Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade chicken noodle soup is such a timeless comfort food classic, that always manages to make us feel better on dreary days! Grandma's recipe was loaded with fresh vegetables, tender pieces of chicken and finished with egg noodles all in a delicious broth that soothed away any dreary day or cold!

For anyone who hasn't tried their hand at making chicken noodle soup from scratch, know that it's what I would call a beginner-level recipe. There are lots of ways you can modify the recipe, but the simple basics are truly sometimes the very best!

You can, of course, jump forward to pulling your cooked meat apart if you happen to bring home one of the grocery store or deli rotisserie chickens or have leftover chicken on hand.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions
• 💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes
• 🥣 More Amazing Soups
• 📋 Recipe

I love the added nutritional benefits of cooking the chicken carcass down and the enhanced flavor of the broth. It's not a word, but the first step makes the soup more chicken-ey.

🥘 Ingredients

• 3-4 pound whole Chicken (rinsed)
• 6 cups Chicken Bone Broth (most containers are 32 oz = 4 cups)
• Water (enough to finish covering your whole chicken in your stock pot, if needed)
• 1 teaspoon each, Salt & Pepper (add more to taste when adding noodles)
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 medium Onion (yellow or white, finely chopped)
• 2-3 cloves Garlic (minced, about 1 tablespoon)
• 5-6 medium Carrots (rough cut)
• 6 stalks Celery (rough cut)
• 5-6 stalks Thyme (pulled from stem, or use ½ tablespoon dried thyme)
• 2 cups Egg Noodles
• 1 tablespoon Parsley (optional - fresh, chopped)

*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*

🔪 Step-By-Step Instructions

While the cooking time may be daunting, remember that the actual time spent chopping up some vegetables and pulling apart the cooked chicken are only a small fraction of the overall time given in the recipe.

I usually spend about 5 minutes on each task, so for the most part, my simple comfort food just cooks on its own...most likely while I nurse a cold. This steaming bowl of goodness is the one thing (and quite possibly the only thing) I want when I'm not feeling well!

1. Place your whole chicken in a large stock pot, add broth, and water if needed to cover the chicken. Add salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
2. Cover and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 90 minutes or until the meat begins to fall off the bone. (this step will take approximately 30-40 minutes if you are using chicken thighs only)
3. Remove chicken to a plate or large dish, use a slotted spoon to remove any pieces that may still be in the soup broth as well as the bay leaves (see notes on straining).
4. Add chopped vegetables (onion, garlic, carrots, celery) and thyme to the broth in stock pot, cover and continue to simmer while removing the bones from chicken meat (allow your chicken meat to cool for a few minutes first). Discard bones and skin.
5. Simmer the broth for a total of approximately 30 minutes, at the half way point (15 minutes) return the chicken meat to soup, taste and adjust seasoning, then add pasta. Cover and simmer for the final 15 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, stir in the chopped parsley (if desired) and serve.

💭 Angela's Tips & Recipe Notes

• A quick note on seasoning: I prefer to season lightly until my ingredients have come together. The broth has salt in it. Celery has salt in it. Once the whole soup is combined, I taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper before adding the noodles. At this point, you will have a better idea of the final resulting flavor.
• Use a sieve if possible. After cooking the whole chicken down it is best to strain the liquid through a fine sieve.
• If you prefer just to use the dark meat, you can use chicken thighs rather than a whole chicken, and (bonus) that cuts down the cooking time! The dark meat of the thighs will be more tender in your soup, while the white meat of the chicken breasts will hold its texture better. Having cooked this soup many times, I usually stick with the whole chicken method.

🥣 More Amazing Soups

I have a ton of great ideas for what to serve with chicken noodle soup.

• Crab Egg Drop Soup
• Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Potato Leek Soup with Bacon and Chives
• Leftover Prime Rib Beef Barley Soup with Mushrooms
• Crockpot Beef Stew
• Creamy Chicken Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

 

📋 Recipe