Healthy and delicious, this is the best Asian chicken noodle soup you'll ever eat! Marinated in Chinese five spice and sauteed with fresh ginger and garlic, the chicken is so tender that it will melt in your mouth! Nothing screams comfort food like homemade chicken noodle soup...especially with an Asian flair!!
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Not only is this the best Asian chicken noodle soup you'll ever eat, but it's also near and dear to my heart. It was created by my friend who is a chef and it's savory, full of flavor, and absolutely delicious! It's different than the traditional chicken noodle soup recipe because this version has an Asian twist made with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, veggies, and chicken broth. We're talking restaurant quality soup you can make in your own kitchen!
Unlike a lot of people who only eat soup in the colder months, I eat soup all year long. While I enjoy a good creamy soup like loaded baked potato soup and a hearty tomato based one like vegetable beef soup, I love a good chicken base soup recipe. And I find myself craving this chinese noodle soup! Hands down, this is absolutely the best soup recipe I've ever tasted. A good soup recipe everyone will love!
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
The key to flavor is marinating boneless and skinless chicken thighs in a Chinese Five Spice based marinade for 12-24 hours. Do NOT skip the marination step! It's what makes this Asian soup stand out from the rest flavor wise. The marinade also contains red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
The ingredients are simple and can be found at any grocery store. Fresh ginger and garlic is sautéed in the same pot where the marinated chicken was seared. Fresh mushrooms are then added, which soaks up a lot of flavor. Chicken broth, soy sauce, and water make up the base of the soup. Bok choy is then added along with rice noodles making this Asian chicken noodle soup out-of-this-world delicious!
🔪 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
Start by marinating the chicken. For the marinade, you'll need olive oil, Chinese Five Spice, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Don't worry, the red pepper flakes don't make this dish "hot or spicy". It just adds more depth flavor wise.
Once you've mixed the marinade ingredients, add the thigh pieces to a large bowl and baste each thigh thoroughly. Cover and place in the refrigerator and marinate for 12-24 hours.
Once the chicken has finished marinating, warm a large stock pot with olive oil over medium-high heat. Pan sear the thighs in small batches for about 3 minutes on each side. The goal is to sear the chicken; you do not want to cook it all the way through at this point. Remove the pan seared thighs from the pot and set aside on a plate to cool.
After you remove the chicken, keep the oil and drippings in the pot and reduce the heat to medium. Add in the fresh chopped ginger and garlic.
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Sauté for about 1-2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and sauté for another 1 minute.
Next, add in the soy sauce, chicken broth, and water. Stir to combine. Place the seared thighs on a cutting board and dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to the pot with the garlic, ginger, mushrooms, and liquid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to cook for 30 minutes.
While the soup continues to cook, cut the bok choy by removing the base and cut the remaining green leaves into large chunks. Soak the bok choy in cold water to thoroughly remove all dirt, about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, drain the bok choy and rinse again. Then, add the bok choy into the soup to cook.
While the soup finishes cooking, prepare the rice noodles. For this Asian chicken noodle soup recipe, you don't actually need to "cook" the Mai Fun rice noodles. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Then, place the rice noodles in a 9x13 glass dish. Pour the boiling water over them until completely covered. Let them soak for 10 minutes until they soften. Then, add them to the pot of soup.
Stir to combine and then you are ready to serve! Top with chopped green onions, grab a spoon or a pair of chopsticks and enjoy! The taste is out-of-this-world delicious!
🙋 Frequently Asked Questions
Ramen noodles work really well in this recipe. Thin angel hair pasta also works great. For a thicken noodle, try using egg noodles.
Yes! Fresh kale, green cabbage, and spinach work really well in this recipe. I have also skipped adding the noodles and make it with a variety of different vegetables. Julianne carrots and chopped celery are great additions. Including sliced water chestnuts adds a nice crunch.
💭 6 Major Success Tips
- Marinating the chicken is key to making this Asian chicken noodle soup flavorful. Don't skip this step.
- Avoid using bone-in, skin on chicken with this recipe. The skin prevents the marinade from absorbing into the meat.
- Chicken broth works best, but chicken stock works well if that is all you have.
- Rice noodles hold up extremely well in this recipe. Angel hair pasta and egg noodles are also good substitutes. Avoid using brown rice and vegetable based noodles as they will turn to mush during the cooking process.
- Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- To freeze, place the cooled soup in a freezer safe container and store for 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Rice noodles tend to soak up a lot of the liquid. Add more chicken broth as needed when reheating.
🍽️ More Asian Inspired Recipes You'll Love!
I love a good Asian cuisine and have developed a lot of recipes over the last several years to satisfy my cravings! This Asian Sesame Chicken is super quick to make, healthy, and perfect for any weeknight dinner. And the kids love it! Enjoy a good stir-fry recipe? Then you're going to adore my Garlic Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry. The garlic ginger sauce is out of this world tasty! And if you like the lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs, then you'll love my version of these Copycat P.F. Change's lettuce wraps! They are perfect for lunch or as a snack!
Looking for more soup recipes? Make sure you check out all my soup recipes! You should definitely try this easy to make hamburger soup, my healthy chicken vegetable soup, and this Greek Avgolemono soup! We're talking amazing soup recipes with unbelievable flavors!
Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 ½ Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 ½ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flake
- 2 ½ Tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic
- 1 pound portobello mushrooms
- 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound bok choy
- 1 6oz. package of Mai Fun Noodles
- green onions, optional (for garnish)
Instructions
- In a large dish, marinate the chicken thighs using a 1 ½ Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, Chinese Five Spice Powder, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes for at least 12-24 hours.
- After the chicken has finished marinating, heat a large pot with 1 Tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Sear each thigh for about 3 minutes on each side.Important Note: The goal is to sear the chicken. You do not want to cook it all the way through at this point.
- Remove the seared chicken from the pot and set aside on a plate to cool.
- Keep the oil and chicken drippings in the pot and reduce the heat to medium.
- Add the ginger and garlic to the pot and allow to cook for about 1-2 minutes. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape and combine the bits of chicken stuck to the skillet. This will help intensify the flavor!
- Add in the mushrooms and stir thoroughly.
- Add in the soy sauce, chicken broth, and water.
- Cut the chicken on a cutting board into bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to the liquid.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to cook for 30 minutes.
- While the soup is cooking, cut the bok choy by removing the base and dice all of the remaining green leafs. (You want your bok choy cut chunky). Soak the bok choy in cold water to thoroughly remove all dirt, about 20 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes, drain the bok choy and rinse one more time. Add it into the soup to allow to cook.
- Prepare the Mai Fun by soaking in hot water for 10 minutes. This is the perfect amount of time for the bok choy to finish cooking.
- When the noodles are done, drain them, and then add them into the soup.
- Stir well to combine and serve! Top with chopped green onions.
Video
Notes
- Marinating the chicken is key to making this soup flavorful. Don't skip this step.
- Avoid using bone-in, skin on chicken with this recipe. The skin prevents the marinade from absorbing into the meat.
- Chicken broth works best, but chicken stock works well if that is all you have on hand.
- Rice noodles hold up extremely well in this recipe. Angel hair pasta and egg noodles are also good substitutes. Avoid using brown rice and vegetable based noodles as they will turn to mush during the cooking process.
- Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- To freeze, place the cooled soup in a freezer safe container and store for 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Rice noodles tend to soak up a lot of the liquid. Add more broth as needed when reheating.
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Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in September 2017, but was re-published with updated step-by-step instructions, pictures, and tips in September 2022.
Mary
Sounds great, but the 24 hour marinating should be added to inactive time at the top of recipe. I got all the ingredients for today and didn’t factor in time since the top says 20 min prep and 40 min cook time (& 2 hours total time??). Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Amanda Mason
Excellent! I just updated the label and time for Inactive time and put in 1 day.
Ashley Jones
This was SO delicious!! I followed your exact recipe and I don't think it was too thick at all. It was nice and creamy and the flavors were great! My husband ate two bowlfuls and wanted more. We had plenty for leftovers. Thanks--this is a keeper.
Amanda Mason
Hi Ashley! I'm so glad you loved it!! It is a fabulous recipe if I do say so myself! I can't wait to hear what other recipes of mine you try!!
Naomi
This was absolutely delicious. The second time that I made it I added tofu, and marinated that with the chicken. It was equally tasty. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Amanda Mason
Hi Naomi! I'm so glad you loved this recipe! Tofu is a GREAT add!! Let me know what other recipes of mine you make! I cant wait to hear!!
Stephanie
Most flavorful satisfying soup ever!!!! The flavors are beyond and when you marinate the chicken the full 24, each bite is tender and delicious! 10/10 for sure. This is a recipe I'll save forever.
Amanda Mason
Yeah! So glad you loved this recipe! I know - the flavor meter is tremendous! I can't wait to hear what other recipes of mine you try!!
Michelle H
I was so excited to find this recipe, as I actually know Jessica! Such an amazing person and cook! And this soup was absolutely delicious! Thanks fo giving a shout out to such a great lady!
Amanda Mason
Oh how funny that you know Jessica! She is absolutely fabulous!! Her recipe is amazing - so glad you loved this soup!!!
Jenny
This is a really delicious soup. As the author says you really need to marinate overnight and definitely use boneless skinless chicken thighs. The chicken comes out tender and so tasty. The broth is amazing. I couldn’t find that brand of rice noodle so just added mine a couple of minutes before the end of cooking so they wouldn’t go mushy. I will be making this again!
Amanda Mason
Thanks Jenny! I'm SOOO glad you loved it!!
Hazel
This was excellent. I added some water at the end to give it more volume. The broth was very rich so it really didn’t need the chicken stock. Really delicious and healthy recipe.
Amanda Mason
Thanks, Hazel! I'm so glad you loved it!! I agree - super yummy and healthy!
Christina
Came out really well. These are the variations I did.
I didn’t have time to marinate chicken for 24hours so did a quick marinade (chicken breast) for an hour.
Along with mushrooms, after I added broth, I also added 3 chopped carrots, 1 capsicum and cabbage chunks in the end(didn’t have bok Choy in hand) and sprinkled some dried basil and red pepper flakes in the broth.
Garnished with cilantro, mint leaves and spring onions, sliced green chilies and lemon wedges.
Used refigerated fresh rice noodles(pho).
Since we like spicy so added pepper flakes and green chillies. Who don’t like it spicy can omit these:)
Amanda Mason
Wow -those are some edits to the recipe for sure but it sounds great! I think you created a new recipe lol! It just proves how versatile this recipe it! Glad you liked it!
Jenny
If you get chance to try the recipe as it is written ( marinating the chicken thighs overnight) I think you will find it is well worth it. I have made it twice now and the tender tasty chicken really makes the dish. I think the soup you made would taste completely different.
Suzanne Peters
I've made this multiple times, it is a great recipe. The only thing I have changed is using only the chicken stock & no water. At the end I also use fried shallots on top.
Amanda Mason
Thank you! I'm so glad you love it so much! I do, as well!! Love the shallot aspect!! Great add!
Fran
Forgot to take a picture! This was very good, the only thing we changed was the Chinese five spice amount, we went with 1/8th of a teaspoon and it was plenty for us, and we added some chopped cilantro.
Amanda Mason
Yeah! I'm so glad you liked it!! Nice add with the cilantro!! Next time you make it, definately take a picture!
Tj
The video shows 5 cups broth, 1cup water! The recipe says 5 cups water and 5 cups broth! ????
Amanda Mason
It's 1 cup of water. I updated the recipe card just now.
Tj
Thank you!
Angela
Delicious!! Marinating now for supper tomorrow!! I’ve made this so many times now, sooo good!! I do 6 cups of broth and I also add another 1 1/2 half tsp of Chinese 5 spice into the broth!!
Amanda Mason
So glad you love it so much!! Great adds!!