This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Enjoy Panera bread chicken noodle soup at home for a fraction of the price and save time too. We love it with grilled cheese for a super quick weeknight dinner that is the best comfort food.
Copycat Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup:
Do you love Panera Bread? I’m so excited to share this delicious Copycat Panera Bread chicken Noodle soup recipe with you. My family loves to eat at Panera and their soup is always amazing.
As we ate it the other day, I realized that this recipe would be so easy to recreate. Chicken noodle soup is a very easy copycat recipe to make and very frugal to make for a crowd.
I love that the ingredients are easy, and it is simple to make just like Panera Bread Tomato Soup Recipe or Crockpot Chicken and Noodles. Serve it with this Panera Fuji Apple Salad.
Is Panera chicken noodle soup healthy?
Yes, it is. The recipe only uses a cup of pasta and you could probably even reduce that and not notice. If you are worried about sodium, try using the reduced sodium chicken broth.
Try switching out the noodles to gluten-free noodles if you prefer. We love how versatile this recipe is. You can even add in more carrots and chicken to make it even more filling.
You can find more detailed nutrition information on the recipe card.
Ingredients:
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- Chicken Broth
- Water
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onion
- Thyme
- Bay Leaf
- Garlic salt – minced garlic also is fine.
- Salt and Black Pepper
- Egg Noodles
Now the ingredients list seem long, but they really aren’t. Some chicken, some broth, egg noodles, sliced carrots, celery, onions and some seasoning. It is really that easy!
How to make Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe:
Now, you can make this delicious recipe 2 ways – either on the stove or in the crock pot. I prefer it in the crock pot because I can toss everything in, before I head off to work.
How to make on the stove top.
- First, drizzle a pot with olive oil. Add the carrots, onion and celery and cook for a few minutes until they start to get soft.
- Add the chopped perfectly seasoned homestyle chicken to the pot and pour chicken broth or water over. Chicken broth will give it more flavor. Let the chicken simmer with all the ingredients.
- Next, add the seasonings.
- Bring everything to a boil and cook until you see the chicken start to fall apart.
- Take the chicken out and shred. Add back to the soup.
- Finally, add the noodles (uncooked) to the ingredients and cook until noodles are ready.
How to make Chicken Noodle soup in the crock pot
- First, place everything (except the noodles) in the crock pot. It is that easy.
- Next, cook this on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
- About 45 minutes before serving, take the chicken out and shred.
- Finally, add the chicken back to the pot and add the egg noodles. Set your crock pot to high at this point (if not already on it) so the noodles will cook faster. This should take about 30 minutes.
Either way you want to cook this delicious recipe I think you will find your family a new delicious dinner idea that costs WAY less than heading to the restaurant.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes, you can. If you are prepping meals for the week, you can definitely combine and cook everything ahead of time. Don’t add the noodles until you are ready to serve as they will get mushy.
How to make Chicken noodle soup fast:
- Use precooked chicken, rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from the night before. Using chicken already cooked means this goes from stove to table in under 30 minutes!
- We keep diced onion in the freezer and it makes it so quick and easy for recipes like this. Just grab what you need and go. This also works for the carrots and celery in the soup. Chop and freeze for later!
- If you need to thicken your broth, add in about 1 teaspoon xanthan gum.
How to serve leftovers
If you are making enough soup for leftovers, it is recommended to keep the noodles separate. When making this soup, my family prefers to keep everything separate and they can dish out how much of each they want.
You can cook all together but only if you plan on it eating it the next day. This will prevent the noodles from absorbing all the liquid.
Can you freeze chicken noodle soup
Yes, we love freezing chicken noodle soup so we can have homemade soup anytime without all the extra work.
See Can you Freeze Chicken Noodle soup for more information.
How to reheat?
To reheat the leftover chicken noodle soup, place all ingredients in a sauce pan and reheat. If you did keep some uncooked noodles, cook them according to the package.
This soup is great leftover. I like to store in individual containers for my husband and I for lunch the next day.
What to serve with Panera chicken noodle soup:
- Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe
- Easy Caesar Salad Recipe
- Crusty Artisan Bread
- Find more side dishes in our What to Serve with Chicken Noodle Soup.
Print this Panera chicken noodle soup recipe:
CopyCat Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 2 cups water (may need to add more)
- 4 Carrots (peeled and diced into bite size pieces)
- 2 Stalks Celery (diced into bite size pieces)
- 1/2 Onion (diced)
- 1 tsp Thyme
- 1 Bay Ltheaf
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 2 cups Egg noodles
Instructions
Stove Top Instructions:
- Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.
- Add in the carrots, onion and celery.
- Sauté for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the chicken and the chicken broth to the stock pot.
- Stir in the seasonings (thyme, bay leaf, garlic salt, salt and pepper).
- Bring the water to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to medium low and cook until the chicken is cooked through (reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F). This cooking time will vary based on if you use frozen chicken or fresh chicken and based on the chicken size. This generally takes 15-20 minutes for the chicken to cook.
- Remove chicken and shred.
- Return the shredded chicken back to the stock pot.
- Add in the uncooked egg noodles and water. Cook until they are cooked through. Remove the bay leaf, serve warm and enjoy!
Crock Pot Instructions:
- Place everything (except the noodles) in the crock pot.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Remove chicken and shred.
- Return the chicken back to the crock pot. Turn crock pot on high and add egg noodles.
- Cook for 30 minutes until the noodles will be done and dinner is served!
- Remove the bay leaf from the crock pot, serve warm and enjoy!
It was really good, but I had to add more chicken broth because the thyme was way too strong
Thanks for sharing Vicki and thanks for sharing your tips on if the seasonings is too strong. I love the flavor of thyme so I haven’t had that issue before.
This is almost the exact recipe that I have made for decades. Makes a great chicken noodle soup and comes together very quickly. Never had a complaint. Everyone loves it. I need to check out Panera’s version. Thanks.
I’m glad you enjoy it Star! Thank you for the positive review!
Great soup recipe with lots of flavor. Like have the stock pot and crock pot directions. Some thought a bit too peppery so could cut back the amount of black pepper
I’m glad you enjoyed Diane. Thanks for sharing!
This is the only chicken soup I make now. My favorite. Save some money & tons of leftovers.
I’m so glad you love it! This is one of my favs too.
Best recipe on a cold day or just enjoy it anytime.
Everyone loved it. Will definitely make this again.
Made this for a church fund raiser supper. Best chicken noodle soup I have ever had. I already had chicken cooked and in freezer so got to skip that step and just add it. So good!!
This soup is delicious and has quickly become our family’s favorite.
recipe sounds delicious! No crock pot; how long to cook in regular pot?
I have listed stove top and crock pot instructions in the recipe at the bottom of the post. I hope you enjoy it!
Just made this and it was excellent! I tend not to eat chicken noodle often because it lacks flavor but this was delicious! I cooked it in the crockpot, I did add 2 teaspoons of parsley and better than bouillon chicken flavor, otherwise followed the recipe! Love that cooking the noodles in the soup made it a little thicker. So yummy!
Made a double batch and frozen one minus the noodles.
We just did the second batch and I swear it was even better!!! Spices had fused into the meat and veggies!!!
from someone who has had a LOT of chicken noodle soup, this is my FAVORITE. absolutely love this recipe, my only thing is that idk what soup she’s making that only takes 25 min cause this is AT LEAST a 1 1/2 hour recipe
This is a delicious recipe. I made the 2x portion. I used boneless chicken thighs instead of breast. I used 1 box chicken stock and one box of chicken broth. I cut the salt to 1/2 tsp and used 1 tsp of thyme and 2 tsp of marjoram. When adding the noodles at the end I used chicken broth instead of water. This is definitely my go to recipe for chicken soup from now on!
How much is a serving size of this soup?
Each batch is slightly different so it’s difficult to put an exact size on the serving. It’s approximately 1/6 of the entire recipe since the recipe serving 6. Thank you!
Made this soup last week for my husband when he was sick, and absolutely loved it! He just requested it again tonight. By far his favorite chicken noodle soup.
I made this for my family today and it is delicious and the family loved it!! Easy and delicious. Doesn’t get better than that.
Panera’s soups arrive in 10 gallon bags. It would be nice to think they are making in from scratch in their kitchen daily.
Yes, I agree but I can make this one from scratch at home and it tastes amazing!
Love this chicken noodle soup recipe! Not going to buy canned anymore for sure!
I’m so glad you love it!
I made this tonight for my fiancé who is the furthest thing from a soup lover, and he devoured it. My first time ever making homemade chicken noodle soup and it turned out amazing!! I did add more bay leaves, and a little more salt because I like my broths on the salty side. Will definitely be making this again!
We love this recipe and I’m so glad you liked it.