Warm up from the inside with this recipe for homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup from scratch. Make it with rich homemade stock or the most delicious store-bought gluten free broth.
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The secret to the best chicken soup
There's a secret to making really good gluten free chicken noodle soup, and it's simple. Cook each element of the soup with only those ingredients that are essential to its success, and only when you need them.
I used to make homemade chicken soup by cooking everything together in the same pot, removing impurities and whole pieces by straining, and then serving all the cooked vegetables and chicken meat.
I added as much liquid as I wanted to serve. Then, I would boil the noodles in the stock, add back in the vegetables and meat, and serve.
Now, I make the stock as much as 1 week ahead of time by only boiling skin-on, bone-in dark meat parts with large chunks of vegetables. I assume that everything in that pot is going to end up without a ton of flavor, so I don't add anything that I plan to count on for serving, other than some surviving dark meat.
The white meat chicken is cooked separately. The gluten free noodles are boiled separately and only added to the soup on serving. Everything retains its flavor and texture.
What kind of broth is best?
This recipe is best, of course, when you make it with rich homemade chicken stock by boiling dark meat chicken including skin and bones with carrots, celery and onions. It takes time, though, and that's not often an option.
Does that mean that you can't make delicious chicken soup unless you make your own stock? Of course not!
There are so many brands that sell boxed chicken stock that is gluten free. Always use the stock that tastes best to you, because it's the most plentiful ingredient in the soup.
I really like Pacific brand low sodium chicken stock and buy it when it goes on sale to make chicken soup, and gluten free chicken and dumplings. There are many other brands that are also gluten free, but read labels even when it's a brand you've purchased before. They do change formulas from time to time.
Which noodles make the best soup?
I like rice noodles best for this recipe. I've used Thai Kitchen brand and Lotus Foods brand rice noodles, and I love them both.
You can use any sort of gluten free pasta noodle you like, but when I think “noodles,” I think something flat. I bet Barilla brand gluten free fettuccine would be great.
You can also take longer noodles and break them into smaller pieces before boiling. My family loves long rice noodles.
The brand of gluten free egg noodles is Manischewitz. They're super expensive, and they taste awful. They're either tough, or mealy, and I paid nearly $7 for 12 ounces. Save yourself.
We now have a recipe for gluten free egg noodles that really make this recipe special. If you make every element of this recipe in stages, and make extra stock and extra noodles, you can eat well for days!
How to make chicken soup with spaetzle
Rather than cooking noodles separately to make chicken noodle soup, you can also make homemade spaetzle dough and cook it right in the soup.
In a large bowl, prepare the gluten free spaetzle dough according to the recipe instructions, but without the nutmeg. Cover and refrigerate it while you prepare the soup (and for up to 2 days).
Do not prepare any other noodles! After adding the chicken broth and mushrooms in the recipe below, and before returning the chicken to the pot, bring the mixture to a rapid boil over medium-high heat.
Remove the spaetzle batter from the refrigerator, uncover, and add the dough to the boiling liquid either through a spaetzle maker, large box grater or by the teaspoonful.
Boil, stirring occasionally, until the dumplings are cooked through (about 5 minutes). Reduce the soup to a simmer, add the chopped chicken and cook until the chicken is heated through. Remove and discard the bay leaf, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve piping hot!
Storage instructions
Chicken soup can be made in stages, and individual ingredients, like the cooked chicken or the cooked vegetables in stock, can be frozen until you're ready to use them.
Once everything is combined into noodle soup, including the noodles, it can become harder (but not impossible!) to store leftovers. When you store noodles in liquid, the noodles tend to absorb as much liquid as possible, making swollen noodles and less liquid.
But if you follow the instructions in this gluten free chicken noodle soup recipe, you cook the noodles separately and only add them as you're serving the dish.
You can easily store the broth with the cooked vegetables and chicken in a sealed container in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, or up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Whether refrigerated or defrosted, place the soup in a pot and warm until heated through over low heat (so you don't cook the chicken).
FAQs
Yes! This recipe calls for skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts because they have the most flavor when you cook them. Boneless white meat chicken has a tendency to be dry, so we are trying to lock in more flavor—especially important when you're using store-bought stock.
No, chicken noodle soup is only gluten free if it's made to be by using gluten free noodles, and all other ingredients that are free of gluten.
If you can find rotisserie chicken that does not contain any gluten ingredients and is made without contamination with gluten, you can definitely use the meat from a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking your own chicken breasts here.
Homemade Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- Instant pot optional
- 7-quart stock pot alternative
Ingredients
- 8 cups gluten free chicken stock (See Recipe Notes)
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts skin on, bone in
For the soup
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or twice as much fresh
- 1 bay leaf fresh or dried
- 1 pound large carrots (about 2 large) washed, peeled and sliced thinly by cross-section
- ½ pound celery (about 4 medium stalks) washed and sliced thinly by cross-section
- 1 medium yellow onion peeled and diced
- 6 ounces button or baby portobello mushrooms cleaned and sliced
- 1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
- Chopped fresh parsley for serving
For the noodles
- 14 ounces gluten free rice noodles (See Recipe Notes to use gluten free egg noodles)
Instructions
Cook the chicken breasts.
- In the bottom of a large, heavy-bottom stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the breasts in a single layer, skin side down, and cook for 3 minutes without disturbing them.
- Flip the chicken breasts back skin-side up, sprinkle with the salt, pepper and thyme, and add the bay leaf, carrots, celery and onion.
- Pour in enough warm water just to cover the chicken by 1 inch, and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low to allow it to continue to simmer. Do not boil
- Skim off and discard any white foam that forms at the top.
- Cover the pot and allow it to cook for about 15 minutes or until it is opaque throughout and registers 165°F on an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken. Thicker breasts will take longer than thinner ones.
- Remove just the chicken from the liquid, leaving behind the carrots, celery, onion, seasoning, and bay leaf.
- Place the chicken on a plate, and allow to rest, covered loosely with foil, for 10 minutes.
- Remove and discard any skin, bones, or cartilage, chop the meat into small chunks and set it aside.
- This is to serve with the soup, and can be made ahead and refrigerated, once cool, for up to 2 days.
Cook the noodles.
- Cook the noodles according to the package or recipe instructions.
- Rinse them thoroughly with warm water, and drain them completely. Toss them with a bit of oil and set them aside.
Assemble and finish preparing the soup.
- Add the chicken broth and mushrooms to the pot with the cooked carrots and celery.
- Bring the mixture to a rapid boil over medium-high heat, and allow to cook for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender but not overcooked.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low so the soup simmers.
- Add the chopped chicken and cook until it's heated through. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Serve the soup.
- Set out 4 large soup bowls. Place servings of noodles and cooked chicken in each serving bowl.
- Ladle in the hot soup with cooked vegetables. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve hot.
Notes
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Deborah says
Thank you for both versions! For gf pasta, my favorite is the Le Veneziane brand which comes in many shapes. I especially like their anellini (little rings) for soup, as they can just be thrown into the soup at the end and cook in a few minutes. Would LOVE a gf egg pasta recipe!
Nicole Hunn says
I love anellini, too, Deborah! I miss the Schar anellini, which I think they must have stopped making, because I used to make homemade “spaghettios” with them. I have one box left, and I can’t bring myself to use it. Le Veneziane is good, but the corn based pastas just aren’t the same to me.
pete quangvan says
I have had a Thai restaurant for 15 years; I know about rice noodles. For any dish that requires rice noodle or ‘pasta’ you should use true Ban Pho (vermicelle) from Thailand. Asians simply call it ‘rice stick’, available at any asian market and some mainstream grocery stores. Cheap and better than any domestic rice noodle or GF pasta. Now there are many different brands out there so experiment with different ones to find the one with the texture you like. It’s all about texture, there really is no flavour. Next thing to concider is size; rice stick comes in 1mm, 3mm, 5mm, and 10mm. so choose the one that suits your dish. Traditional Pho is 1mm or 3mm, I prefer the 1mm. For soup like this go for the 10mm. The 5mm is like a fettuccini. Soak your rice stick in cool/warm water for at least 0ne hour, up to three hours is better, then drain until ready to use. You really don’t cook rice noodle like a pasta. If you pre-soak then drain and drop into your boiling hot broth it cooks immediately, one minute or less. You should cook only as much as you want to serve. Your leftover soup and pre-soaked drained rice stick should be stored separately and married only when ready to eat.
Nicole Hunn says
Thanks for the info, Pete. I specify in this recipe to only assemble the noodles with the soup when you’re ready to serve. Package direction always indicate how to soak or boil, and I always prefer the texture once they’re boiled. You do you, though!
Miriam Kearney says
I certainly agree with you that putting freshly cooked ingredients into the stock is better than cooking them in the stock. I make chicken stock regularly in my Instant Pot so I always have some on hand. But I don’t (well rarely) buy chicken for the stock. Instead I save all the bones from chicken and occasionally other meat and make the soup from that. My IP has a program for soup and it takes 4 hours. I experimented with less time but frankly the 4 hours made a huge improvement in flavour. I put the bones, vegs and 2 tbspn cider vinegar and fill to the max line (2/3 full), press start and forget about it until it dings. You’re right about the sputter – once we put it on quick release and it spewed fat all over the kitchen – the towel helped. Now we do a natural release and no mess. Yes it takes more time and not something to do on the day you want to eat the soup but oh so good.
And I’m with anyone who wants a GF egg noodle recipe – Please!
Dr. Holly Priestley says
PLEASE — come up with an egg noodle recipe? The GF egg noodles out there are horrible and slimy … I have been using are JOVIAL and they are brown and not that good ….
Nicole Hunn says
I definitely don’t recommend the Maneschewitz ones! I’m almost relieved, though, since they’re so ridiculously expensive… My gluten free pasta recipe is made with eggs, but not as many as “egg pasta.” I think you’re right. It’s time for a gluten free egg pasta recipe, Holly!