Creamy Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

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This creamy lemon chicken noodle soup is made with all of the classic ingredients we all love and a cozy creamy broth that’s brightened up with lots of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and thyme.  So comforting and delicious!

It’s been a cold and rainy September week here in Barcelona, which always means one thing in our house…

…soup time! ♡♡♡

I’ve been craving a good cozy bowl of chicken noodle soup for awhile now, so I decided to make a quick batch based off of my favorite recipe.  But for a bit of a different twist, I decided to brighten up the broth this time with a very generous squeeze of lemon juice, some fresh thyme leaves from the garden, plus a splash of cream to make things extra comforting.  And well…it’s basically exactly as delicious as you would expect.  So good!

I served mine with a simple side salad and some roasted broccoli, which ended up being a delicious combo.  And if you happen to have a loaf of crusty bread on hand, I highly recommend tearing off a piece to dunk in that creamy broth.  It’s chilly-weather comfort food at its finest and sure to warm you up.

So let’s make some soup, friends!

Creamy Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients:

Here’s a quick overview of the ingredients that will be needed to make this lemony chicken noodle soup recipe:

• Veggies: The classic mirepoix mix of onion (white or yellow), carrots and celery, sautéed in olive oil.
• Garlic: I love lots of garlic in my chicken noodle soup, either minced or pressed.
• Chicken stock: I really recommend investing in a good-quality brand of chicken stock for this soup, since it’s the base for our broth.
• Cooked chicken: Pre-cooked chicken that has been either diced or shredded.  (This would be a great use for a rotisserie!)
• Egg noodles: I used wide egg noodles for this recipe, but feel free to use whatever kind of pasta you prefer.
• Thyme, bay leaf, sea salt and black pepper: I used fresh thyme (or you could sub in dried thyme), a bay leaf, sea salt and black pepper to season the soup.  Although the herb choice here is quite flexible, so feel free to use basil, sage, rosemary, or whatever herbs you might prefer.
• Heavy cream: I recommend using heavy cream for the broth (versus milk or half and half), which is less likely to curdle when mixed with the lemon juice.  Or alternately, you can employ the Greek avgolemono trick (similar to how I made this creamy soup recipe) and fold some eggs into the broth, which will also make it extra silky and creamy while still being dairy-free.
• Lemon juice: I like this soup pretty lemony, but feel free to add in as much or as little fresh lemon juice as you prefer.

How To Make Chicken Noodle Soup:

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here’s a quick overview of how we’ll make this soup:

1. Sauté the veggies: First, we will sauté the onion, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil until softened.
2. Simmer: Next, we’ll add in the chicken stock, shredded chicken, thyme, bay leaf and bring the soup to a simmer.
3. Cook the noodles: Then it’s time to add in the noodles, and cook until they are just al dente.
4. Season. Finally, we’ll finish the soup by adding in some heavy cream and however much lemon juice you would like.  Taste and season the soup with s&p, plus any extra ingredients that you think it needs.
5. Serve. Then serve it up nice and hot (before the noodles soak up too much more of the broth) and enjoy!

Possible Variations:

This chicken noodle soup recipe is quite flexible, so feel free to tinker around with whatever other ingredients or swaps that you might like to add in.  For example, you could…

• Add greens and/or extra veggies: Some fresh spinach, kale or collards would also be a delicious addition to this soup.  Or feel free to also add in any other veggies that you prefer (such as peas, broccoli or bell pepper).
• Use different herbs: In place of or in addition to thyme, free free to add in some fresh basil, sage, rosemary, or whatever other herbs may sound good.
• Omit the cream: If you would prefer this to be a dairy-free lemony chicken noodle soup, you can just omit the cream entirely.  Or, as I mentioned above, fold in some eggs avgolemono-style to make the broth silky and creamy while still being dairy-free.
• Make it vegetarian: Feel free to sub in a can of rinsed and drained chickpeas in place of the chicken if you would like to make this soup vegetarian.

More Noodle Soup Recipes:

Love noodle soups as much as I do?!  Here are a few more favorite noodle soup recipes to try:

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