Recipe

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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. While we often think of chicken noodle soup for that, this quick take of chicken udon soup is easier than the classic and also a winner.

You only need half of a chicken, so 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 can make this soup with dried, fresh, or refrigerated udon noodles. This recipe also calls for shredded chicken, chicken broth, ginger, garlic, green onions, and soy sauce. I also include veggies: carrots, shredded cabbage, and mushrooms (shitake or button).

Chicken Udon Soup Step-by-Step

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.

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

Recipe Variations

Check these easy swaps to customize this chicken udon soup:

Swap the noodles
No udon pasta on hand? Angel hair pasta and spaghetti make a good swap.

Use chicken leftovers
I make this recipe with half of a rotisserie chicken, but you can use two poached chicken breasts instead.

Make it spicier
Since my husband and I prefer this soup 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

Easy Chicken Udon Soup

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

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 broth. Check out this homemade recipe for chicken broth.
Can't find udon noodles? Use thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Can't find Napa cabbage? Use shredded green cabbage.