Simple Soothing Chicken Soup Dairy-Free

We’ve been making this easy, allergy-friendly chicken soup for years and are excited to share the recipe with you below!

We’ll share how to add the most flavor. 

Plus, we have tips for making chicken soup wheat-free and egg-free. 

And lastly, we’ll let you know how we make our delicious dairy-free chicken soup with homestyle noodles. They do contain egg and wheat, however. 

Lots of options, all tasty options. Let’s get to it! 

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST TASTING CHICKEN SOUP

Pssst, big secret here.

Wanna know the most important ingredient for great tasting soup? 

It’s homemade chicken broth. 

You just can’t beat the flavor of broth you simmered yourself for 8 slow hours or longer, 

leeching out the protein, calcium, iron, potassium, and other minerals your body loves. 

So easy to make, and we always have it on hand for cooking soups and such.

Every time we roast a whole chicken, we make broth with it the next day.

Then we freeze several cups ready for soup anytime!

However, if you just aren’t into making your own bone broth yet,

you’ll still be able to make allergy-friendly chicken soup.

Here’s a store-bought broth you may want to check out. Be sure to always check labels for yourself, though, because ingredients can change.

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN SOUP WITH LEFTOVER CHICKEN

At our house, we roast a whole chicken a few times a month.

Not only is whole chicken more economical than buying fresh cut chicken like breasts and thighs…

but also buying whole chickens allows us to make tasty homemade chicken broth the next day.

Most preferably, we splurge on organic, natural chickens that aren’t pumped with chemicals. 

Those always make the best roasted chickens and broth. 

And when we get both two nights of dinner PLUS about eight cups of delicious chicken broth from one natural chicken…

that’s money well spent. 

Now as you may guess, chicken soup is one of our favorite leftover meals the night after roasted chicken. 

Before freezing the broth we make from the chicken carcass, we set aside a some cups of the fresh broth and make soup with the leftover chicken. 

That’s cook once, eat twice, make broth. 

What’s not to love! 

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN SOUP WITHOUT LEFTOVER CHICKEN

Some days, however, we find ourselves wanting chicken noodle soup with no leftover chicken in the refrigerator. 

This especially happens when someone in our house falls sick, and then, of course, chicken soup is always in order. 

It’s in those moments that I’m so glad to have homemade chicken broth in the freezer, ready to thaw. 

Then I just hit the store for a couple chicken breasts to make it really easy on myself. 

When you’re busy playing nurse, cooking is one of the hardest things to do. 

So our chicken soup using fresh chicken (not leftovers) typically happens in the slow cooker. 

Just follow the recipe below but use fresh chicken breasts instead of leftover cooked chicken. 

It’s just going to have to cook longer. 

Again, super easy. 

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN SOUP EGG & WHEAT FREE

Our chicken soup recipe is absolutely perfect with no noodles. 

And since noodles typically contain wheat and egg, that means by leaving them out…

you can easily have egg-free and wheat-free chicken soup. 

We make it this way often even though we can now have egg and wheat at our house. 

But if you want to make the soup more filling with some kind of grain, 

consider adding cooked quinoa, rice, or lentils to the soup right before serving. 

Just check labels to make sure the ingredients work for your allergies. 

HOW TO MAKE DAIRY-FREE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Now if you’re like us and can have egg and wheat but not dairy…

here’s one way we can make super tasty chicken soup with noodles…still milk-free. 

These homestyle egg noodles are absolutely delicious in our chicken soup. 

They taste so much like my mom’s homemade noodles but without the work. 

Again, double check labels. Ingredients can change anytime. 

WHAT TO SERVE WITH DAIRY & EGG FREE CHICKEN SOUP?

If you’re avoiding milk and or egg, but can have wheat, 

here are a few of our favorite things to serve with allergy-friendly chicken soup.

Dutch oven bread, if you remember to start it the day before. 

Or in a pinch, these dairy-free soup crackers work for us.

My family craves those soup crackers when they’re sick, anyways. 

We keep them on hand most all the time. 

Now if you’re ready, here’s the easy chicken soup recipe.

 

DAIRY-FREE CHICKEN SOUP

Serves 4

CHICKEN SOUP INGREDIENTS

2 cups broth
1-2 cups cooked chicken shredded or 1-2 uncooked chicken breasts
1 large carrot chopped
1 celery rib chopped
1/4 onion chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dairy-free butter
salt to taste
pepper to taste
dash of thyme
dash of basil
dash of rosemary

red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup noodles, rice, quinoa, or lentils (optional)

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN SOUP ON THE STOVE

In a medium soup pot, cook the chopped carrots, celery, and onions in the dairy-free butter until tender.

Add the minced garlic and cook with the vegetables for about a minute, taking care not to burn the garlic.

Add broth and chicken to the pot of cooked veggies.

If the chicken is already cooked, the soup just needs heated through or simmer as long as you’d like. Flavors meld better the longer it simmers. 

If using uncooked chicken: bring broth to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot until chicken is cooked through (165 degrees in the thickest area). This can take about 30 minutes. Remove cooked chicken and shred with two forks, then add it back to the soup. 

If adding noodles, rice, quinoa, or lentils: check the cook time on the package and add to the soup to finish cooking close to serve time. Keeping grains in the simmering pot too long may soak too much of the broth and make the grains mushy. You can also cook them in a separate pot and just add to the soup at the end. 

Salt and pepper to taste, amount depends on how salty your broth is. 

Add thyme, basil, and rosemary. Let simmer about 15 minutes. 

Add hot pepper flakes to individual bowls, for those who like more spice. 

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN SOUP IN SLOW COOKER

Follow instructions above except move cooked veggies and garlic, chicken, and broth to the slow cooker when then vegetables are done cooking in the dairy-free butter. 

If using cooked chicken, cover crock pot with lid and let simmer on high until ready to eat. 

If using uncooked chicken, let it cook in the slow cooker with lid on high for 3-4 hours until it reaches 165 degrees in the thickest part of the meat. When the chicken is cooked through, remove and shred as mentioned above. Then add back to the crock. 

Don’t add noodles, rice, quinoa, or lentils until the end of cook time. Serve when these are cooked through. See directions above about avoiding mushy grains. 

Hope you enjoy this chicken soup as much as we do!