, nourishing and comforting. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe.
Erin says
Hi Stefanie! I am so glad you enjoyed it and I hope it made you feel a little better! Hope you are on the mend and thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback – I really appreciate it!
Cat says
Very good. I am a little slow with my prep so it took me a while but I will be saving this recipe.
Erin says
Hi Cat! So glad you enjoyed it! I made some the other day too and finished off the leftovers today! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback, I really appreciate it!
Angela says
Great recipe. I added ginger, turmeric, and Israeli couscous during the 8-10 minute final simmer.
Erin says
Yay!!! So glad you enjoyed it and I LOVE the additions – the couscous sounds amazing! Thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback, I greatly appreciate it!
Megan J says
I’m making it now! What do you do with the giblets?
Erin says
Discard or you can save them for an alternative use if you have one!
rosalie latinski says
delicious
Erin says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!