This whole chicken noodle soup is made with absolute ease in the slow cooker! For extra warmth and flavour, I’ve added turmeric and ginger from McCormick’s organic spice range. The end result is a cosy delicious hug in a bowl. This recipe has been brought to you in partnership with McCormick Foods.
Is there anything more comforting for the mind, body and soul than a bowl of chicken noodle soup? There’s almost something magical to it.
If you have yet to master a chicken noodle soup recipe, this is the one for you to begin with. Popping everything into the slow cooker ensures everything is cooked perfectly. It also allows you to use a whole chicken and create an amazing brothy soup, without too much fuss.
What you need to make this slow cooker chicken noodle soup
- 1 small whole chicken, around 1.3-1.4 kilograms
- 1 litre of chicken stock or broth + 1 litre of water
- 1 brown onion
- 3 sticks of celery
- 3 carrots
- Half a bunch of kale
- 1 small lemon
- 100 grams of rice vermicelli noodles
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of McCormick Organic Turmeric
- 2 teaspoons of McCormick Organic Ginger
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
The McCormick organic spices really take the flavour of this soup to a new level! Freshly harvested, their gorgeous aroma hits you as soon as you open the packet.
How do I cook the whole chicken in the slow cooker?
Don’t stress about this part! Honestly, it’s really easy. I don’t love handling whole, raw chickens but you’ll only need to do so for about 2 minutes for this soup.
All you do is rinse the chicken cavity out (just to make sure any loose innards are removed). Then you pop the chicken in the slow cooker pot, add the other ingredients and the slow cooker does the rest!
Because the chicken cooks in the slow cooker for so long, when you remove it, the meat will fall so easily off the bones. You then discard the carcass and pop the meat back into the soup.
Can I make any recipe substitutions?
I’ve deliberately kept this recipe very simple. I wouldn’t recommend swapping out the onion, carrot or celery as these form the base of the soup flavour. However you can swap out the kale and throw in whatever other veggies you want to use in the soup, like zucchini or broccoli.
The type of noodles or pasta can also be swapped. I love using rice vermicelli because they have a great texture, cook quickly and are suitable for allergies (dairy free, gluten free and nut free).
I hope you enjoy this slow cooker whole chicken noodle soup. It’s bright, beautiful and so warming, the perfect recipe to pop on at the start of the day. Makes lots of leftovers too! Leave me a comment below and let me know how it turned out, or tag me @moniquecormacknutrition on Instagram if you take a snap.
Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 small whole chicken around 1.3-1.4 kilograms
- 1 litre of chicken stock or broth
- 1 litre of water
- 1 brown onion
- 3 sticks of celery
- 3 carrots
- Half a bunch of kale
- 1 small lemon
- 100 grams of rice vermicelli noodles
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of McCormick Organic Turmeric
- 2 teaspoons of McCormick Organic Ginger
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for cooking
- Salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Dice the onion, and thickly slice the carrot and celery. Peel and crush the garlic.
- Add the onion, garlic and spices to a fry pan with the olive oil and cook for a few minutes until fragrant and the onion is soft. If the mixture becomes too dry and sticky, splash in a little water while cooking.
- Transfer the onion mixture to your slow cooker pot. Then place in the chicken, carrot and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the stock/broth and water, then gently mix everything around the chicken so the onion mixture is incorporated into the liquid.
- Set the slow cooker to cook on high for 4 hours. While the soup is cooking, prepare the vermicelli noodles according to packet instructions.
- At the end of 4 hours, reduce the slow cooker to low. Roughly tear up the kale leaves, removing the thick inner stem, and add to the slow cooker. Add in the vermicelli noodles.
- Continue to cook the soup on low for at least 1 hour more. At the end of the cooking time, gently lift the chicken out of the soup. As soon as it’s cool enough the handle, use a fork to pull the meat from the chicken, shred it and add it back into the soup.
- Serve the soup piping hot with a slice of your favourite bread.
When does the lemon go in please?
How is the lemon used in this recipe? It’s not part of the method at all.