We love this Kids Chicken Noodle Soup recipe! It's easy to make, delicious for the family, including little kids and toddlers.
Chicken Noodle Soup Kids Love
This chicken noodle soup is a delicious and comforting dish that my kids love to eat. The soup is sweeter than traditional chicken noodle soup because of the addition of carrots and peas. Small chopped up vegetables also make it easy for kids to spoon and eat themselves.
I make this recipe with chicken drumsticks because the bones add flavor and nutrients. It's an easy recipe that can work for family meals on weekdays, as well as weekends.
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Kids Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Chicken drumsticks (or bone-in thighs)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Peas
- Onions
- Ginger
- Seasoning - garlic salt, salt and black pepper
- Egg noodles (or other pasta shapes)
- Vegetable stock
The full ingredients and quantities are in the complete recipe below. Before you get there, I'll share a few helpful tips about the ingredients.
Do I need to use chicken drumsticks?
I tend to use chicken drumsticks when I make chicken soup for my kids because it's easy and it works great for the recipe.
- The bones and collagen in the drumsticks release lots of flavor
- Drumsticks are easy to debone before serving
- A pack of drumsticks keeps easily in the freezer, and can be defrosted to make this soup
If you don't have drumsticks, bone-in chicken thighs would also work well.
Why add ginger to chicken noodle soup
My grandma taught me to add ginger to soups, so I've always done it. Adding ginger removes some of the meaty/gamey odor from meat. Plus, it gives the soup a sweeter richer flavor.
The difference is very subtle, but ginger is an ingredient I always try to add to chicken soup.
For this recipe, I add the ginger in big chunks. That way it's easy to pick out before serving this chicken noodle soup to my kids.
How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup for Kids
The full recipe and directions are below in the recipe card. Here's a quick summary:
- Sear the chicken drumsticks
- Add in the onions and sauté until lightly brown
- Deglaze the pot
- Add in the water, stock, carrots, ginger and seasoning
- Cook in an Instant Pot on low for 15 minutes, or bring to a boil then let it simmer on the stove for 30 minutes
- Add in the peas at the very end and let it cook for an additional couple of minutes
- Cook the pasta separately
- Serve the pasta and soup together
This is an easy enough meal to make on the weekdays, but I prefer to make it on a day when we have a bit more time.
Helpful Tips and FAQ
Jump down to the recipe if you want to get cooking. But keep reading if you are interested in some tips, tricks, and reasons behind the cooking process.
Searing the chicken gives you a richer tasting and cleaner looking soup
Searing the chicken adds depth of flavor to the chicken noodle soup. The skin caramelizes and browns, and then those bits of flavor are mixed into the chicken soup.
Even more importantly, partially cooking the chicken reduces the amount of scum that forms when cooking chicken soup. It gives you a cleaner looking chicken soup. I still strain out any larger pieces of scum, but it makes it an easier process.
If you really don't want any scum, you can preboil the chicken drumsticks. However, I prefer searing the chicken and straining out any remaining scum.
Cook the pasta separately
It takes an extra pot, but I always cook the noodles separate for chicken noodle soup. That way the noodles are never mushy and are perfectly cooked.
By cooking the noodles separately, the starch doesn't get released into the actual chicken soup. We much prefer it this way so the soup doesn't have a pasty taste.
A lot of carrots gives this soup a sweeter taste
This chicken noodle soup is kid specific because it's sweeter and less salty than generic chicken noodle soup. I don't usually add so many carrots in soup, but I do for this recipe.
The kids love the carrots. Moreover, it really does sweeten up the soup. I also use peas instead of other vegetables because the kids like it and it's easy to spoon and eat.
While this recipe also includes onions and celery, I try to chop them fine enough that they sort of both dissolve in the soup as it cooks. The kids have no problems eating the onions and celery, and it flavors the soup.
More Family Favorite Meals
I really hope you enjoy this chicken noodle soup for kids and toddlers. Here are a few of our other favorite meals:
Do you have a favorite family meal that the kids love? Please share below. I'd love to add more to our rotation.
Kids Chicken Noodle Soup
Equipment
- Pressure cooker optional
Ingredients
- cooking oil
- 1.5 lbs chicken drumsticks (about 5-6 drumsticks)
- ¼ medium sweet onion - finely diced
- 3 cups water
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken stock
- 3 medium carrots - diced to about the size of a pea
- 1-2 stalks celery - finely diced
- 1 knob ginger cut into 2-3 large chunks
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- salt and pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Use the sauté function of the Instant Pot, or heat a large heavy bottom pot to medium-high heat, and add in the oil. When the pot is ready, add in the chicken drumsticks, trying to get as much skin in contact with the bottom of the pot. Let it cook until the bottom of the skin is browned, then rotate the drumsticks. The chicken should release pretty easily from the pan when it is ready to be rotated. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, rotating as needed, and until the chicken drumsticks are browned all the way around. If the chicken is burning, turn down the heat a bit.
- Add in the onions and sauté for about a minute, until the onions start to lightly brown. At this point, the bottom of the pan should also have browned bits, but not burnt.
- Add in a bit of water and deglaze the pot completely. Once you've scraped off all the browned bits, add in the remainder of the water, the vegetable or chicken stock, the carrots, the celery, the ginger, and the garlic salt.
- If you are using an Instant Pot, set it on low pressure and cook for 15 minutes, with natural release. If you are cooking on the stovetop, bring everything to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, cook the egg noodle according to the package instructions. When the noodles are done, drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside. Toss the noodles in a bit of olive oil to prevent it from sticking.
- When the chicken soup is done, carefully remove the ginger and chicken drumsticks to a large bowl. Add in the peas and cook the soup for a couple more minutes.
- Remove the bones and skin from the cooked drumsticks, and discard them along with the ginger pieces. Gently shred or chop the meat into smaller pieces. Add the meat back into the soup.
- Serve the noodles and chicken soup together. Salt and pepper to taste, but I leave out additional salt for younger kids.
Nutrition
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