Best Celebrity Chicken Soup Recipes, Ranked

Last weekend, I invited a group of friends (from three different families) over for a chicken soup tasting party, which I had dubbed “The Great Chicken Soup Showdown” in my head. Armed with scorecards and spoons, we sampled five celebrity chicken soup recipes side by side, and the results were surprising. This was also the moment I realized I probably own more soup bowls than is normal. 

What started as a casual dinner party turned into a really fun event and the most delicious research project I’ve ever undertaken, complete with spirited discussions about dumplings versus noodles and whether ginger belongs in chicken soup. In the end, we came out with two clear winners and a promise that we should do it again, except this time we’d spread the work of making the food out!

What Makes a Great Chicken Soup

As a long-time recipe developer and food writer, I know that great chicken soup requires three key elements: a rich, flavorful broth that coats the spoon, tender and juicy pieces of chicken and a balanced mix of vegetables/extras that make each bite interesting. It should comfort you when you’re sick, warm you when you’re cold and feel like a snuggle in a bowl.

The soup recipes were all different from one another, so I needed to set up a few ground rules to keep the playing field level. First, I used homemade chicken stock for all the soups, as a great broth is the foundation of any fantastic soup. Ina’s recipe made so much stock that I was able to use a mix of hers and some from my freezer for the other recipes. The only exception to this was Martha’s, which requires its own stock. Since seasoning comes down to personal preference, we also agreed not to factor that in, and salt and pepper were available at the table for anyone to add if they wanted. Finally, I attempted to follow each recipe as closely as possible and intentionally excluded any optional ingredients. Giada’s took an inadvertent detour when I realized that I accidentally bought the wrong ingredient too late in the game. But I’ll explain more on that later.

The Recipes I Tested

Here’s the celebrity lineup that made it to my stovetop:

Each recipe promised something different. Some focused on technique, others on surprising flavors, and a couple took the comfort food route. I was curious to see which approach would win over our panel of open-minded, food-passionate, discerning (and hungry) judges.

Winner, Winner: Bobby Flay’s Chicken Dumpling Soup

The unanimous crowd-pleaser was Bobby Flay’s dumpling soup, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting it. But the dumplings transformed it from a simple barley soup into a complete meal that had people going back for seconds and even thirds. Most of the dumplings puffed beautifully, while a couple fell apart into tasty little blobs—still, there were no complaints. They’re made with a choux pastry-style dough—consisting of milk, butter, flour and eggs—that puffs up when simmered in the broth.

What everyone commented on the most was the variety of textures and flavors in each spoonful. There’s tender, shredded chicken, perfectly cooked vegetables, chewy barley for heartiness and those cloud-like dumplings that soak up all the broth. It also uses cooked, shredded meat from a whole chicken, making it easy to use a rotisserie chicken in the recipe. The kids, in particular, really took to this one, with several commenting on how good it was and asking for more.

My only critique is that this recipe could use more broth, especially if you’re planning to have leftovers. The recipe calls for 4 to 6 cups of broth, but the barley and dumplings are such good liquid absorbers that I added at least 2 more cups (maybe 3) and still ended up with a thicker consistency than I expected. Next time, I’ll start with 8 cups to keep it soupy and have a couple on hand as a backup.

The Runner-Up: Ina Garten’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Ina’s recipe earned a tremendous amount of respect for producing the most gorgeous, crystal-clear, unctuous broth I’ve ever made at home. Her method of making stock from scratch with three whole roasting chickens creates liquid gold. It’s rich, deeply flavored, and so beautiful you almost don’t want to add anything to it. Several tasters mentioned they could drink this broth straight from a mug.

The downside is the time commitment and what feels like chicken waste. You’re using 15 pounds of chicken to make the stock, then adding just one chicken breast for the actual soup. Ina instructs us to “discard the solids,” which would have been a lot of leftover cooked chicken (hello, chicken salad for days). The recipe produced about 6 quarts of stock, which I ended up using throughout the recipes, and, in the future, could freeze to make the next batch of soup quicker. At one point, I had two giant pots of stock simmering on my stove, and I joked with my husband that I should set up a soup stand on the sidewalk.

However, with grocery costs as they are, I’m hesitant to use whole chickens for stock only to discard them. In the future, I’d use the chicken in the soup, even if it was a little spent.  If you’re someone who loves making stock and meal prepping, this recipe gives you the best foundation possible and the most incredible stock. This is the soup I’d make when I really want to impress someone or when I have a weekend to dedicate to the process.

Most Surprising Flavor: Emily’s Chicken Noodle Soup from Stanley Tucci’s The Tucci Table

This recipe comes from Tucci’s sister-in-law, Emily Blunt. I expected it to be an underdog. But it caught everyone off guard (in the best way) with the pungent addition of garlic and fresh ginger. Those two ingredients, which add warmth and complexity, turned what could have been a more traditional chicken soup into what one person called “immunity in a bowl.”

The step of roasting the chicken pieces with onions before adding them to the soup also creates incredible depth. The caramelized onions and pan drippings get scraped right into the pot (along with the pan juices), and they add layers of flavor you can’t get from a basic simmer. This would be my go-to when I’m feeling under the weather. The ginger provides a warmth that makes you feel like the soup is actively healing you, and the extra-wide egg noodles make it feel more texturally substantial.

Best for a Weeknight: Giada’s Lemon Chicken Soup with Spaghetti

When you need soup on the table fast, Giada’s recipe is a good bet. Using a rotisserie chicken cuts the prep time dramatically, and the whole dish comes together in less than 45 minutes (including both prep and cooking time). The broken spaghetti might seem unconventional, but it proved to be a surprising hit with the tasters, adding an Italian twist that makes the soup feel fresh and bright. Giada says that any small pasta works, and I personally think ditalini or fusilli would have been great here. The best part? You probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry already. It’s the kind of recipe that saves you when you realize at 5 p.m. that you have no dinner plan but need something satisfying on the table within the hour.

The lemon juice is the star in this pot. It’s very pronounced and adds an incredible brightness that wakes everything up. The recipe called for Romano cheese, but I accidentally bought Grana Padano and didn’t realize until it was too late. I recognize that this mistake might have influenced the overall decision. (I’m sorry, Giada!) But the complexity and subtle nuttiness of the Grana Padano were still loved by all. A sharper, saltier and more pungent Romano would complement the acidity well, and I’m looking forward to trying it the way Giada intended. Either way, the extra cheese to serve was a component that all the tasters appreciated, and even our youngest tasters (ages 4 to 9) asked for seconds. The broth eventually absorbed into the noodles, which turned it into more of a pasta than a soup that my kids enjoyed as a meal for school lunches for a couple days after.

Most Classic: Martha Stewart’s Test Kitchen’s Favorite Soup

Martha’s recipe delivers exactly what you’d expect from a chicken soup. It’s reliable, traditional and pleasant. The method of simmering a whole chicken with extra chicken wings and herbs imparts a lighter, botanical flavor to the stock. While this soup won’t surprise anyone, it fills the role of “exactly what I expected” perfectly. It’s the soup you’d want when you have a cold and need something gentle and familiar. The vegetables cook to ideal tenderness, and the egg noodles provide the classic texture everyone associates with chicken noodle soup. The addition of fresh dill at the end provides a nice herbal note that sets it apart from basic versions. If you’re looking for a reliable, no-surprises recipe that will satisfy traditionalists, this is your pick. It’s the soup equivalent of a perfectly executed basic, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.

The Bottom Line

With full bellies and the post-meal reflection of our animated discussions on what makes the perfect spoonful, I concluded that great chicken soup is deeply personal. Bobby Flay’s dumpling version won our contest because it offered the most complete eating experience. It was hearty and flavorful and had that “one more bite” quality that kept everyone wanting more. Plus, our kids seemed to love it the most, which always feels like a parenting win.

But each of these soups serves a different purpose. Make Bobby’s when you want to impress and have a little extra time for the dumplings. Choose Ina’s if you’re serious about broth and don’t mind the investment. Tucci’s is a good option if you want something that feels like it’ll revive you. Go for Giada’s on busy weeknights, and opt for Martha’s when you need something reliable. The real winner is having five new soup recipes that I know work, taste great and will get me through soup season. I don’t know which one I’ll make next, but I do know that next time someone else will be washing the soup pots!