Add 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 8 cups chicken broth, 4 chopped celery stalks, 4 peeled and chopped carrots, and ½ diced onion to a large stock pot or Dutch oven.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
Remove the chicken from the pot and shred it with two forks.
Return the shredded chicken to the stock pot.
Stir in ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 bay leaves, and 2 cups water.
Increase the heat and bring the soup back to a boil.
Stir in 2 cups egg noodles.
Cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender.
Remove and discard the 2 bay leaves.
Serve immediately while warm and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
Use a Food Processor to Dice Veggies - I love using a food processor to dice the veggies for my favorite soup recipes. A food process is easy to use to dice up all my veggies and makes them small enough to easily serve on a spoon.
Dice up extra Vegetables - When I make this soup, I will dice up all the vegetables at one time. Then freeze the leftovers to use in other soup recipe. For example, I will dice up the entire bag of celery, use what I need for this recipe. Then freezer the leftovers so they are easy to grab for when I'm ready to make another soup for my family.
Use Leftover Chicken - This soup is great to make with leftover chicken. I will initially make extra chicken one night so that I can use the leftovers in this soup another night of the week.
Use what Herbs you have - I love using thyme in this recipe. But if you don't have any on hand, use different herbs instead that you already have in pantry. The flavor will be a little different than in my recipe but will still be delicious. Rosemary, Oregano or Basil would all work great in this easy soup recipe.
Substitutions and Additions
Make it creamy - Add in a cup of heavy cream or whole milk into the soup for the last 5-10 minutes of the cook time. This makes a creamy chicken noodle soup.
Add more veggies - This soup is a great way to get in some of those healthy veggies. You can add in your favorite type. Stir in fresh spinach or kale into the soup. Add in toward the end of the cook time is an easy way to add in my nutritional vegetables to this recipe.
Egg Noodles - I prefer egg noodles but rotini would work great too. Check the cook time on the pasta that you use in this recipe as more time might be needed.
Add a little bit of lemon - If you love lemon, add a small amount of lemon juice (1/2 a lemon). Add right before serving to give this soup a delicious and sweet lemon flavor.
Use Potatoes or Rice - If you don't love noodles or maybe your family cannot have gluten. This soup is delicious with diced up potatoes or cooked rice stirred into it instead of the noodles.
Change Chicken - I usually use chicken breasts for this recipe but chicken thighs would work great too. You can use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken or boil some chicken if you don't have either of those on hand.
Chicken Stock - Chicken stock can also work in this recipe.
Carrots - Whole carrots that have been peeled and diced. You can use baby carrots. If you use baby carrots, ensure that you dice them up so that they are easy to eat in this soup.
Garlic - Garlic salt or garlic powder would work great too if you don't have any minced garlic on hand.