Last updated on February 21st, 2018 at 04:39 pm
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch just like my mom taught me. This soup is healthy and perfect for a cold winter night or when you’re feeling sick. The best kind of comfort food there is.
Chicken noodle soup was something that was on our dinner table pretty much every Sunday, while growing up. My mom would always make it from scratch, there was no question about it. The idea of ordering take out or making it from a mix or something was unheard of. It actually still is with her. Chicken soup must be made from scratch. And for that you need a whole chicken. My mom always uses a whole chicken to make the soup and then takes the chicken and roasts it in the oven with some potatoes. This way she’d stretch the chicken to make 2 great dishes. Yep, that was our Sunday dinner and it was delicious.
Even to this day when I think of what to make for dinner on Sundays, chicken noodle soup with roasted chicken and potatoes is what always comes to mind. But enough rambling and going down memory lane. Let’s talk homemade chicken noodle soup.
I still like to make mine with a whole chicken, but the one thing I do different now is I take the meat from the chicken and add it back to the soup for a heartier soup which is more of what I call American style versus Romanian chicken noodle soup, which is basically clear chicken broth with noodles and carrots. It depends how much chicken you add to your soup, but if you have any leftover, like the drumsticks or something you can roast them, though that’s never a problem at my house. I have a dog who is more than happy to eat the leftovers.
Chicken noodle soup is actually quite easy to make. You basically want to add the chicken to a big soup pot and fill it with enough water to at least cover the chicken, add carrots, celery, and an onion, and boil everything for about an hour. Make sure there’s enough water though, because as this starts boiling it will evaporate a bit. As soon as the water starts to boil you will notice a yucky foam start to form on top of the broth. You will want to remove that using a skimmer, and you’ll want to do this until there’s no more. This will ensure that you have a nice and clear soup. I also add the carrots, celery and onion unchopped, and then take them out of the broth once the chicken is cooked, and just chop up the carrots and celery to add back to the soup. I leave the onion out, I basically just add it for flavor. This is what my mom always did.
You then take the chicken out and shred the meat, as much you want, add it back to the soup pot and add the noodles too. You can use whatever noodles you prefer, I usually add egg noodles but any sort of pasta works. At this point you can season it with salt and pepper and my mom always adds Vegeta which I’ve talked about in the Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, which is basically a flavor enhancer made from vegetables. It’s used a lot in Europe, especially to flavor soups. However, you don’t have to use Vegeta, you can use a chicken bouillon cube or just skip this and just use salt and pepper, there should be enough depth to this soup already.
That’s all there basically is to my revised version of my mom’s chicken noodle soup. Trust me this is perfect for those cold winter nights, or when you’re feeling sick. It really is the best comfort food.
Love this soup? Try these:
- For a Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup check this recipe.
- Chicken and Dumplings
- Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken with skin and bones (mine was about 4 lbs)
- 2 medium carrots peeled
- 1 medium onion skin removed
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 to 4 quarts water 3-4 L
- 2 cups egg noodles dry, about 4 oz
- 1 chicken bullion cube or 1 tbsp vegeta
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or to taste
- 1/4 cup parsley fresh, chopped
Instructions
- Wash the chicken and remove the bag of gizzards from the inside. Place the chicken in a big soup pot, you'll need at least a 5 qt pot, and add enough water to cover the chicken. Add the whole onion, whole carrots and celery sticks to the pot. Make sure there's enough water to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Once it comes to a boil, you will notice a dirty foam floating around the top of the pot, use a skimmer to skim that out. This will ensure that you get a clear soup. Keep skimming the foam until there's no more left. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid and cook for about 1 hour, the carrots should be fork tender and the chicken cooked through, and almost falling off the bone.
- Carefully remove the chicken from the soup pot and let it cool for a few minutes until it's cool enough so that you can pull the meat from it. Remove the carrots, celery and onion from the soup pot as well.
- If you have too much broth in the pot you can now ladle some out to a jar or airtight container for later use and store it in the fridge.
- Chop up the carrots and celery and add it back to the soup.
- Shred some meat from the chicken, I used the meat from half the chicken, but feel free to use all the meat, especially if you have a lot of broth, then add the shredded chicken back to the soup pot.
- Add the dry noodles to the pot, and the chicken bouillon or vegeta. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as needed.
- Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until noodles are cooked through. Be careful to not add too many noodles because as the soup sits they will expand and soak up a lot of the broth.
- Garnish with parsley and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally posted April, 2011.
I was wondering if you could tell me what kind or brand of noodles you use? They look really good but I’m not sure I’m familiar with them. Thanks!
They’re just generic brand egg noodles from Sobey’s!
I made your recipe for my first attempt at homemade chicken soup. This soup was amazing! Maybe almost as good as my Nonny’s (she adds homemade baby meatballs). I added a little garlic and left the onions in large pieces to be easily removed by the kids. Garnished with the parsley and parmesan cheese. Thank you for the great recipe, which will now become an easy go to meal for even the pickiest members of our family.
I’m so happy to hear this, Dawn! 🙂
How do you roast a chicken that you’ve boiled? Am I reading this wrong?
No, you’re reading it right. Just put it in a roasting pan and roast it at 400 F degrees until it’s golden brown. Shouldn’t take too long since it’s already cooked inside.
Loved it! Thanks for sharing!
Very nutritious and easy recipe which is no doubt very delicious 😋
What I do once the Chicken is boiled, I use a slotted spoon to remove the bones/meat. I strain the broth into large soup containers to remove sediment and loose bits. I let it cool, I refrigerate the broth to solidify the fat to scrap off the next day. The bones, skin and grisle is tossed and the meat is refrigerated to use the next day.
You can also add parsnip and celery root. Cabbage leaves work good too. I like to add fresh parsley and dill (dry are ok if you dont have them).
I like to put my chicken in boiling water first and cook for 2-5 min. Rinse, add clean water and vegetables. This should remove all the foam. Make sure to cook your soup uncovered so it doesn’t get cloudy.
For a bit of spicyness you can add 1 jalapeno pepper (seeds removed).
Garnish with fresh parsley or dill.
Your recipe is the OLD FASHIONED way, I know because my mother taught me this recipe about 55years ago and yes you can add a cabbage leaf. Thank You for the info. Will make a pot tomorrow and enjoy it anytime.
Sometimes the good old ways from the good old days still work…glad to hear you are going to make a pot of soup and enjoy. Something about homemade chicken noodle soup soothes the soul….
My first time making your soup this afternoon for my husband cause his not feeling well today. I will let you know how he like it.
Is it 2 Cups cooked or dry noodles?
That’s 2 cups or 4 oz of dry egg noodles. I like a lot of noodles in my soup, if you don’t feel free to use less.
I find cooking my noodles or bow pasta,separate,keeps better for the next day,if there’s leftovers. Noodles won’t get mushy.
This sounds lovely and really tasty. Thank you for sharing this.
Simon
It’s looks delicious this will be my first time trying your soup
Homemade chicken noodle soup is a must in every home! Especially when cold season comes around! Looks like a great recipe!
xoxoBella | http://xoxobella.com
Dear Jo,
I love your recipes, and thank you for sharing them. Have you ever tried grilling the onion (it has to be unpeeled) first before adding it to the soup? It’s my grandma’s recipe, and we simply love it. This will give an amazing taste and beautiful colour. Also, one of the tricks is to add a leaf of cabbage, cauliflower or something similar. The soup will taste differently, don’t ask me why. 🙂
Hi Ivana,
Wow, what a wonderful idea about grilling the onion, will definitely have to try that next time. Also the cabbage and cauliflower…sounds interesting. Might have to give that a try as well. 🙂
Jo, you made this recipe soooo easy and yummy! Just perfect for a gloomy day!
Great, it’s one of my favorite soups. 🙂