Description
Crack Chicken Noodle Soup is the ultimate comfort food combining shredded chicken, crispy bacon, ranch seasoning, cheddar and cream cheese in a rich, creamy broth with tender noodles. This one-pot wonder is easy to make and incredibly satisfying—perfect for family dinners or meal prep. The addictive combination of flavors makes this soup a guaranteed crowd-pleaser!
Ingredients
For the Soup Base:
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3 cups cooked shredded or chopped chicken breast
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1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
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6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or stock)
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1 cup whole milk
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½ cup chopped celery
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2 medium carrots, sliced or diced
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1 packet (approximately 1 oz) dry ranch seasoning mix
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12 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
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1½ cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
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¾ cup cream cheese, softened
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8 oz thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta (uncooked)
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Salt and black pepper, to taste
Optional Garnish:
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Extra crumbled bacon
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Chopped green onions
Instructions
Start with the bacon in your skillet, medium heat, and just let it do its thing for about 8-10 minutes. I flip it maybe once halfway through when I remember to. You want it crispy but not burned—there’s a fine line and I’ve crossed it more times than I want to admit. When it’s done, put it on paper towels because nobody wants to eat grease soup. Then break it up into chunks. Real talk—I always cook at least 14 slices because my son will come in and just eat bacon right off the paper towel and then I don’t have enough for the soup. Plan accordingly.
Take your big pot and throw everything in—the chicken (shredded, I usually just use my hands), that condensed soup blob, your broth, milk, chopped up celery and carrots, ranch packet, and most of your bacon. Keep some bacon separate for putting on top later because nobody wants sad bacon that’s been swimming in liquid for 30 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir it all around. Make sure you really break up that condensed soup because otherwise you’ll have this weird gelatinous chunk floating around and it’s gross. Been there.
Get everything bubbling—like actually boiling—then turn it down so it’s just gently simmering. This is when I set a timer for 20 minutes and go switch the laundry or help with homework or whatever crisis is happening. The carrots need time to soften and everything needs to get friendly with each other. Your kitchen’s gonna smell insane during this part. Like, my neighbors have texted me asking what I’m cooking. It’s that good. Don’t rush this step even though you want to because if you do, you’ll have crunchy carrots and nobody wants that.
After it’s been bubbling away for a while and the vegetables are soft, add your pasta and the shredded cheddar. Keep it simmering—not boiling, just simmering—and stir it every couple minutes because pasta will absolutely stick to the bottom if you ignore it. I know this because I’ve burned the bottom of this soup twice while trying to help my daughter with algebra. For angel hair it takes maybe 5-7 minutes to get soft, regular spaghetti takes longer. I start fishing out pieces and testing them around 5 minutes because mushy pasta is a tragedy and once it’s mush there’s no going back.
This is where it transforms from regular soup into something magical. Take your cream cheese—which should be soft and squishy by now, not cold and hard—and plop it in. Stir it around until it disappears completely into the soup. Everything goes from looking kinda plain to looking like something you’d pay too much money for at a restaurant. If you see white chunks, keep stirring. They’ll melt eventually. Sometimes takes a minute or two but be patient. First time I made this I panicked about the chunks and turned up the heat which made everything separate and look weird. Don’t do that.
Actually taste the soup now. Don’t just assume it’s fine. Sometimes it needs pepper, sometimes it’s perfect as is. Depends on your ranch packet honestly because they’re not all the same. Ladle it into bowls—I use my big bowls, the soup bowls, because regular bowls aren’t big enough—and put bacon on top. Green onions too if you’re feeling fancy and remembered to buy them, which I usually don’t. Get it to the table while it’s hot because lukewarm soup is depressing and nobody will eat it.
Notes
Stop buying raw chicken breast and cooking it specially for soup. This is what rotisserie chickens are for. They’re already cooked, already seasoned, sitting right there in the deli section calling your name. Grab one on your way home, rip it up while it’s still warm, and you’re done. Takes two minutes. I’ve got a friend who still poaches chicken breast for soup and I don’t understand why she hates herself that much.
Your pasta’s gonna keep cooking in the hot soup even after you turn off the heat. So take it off when it’s still got a tiny bit of bite to it. Like 90% done, not 100%. Otherwise by the time everyone sits down to eat, it’s mush. I’ve served mushy soup more times than I want to admit and my kids complain every time.
Here’s a thing I learned—if you’re making this for meal prep or you know you’ll have leftovers, cook the pasta separate. Just boil it in a different pot, drain it, and add it to bowls when you serve. Because overnight in the fridge, the pasta turns into a sponge and sucks up all the broth and you wake up to thick glop instead of soup. Still tastes good but it’s not soup anymore. It’s like… pasta casserole or something.
Once the milk and cheese go in, keep the heat low. Not boiling. If you let it boil, the dairy breaks and you get this weird grainy separated mess that looks nasty even though it tastes okay. Low and slow is the move here.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Simmering, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American