Halloween Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
My Halloween chicken noodle soup recipe is the perfect meal to prepare for your family this Halloween. Embrace the Halloween season with a bowl of this easy homemade chicken noodle soup with the added fun of Halloween-shaped pasta.
*This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Find my full disclosure policy, here. (Originally posted: 10/13/2019)
Fall is here and you know what that means, don’t you? It’s time to head into the kitchen and dust off all those tried and true soup recipes you and your family love so much!
Do you have a favorite soup recipe? If you’re anything like me, you can’t pick just one.
I love soup! Broccoli cheddar soup, baked potato soup, chicken and gnocchi, minestrone, lobster bisque, chicken tortilla soup, chicken enchilada soup, and at least a million others but I’ll spare you the added torture.
Plus, I was starting to feel like Bubba in Forrest Gump talking about all the ways one can prepare shrimp…Please tell me you’ve seen the movie. Not sure we can be friends if you haven’t!
One of the most popular soups by far is homemade chicken noodle soup. I’m sure you’ve been prescribed chicken noodle soup one time in your life by a doctor, or at the very least, have enjoyed a warm bowl of it on a cold, rainy day.
My favorite chicken noodle soup of all time is probably my grandma’s recipe for matzo ball soup. If you’re unfamiliar with this soup, it’s pretty much what you know as chicken noodle soup but it has the addition of fluffy matzo balls inside. It’s amazing!
The only problem with matzo ball soup is it’s one of those dishes that needs lots of TLC and at least a full day for all the delicious flavors to marry together. It’s a dish more suited for a holiday or maybe a Sunday dinner.
For a quicker weeknight dinner, my crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe is the way to go. You literally throw everything in the crockpot and let it work its magic. It can’t get much easier than that!
To add a fun twist to my crockpot chicken noodle soup recipe, I decided to incorporate some adorable Halloween-shaped pasta in place of the regular egg noodles I like to use. The first time I made this recipe I did it using the Halloween pasta pictured below from World Market.
The second time around I used this Halloween pasta made by Pastabilities. You can usually find them in HomeGoods or Marshalls in the food section. Amazon also sells the Halloween pasta as well. Basically, you have a few options to choose from.
Halloween Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Here’s what you need:
3 large carrots (diced), 2 stalks of celery (diced), 1 medium onion (diced), 3 – 4 garlic cloves (minced), 64 ounces (8 cups) low-sodium chicken broth, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon pepper (more to taste), 1 package Halloween pasta, 2 chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 lbs total), 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
*You’ll notice in the pictures below that I veered away from the recipe a bit. I didn’t have celery in my fridge so I added extra carrots. I also had some fresh dill on hand so I used that in place of the dried herbs mentioned above. This crockpot chicken noodle soup is very forgiving so don’t be afraid to add what you have in your kitchen!
Start by placing your chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot. As you can see, mine are still frozen. I know there are a ton of conflicting views if you should or should not add frozen chicken to a crockpot. I’m not an expert by any means so please go with what makes you feel most comfortable.
Next, dice up your onion and add it to your crockpot.
Mince your garlic cloves and add them to the crockpot party too.
I had shredded carrots in the refrigerator so I got off lucky and didn’t have to do any more dicing. If you’re not as lucky as me, you’ll need to dice your carrots and celery up now and add them in the crockpot.
Like I mentioned above, I happened to have fresh dill in the fridge so I decided to use it up instead of adding the dried herbs found in the recipe. Feel free to add what herbs you prefer, dried or fresh, as well.
Add your dried bay leaf in next.
Add your salt and pepper too.
All that’s left to do is add your 8 cups of chicken broth. I prefer using the lower sodium variety so I can control the amount of salt that gets added to the soup.
Here’s everything in the crockpot ready to go.
Place the top on your crockpot and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 to 8.
Once the time is up, remove the chicken from your crockpot to a large mixing bowl and shred.
Next, return the shredded chicken back to the crockpot.
While you’re shredding the chicken you can start cooking the Halloween pasta.
Place a pot of water on the stovetop and bring to a boil for your pasta. For this recipe, I’ve found it works best to cook the Halloween pasta in its own pot and add it to each individual bowl when serving.
Once the water has come to a boil, add salt to it and pour in your pasta.
The directions say to cook your pasta for 5 to 7 minutes. I cooked mine for the minimum time because I knew it would most likely soften even more once it sat in the hot soup.
After the 5 minutes, strain your pasta and gently run it under cold water to stop the cooking process.
It’s important not to overcook the pasta or it will fall apart and turn into complete mush. Who wants that? We want to be able to see these adorable Halloween shapes!
Right before serving, remove your bay leaf.
Put a nice healthy portion of the Halloween pasta into the bottom of your bowls.
Top with the chicken soup and enjoy!
Some people like to cook their pasta directly inside their soup but I prefer to go the extra step and make mine separately. What I’ve noticed when making the pasta directly in the soup is that the pasta starts absorbing all the liquid of the soup and there’s practically zero liquid left by the next day.
I even suggest storing the soup and pasta separately if you have any extras.
Final thoughts on this Halloween chicken noodle soup recipe, friends?! You know you love it! And I also know what you’ll be eating for dinner on Halloween. Enjoy!
Halloween Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
My Halloween chicken noodle soup recipe is the perfect meal to prepare for your family this Halloween. Embrace the Halloween season with a bowl of this homemade chicken noodle soup with the added fun of Halloween-shaped pasta.
Ingredients
- 3 large carrots (diced), 2 stalks of celery (diced), 1 medium onion (diced), 3 - 4 garlic cloves (minced), 64 ounces (8 cups) low-sodium chicken broth, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon pepper (more to taste), 1 package Halloween pasta, 2 chicken breasts (1 to 1 1/2 lbs total), 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
Instructions
- Start by placing your chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot.
- Next, dice up your onion and mince your garlic and add it to your crockpot.
- I had shredded carrots in the refrigerator so I got off lucky and didn't have to do any more dicing. If you're not as lucky as me, you'll need to dice your carrots and celery up now and add them to the crockpot.
- I happened to have fresh dill in the fridge so I decided to use it up instead of adding the dried herbs found in the recipe. Feel free to add what herbs you prefer as well.
- Add your dried bay leaf in next.
- Add your salt and pepper too.
- All that's left to do is add your 8 cups of chicken broth. I prefer using the lower sodium variety so I can control the amount of salt that gets added to the soup.
- Place the top on your crockpot and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 to 8.
- Once the time is up, remove the chicken from your crockpot to a large mixing bowl and shred.
- Next, return the shredded chicken back to the crockpot.
- While you're shredding the chicken you can start cooking the Halloween pasta. Place a pot of water on the stovetop and bring to a boil for your pasta.
- Once the water has come to a boil, add salt to it and pour in your Halloween pasta.
- The directions say to cook your pasta for 5 to 7 minutes. I cooked mine for the minimum time because I knew it would most likely soften even more once it sat in the hot soup.
- After the 5 minutes, strain your pasta and gently run it under cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Right before serving, remove your bay leaf.
- To serve, put a nice healthy portion of pasta into the bottom of your bowls and top with the chicken soup.
Notes
- Some people like to cook their pasta directly inside their soup but I prefer to go the extra step and make mine separately. What I’ve noticed when making the pasta directly in the soup is that the pasta starts absorbing all the liquid of the soup and there’s practically zero liquid left by the next day.
- I even suggest storing the soup and pasta separately if you have any extras.
Want to remember this? Post this Halloween Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe to your favorite Pinterest board!
WELCOME TO THE WEDNESDAY LINK PARTY! MEET YOUR HOSTS:
Jaclyn from Coffee, Pancakes, and Dreams
Brittany from Dreams and Coffee
Mary Leigh from Live Well Play Together
Tiffany from Lake Life State of Mind
Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World
Keri from Cultivate an Intentional Life
Holley from Simply Holley Marie
Like you, Tiffany–I LOVE soup! It’s one of my favorite “food groups!” And I’m always on the lookout for a tasty soup–and this soup fits the bill! Love your addition of Halloween pasta–and you’re not alone–I, too LOVE World Market! I agree with you–pasta does need to be cooked before so that it won’t absorb all the liquid–I learned that the hard way. Some of these brands I haven’t heard of–College Inn for the broth–I want to try that since it’s a non-GMO and organic. And I’m curious about the lemon juice you use. I”m assuming you can use fresh, but from what you said, this brand is more potent. Thanks for all your great tips–that’s one of the reasons I love your blogs!
You most definitely can use fresh lemon juice here. It will probably make the flavor taste even better! Happy to hear you also love World Market. One day we’ll shop there together. Enjoy the soup 🙂
This is making my mouth water! Looks so good! I like that you added the pasta past and to the bowls directly. That’s a great idea for those (like me) who need to be gluten free and low carb right now. YUM!
Yes, definitely helpful if you need to watch your gluten and carbs. I’ll have to check and see if this company makes any gluten free options. You’ve got me curious now 🤔
I love chicken noodle soup; this is such a cute take on a family favorite. Pinned.
Thank you! It’s a little something festive that doesn’t include candy or sweets for Halloween. At least the dinner on Halloween night can healthish.🧡
So glad to see I️’m not the only one who puts frozen chicken in the crock pot! hahah! I️ do it all the time. 🙂 This soup sounds so yummy!
Lol!! I have all the intent of defrosting it and then I forget 🤦🏽♀️ Happy I’m in good company, my friend!
I love these pastas! So cute and fun!!!
Me too!! I already snagged a Thanksgiving variety to use but still haven’t figured out how yet. Lol!