Chicken noodle soup casserole features all the tasty ingredients in the classic soup – but in a dump & bake casserole recipe!
It’s getting to that time of the year when everyone seems to be coming down with something. We spent all of Thanksgiving weekend lounging at home, thanks to a virus that knocked the little one out with a fever and cough. And I seem to be catching a cold every two weeks lately!
I’m sure you all might be experiencing something similar. Whether it’s kids brining home germs from school or your body being run down from the stress of the holidays, it’s a common phenomenon.
And if you’re very active, you might be extra vulnerable to colds this time of year. We know exercise generally protects our immunity but it follows a “J-shaped curve”. Once you go over a certain training threshold (in terms of intensity and amount), you no longer see protection and instead start to see reduced immune function. It’s obviously not a reason to stop training, but might at least be a comforting explanation if you’re training for a winter race and noticing an uptick in colds.
Anyway – the standard sick day remedy around here is R&R(&S) – rest, relaxation, and a is a big ‘ol bowl of chicken noodle soup. While there may not be much scientific evidence behind it, there’s still something about chicken noodle soup that seems to serve the body well when you’re fighting off germs.
Here’s the problem: my toddler is not a soup fan, at all. It’s always either too hot or too cool for his liking, and inevitably it ends up spilled all over the table or the floor. It becomes more of a hassle to make it for a family dinner in this silly stage of his.
That’s how this chicken noodle soup casserole was born.
Chicken noodle soup casserole is just like it sounds – all the ingredients for chicken noodle soup, cooked in a casserole dish. The result? You get all the delicious flavors and textures, just without extra broth.
It’s a dump & bake style casserole, which means it’s extremely easy to make. You simply prep your vegetables, toss them in a casserole dish with uncooked noodles & uncooked chicken, and pour broth over everything. Then tightly wrap it in foil and bake!
The egg noodles will absorb much of the broth, so the end product is much more of a casserole and less of soup. It’s a nice change of pace to mix things up!
Bonus – this dish is a great choice for adults and kids. For all you active peeps, this has packs in protein – great for recovery and helping with satiety. And at under 400 calories a serving (for 1/4 of that whole casserole!), it’s super filling.
I hope you’ll give it a try soon, whether you’re sick or not. 🙂
Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup onion, chopped (1 small onion)
- 3/4 cup celery, chopped (2-3 stalks)
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups raw spinach
- 6 ounces uncooked egg noodles (about half of a normal sized bag)
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
- Place the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, spinach, and uncooked egg noodles in the casserole dish.
- Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper, and place on top of the egg noodles in the dish.
- Add broth and Italian seasoning to the casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil.
- Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Uncover and stir everything around, making sure all the egg noodles get tossed in any remaining broth. Place back in the oven uncovered and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked to 165 degrees.
- Remove from the oven and shred chicken into the dish. Stir everything around again and let sit for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes 4-6 servings.
- I recommend chopping the carrots on the small side, as they do stay a bit more firm compared to being cooked in soup. If you chop them smaller, they'll be more tender.
- You can also add cheddar & parmesan cheese to this dish if you'd like something a bit more rich. Add in 1 cup cheddar, 1/3 cup parmesan, and 1/2 cup milk when you add everything to the casserole dish.
Nutrition
Share with me: Have you ever made a chicken noodle soup casserole? Do you eat chicken noodle soup when you’re sick?
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Fiona @ Get Fit Fiona
This looks so good! Chicken soup always make cold winter nights feel so cozy – I’m sure this casserole would too.
Chrissy Carroll
Thanks Fiona! I hope you give it a try on the next cold night!
Annmarie
YUM! Now this is a casserole I think I could get my kiddos to eat 🙂
Chrissy Carroll
Woohoo! Hope they love it.
Kim Kremer
1. “Not a soup fan.” It’s so difficult for my brain to process that concept. 😉
One of the cooks on the last ship I served in made excellent soup, but he -like your son – was not a soup fan. He quickly learned that I not only love soup, I could taste his soup during the cooking process and tell him what it needed to make it perfect – thereby saving him from having to deal with it. (I was a roommate with another ship’s cook who detested making meatloaf, and yet she made an excellent one. Oh, the hell they endured!) When he was cooking, he’d call the bridge around elevenish and ask me to come taste the soup. 😀
2. This looks delicious! I’m going to try it with whole-grain noodles, because I am not trying to feed a fussy toddler and because I’ve become one of *those* people.
3. One of the reasons I love Thanksgiving is having the ability to cook down the turkey carcass & make a huge batch of turkey matzo soup. I then can it. (Turkey holds up through the pressure canning process better than chicken.) The Hubs is a relatively light eater, so he prefers soup in 1-cup servings; thus, I can a batch of it in half-pint jars. He describes them as “little jars of love.” <3
Chrissy Carroll
Right?! I looooove soup. Especially in the winter. Soup, stews & chili all the way.
I hope you are able to give it a try! I’ve used whole grain egg noodles for it too and it works well; depending on the brand you may need a little extra broth.
Abbey Sharp
I am a huge chicken noodle soup fan, so I’m so excited to try this casserole!
Chrissy Carroll
Yay! I think you’ll love it.
dixya @food, pleasure, and health
R & R and hydration is a big one for me too!
Chrissy Carroll
The best path to recovery right there 🙂
Deborah @ Confessions of mother runner
This is a fun idea and easy for weeknights too!
Chrissy Carroll
Definitely!
Rachel
I love chicken noodle soup. I could definitely get on board with this!
Chrissy Carroll
Awesome – hope you get a chance to try it soon.
Jessica Levinson
What a great solution you came up with! This chicken noodle soup casserole looks wonderful. Definitely love an easy meal like this!
Chrissy Carroll
All about creativity with the kiddos, right Jessica? 🙂
Summer @ summer-price
What a great idea! It looks tasty too. This is something my kids will definitely eat.
Chrissy Carroll
Thanks Summer! Hope your kids enjoy it.
Emily @Sinful Nutrition
OMG I want this so bad! Chicken noodle soup is my fav!!
Chrissy Carroll
Such a classic dish!
Carrie A Groff
This is fabulous!! I will have to save it to make for my husband since he does NOT eat soup lol This is the only way I would be able to get him to eat chicken noodle soup.
Chrissy Carroll
Hahaha, so funny – that will probably be my son when he’s an adult 😉
Natalie
Chicken noodle soup heals everything. And I mean EVERYTHING – flue, bad mood… I love transformation you just made here! I’ll be making this for my family for sure. Looks great.
Chrissy Carroll
Yes! It’s definitely one of those things that always makes me feel better, that’s for sure.
Farrah
It just snowed overnight, so this would be perfect! It looks delicious! <3
Chrissy Carroll
We just got snow here too!
Angela Cardamone @marathonsandmotivation.com
Oh my! This looks so fabulous, something the entire family will enjoy!!
Chrissy Carroll
Definitely – hope they all love it. 🙂
Coco
This sounds great! Do you put the chicken in raw or use pre-cooked chicken?
Chrissy Carroll
Hi Coco! I put the chicken in raw. It’s one of the reasons I love this dish; you can just throw everything in and bake it all at once.