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Make chicken udon soup the easy way! A flavorful broth with chicken and noodles ready in 20.

This recipe for chicken udon soup is fast by using cooked chicken. It’s the perfect comfort soup that always appeases my hardest critics: my kids!

image: bowl of udon soup with sliced chicken breast on top. Served with chopsticks.

Easy Chicken Udon Soup

There are times when comforting bowls of soup are called for, like in winter or when one of my family members is under the weather. And while we often think of chicken noodle soup or chicken and rice soup for that, this chicken udon soup is an easy recipe to make with rotisserie chicken.

This version is easy to make at home. The classic udon noodles are simmered in a light, flavorful chicken broth with veggies and sliced chicken.

You can roast a whole chicken at home or buy a rotisserie. You only need half of one, and you can use the other half to make one of these rotisserie chicken recipes.

What is Udon?

Udon is a wide, wheat-flour noodle found in popular Japanese soups such as Kake Udon, Kitsune Udon, or stir-fried Yake Udon. The noodles come fresh, frozen, or dried and are often served in a light, flavorful broth with vegetables and various toppings. They do a beautiful job of taking on the flavors from the broth and seasonings.

Ingredients

You’ll find the ingredients in the recipe card below. And before you scream, “It’s not authentic,” this recipe aims to make it easy at home. Some notes on the ingredients:

Udon noodles: dried, fresh, or refrigerated. In a pinch, use angel hair pasta.
Chicken broth: low sodium broth or stock.
Aromatics: ginger and garlic are essential.
Green onions: you’ll use both the green and white parts.
Soy sauce: to flavor, use low sodium.
Chicken: you’ll need half of a rotisserie chicken or two poached chicken breasts.
Veggies: carrots, shredded napa cabbage, and mushrooms (shitake or sliced button mushrooms).

image: roasted chicken, mushrooms, noodles, carrots and other ingredients set out on counter for making udon soup.

Making the Best Broth

While I sometimes make homemade chicken broth and stock, I often use low-sodium chicken stock, which is enhanced with aromatic vegetables such as ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. This gives the stock an unami-like flavor and makes it a really great broth for udon.

Chicken Udon Soup Step-by-Step

The meat will heat up while it simmers in the broth, making it moist and delicious. Here are some tips for this recipe in each step:

Make the broth
Use a large soup pot big enough that you can cook the noodles in it too. I use a 5q Dutch oven or a large soup pot.
Add the Chicken & Veggies
The veggies will soften and cook at the same time that the chicken heats up.
Add the Udon noodles
Follow the package directions for the length that the udon needs to simmer. Dry noodles take longer than fresh.
Serve
Ladle the soup into bowls, top with sliced green onions, and serve. Chopsticks are optional, but spoons are necessary.

image: vegetables, and noodles in a bone broth cooking in a pot.

What Does Udon Soup Taste Like?

Udon soup is similar to pho, a rich and delicious broth. However, udon is enhanced with aromatics from the garlic and ginger giving it a light and earthy flavor.

Making Spicier Udon

My kids enjoy this udon soup as is, while my husband and I prefer it spicy. I simply drizzle a little Sriracha sauce over the bowl and mix. If everyone loves spicy udon, add a dried Fresno chili pepper to the broth as it cooks.

image: large pot of chicken udon soup with ladle

Is Chicken Udon Soup Healthy?

With veggies, chicken, low-sodium broth, and noodles, this is easily a balanced meal that fills you up and is full of protein.

image: overhead view of udon soup with sliced chicken, green peppers and chopsticks.

Easy Chicken Udon Soup

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 25

Make chicken udon soup the easy way! A flavorful broth with chicken and noodles ready in 20.

5 from 24 votes

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Ingredients

For the udon soup:

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken, about ½ rotisserie
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 green onions
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded napa cabbage, or 5oz bag shredded cabbage
6 mushrooms (shitake or button), sliced
6 ounces udon noodles

Instructions

Prep:

Slice the green onions and separate the whites from the green parts. Shred the cabbage, slice the carrots really thin or use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons, chop the mushrooms. You can swap these for button mushrooms too.
Slice the chicken into small pieces, about ½ inch diagonal pieces if using breasts.

Make the soup:

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, combine the chicken broth with the ginger, garlic, the white parts of the onion, and soy sauce over medium-high heat. Bring the broth to a boil then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
To the broth, add the cooked chicken, carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the udon noodles and continue cooking until the noodles are cooked and the veggies are tender, about 5 more minutes. If using fresh udon noodles, which only take about 3 minutes to cook, I recommend waiting until the veggies are tender to add them in.
Ladle the udon soup into bowls and top with the green parts of the onions.

Notes

You can use the chicken carcass to make your own stock. Check out this recipe for a homemade recipe.
Can’t find udon noodles? Use thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Can’t find Napa cabbage? Use shredded green cabbage.