This copycat Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup is easy to make and tastes better than the original! It features tender pieces of chicken, celery, carrots, and their signature baby shell pasta.
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🍲 What is Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup?
It's a classic chicken noodle soup featuring chicken, celery, carrots, and their signature baby-shell pasta. Their version also includes red peppers and peas for extra variety.
It's warm, comforting, and the perfect recipe for cool, brisk mornings!
🔎 Replicating the recipe at home
Tim Hortons makes it super easy to replicate their recipes at home since they list the ingredients on their canned version:
Water, Chicken, Baby Shells Pasta, Carrots, Green Peas, Red Bell Peppers, Modified Corn Starch, Chicken Broth, Chicken Fat, Salt, Seasonings, Potassium Chloride, Dehydrated Onions, Yeast Extract, Sugars, Onion Powder, Dehydrated Parsley, Garlic Powder, Beta-carotene, Spices, Carrot Powder, Natural Flavours.
- Superstore Product Info Page
Spices and seasonings
Many ingredients are still unknown as they are labeled "Seasonings" or "Spices." But after thorough testing, I've found a winning combination.
One important ingredient is yeast extract, found in most grocery stores under the Marmite brand. We'll use this to give it a rich, umami flavor.
Chicken
The chicken in their soup is seasoned with many spices. It's a bit tricky to replicate at home, so I'd recommend using a rotisserie chicken for a similar flavor.
🧂 Ingredients
- Butter: For sauteing the vegetables.
- Celery, carrots, red pepper, and green peas
- Chicken Stock: I highly recommend making this soup with homemade stock. Here is a good, simple recipe. The next best choice is Better than Bouillon roasted chicken base. But it's saltier than most stocks, so you can omit the salt.
- Black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley
- Marmite: You can find this in the baking section of most grocery stores. It packs a ton of umami.
- Shell Pasta
- Rotisserie chicken: I recommend Costco's rotisserie chicken; it's super juicy and cheap.
- Vinegar: Brightens up the entire soup.
- Cornstarch: This is the primary thickener. Mix it with water before adding it to the soup; otherwise, it'll clump up and do nothing.
Substitutions & Variations
- Shell pasta can be replaced with any other type of pasta.
- Rotisserie chicken can be replaced with any other part of the chicken, like breasts or thighs. Add them to the chicken stock in Step 3 and simmer for 10-15 minutes until fully cooked.
- Dried parsley can be substituted with fresh parsley.
🔪 Instructions
STEP 1: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta shells until al dente (about 7-10 minutes), remove from pot, and set aside.
STEP 2: Add butter, diced celery, and carrots to a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Sauté for 3 minutes. Add red peppers and green peas and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
STEP 3: Add chicken stock and season it with black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, Marmite yeast extract, dried parsley, and salt (be sure to taste before adding more salt). Bring broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
STEP 4: Add vinegar and rotisserie chicken. Give the cornstarch mixture a stir, then mix it into the soup to thicken. Taste and add more seasonings if needed.
STEP 5: Divide the cooked pasta into serving bowls and ladle in the soup. Enjoy!
💭 Top Tips
- Be careful with the salt. Since every chicken stock varies in saltiness, you might not need as much as I do. Remember to taste as you go. It's safer to undersalt than to oversalt.
- Check the pasta shells every 30 seconds, beginning at the 7-minute mark, to get the perfect al dente texture!
🥡 Storage & Leftovers
Storing: Store leftover chicken noodle soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days, depending on the freshness of the chicken. It's best to store the pasta shells separately to prevent them from absorbing the soup and becoming soggy.
Freezing: The soup freezes well. Place it in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge.
Reheating: Reheat leftovers by microwaving or on the stovetop over medium heat. If too much liquid has evaporated, you can add some extra water.
📋 Recipe
Copycat Tim Hortons Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 2 ribs celery (diced)
- 3 medium carrots (diced)
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 10 cups chicken stock, low-sodium (homemade stock is the best, but if you don't have it, I highly recommend Better than Bouillon. See the notes for more details)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley)
- 1 teaspoon marmite
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (use half the amount if you're using table salt)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 cup shell pasta (or your pasta of choice)
- 3 cups rotisserie chicken meat
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed with three tablespoons of water)
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta shells until al dente, remove from pot, and set aside.
- Add butter, diced celery, and carrots to a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add red peppers and green peas and sauté for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and season it with black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, Marmite yeast extract, and salt (be sure to taste before adding more salt). Bring broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add vinegar and rotisserie chicken.
- Give the cornstarch mixture a stir, then mix it into the soup to thicken. Taste and add more seasonings if needed.
- Divide the cooked pasta into serving bowls and ladle in the soup. Enjoy!
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