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Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

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Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Roberta Reynolds
Got the blues? Cold outside? Feeling not quite yourself? This is the soup for you. It is the soup I make for my husband every time he’s down with a cold, and the one I pack up and deliver to friends who are under the weather or in need of some nutritional comfort. It can take hours or minutes, depending on your choice of broth options and chicken selected. Still tastes just right, whichever route you take. This is a big, hearty soup, with big pieces of chicken, nice big cuts of vegetables, and thick noodles (I used regular lasagna noodles and cut them into strips when cooked). Another bonus: this soup can be gluten free – just substitute gluten free pasta for the regular noodles in this recipe and you are good to go.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • FOR THE BROTH
  • 1 whole chicken a 5-6 pounder if you can find one quartered and skinned OR about the equivalent in chicken parts, either boneless/skinless or bone in. If you use boneless/skinless, try about 2-3 breast pieces and 4 thigh pieces since sometimes they tend to run a little small.
  • 3-4 carrots washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3-4 big ribs of celery washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 onion peeled, halved and quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and whole peppercorns to taste
  • FOR THE SOUP
  • Cooked cooled chicken from section above that have been cut into large bite-sized pieces. NOTE: If you skipped the step above, It’s fine to add raw, cut up boneless chicken pieces to this broth instead of the reserved cooked chicken – check for amounts in the step above.
  • Approximately 8 cups of chicken broth. Use broth from section above. If you don’t have enough just used the store-bought brand of your choice to make up the difference. And if you haven’t made broth yet, just use all store-bought
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 4 large carrots peeled and sliced
  • 5 large ribs of celery sliced diagonally
  • 1 large onion roughly chopped
  • 1 large yellow or orange pepper cut into ½ inch dice
  • ½ pound lasagna noodles boiled in salted water until al dente, drained and rinsed. When cool enough to handle, cut each noodle in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces. NOTE: Feel free to substitute your favorite gluten-free pasta in this step.
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Approximately 4 Tablespoons Cornstarch optional

Instructions
 

  • FOR THE BROTH
  • Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with enough cold water to cover the chicken.
  • Add vegetables, garlic, bay leaves, and salt and pepper.
  • Bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are soft.
  • Remove chicken and set aside.
  • Drain broth and discard vegetables. Cool both chicken and broth.
  • When chicken has cooled, remove from bones and cut into nice big chunks.
  • NOTE: It’s perfectly fine to use canned chicken broth. Just skip this step and proceed to the next section.
  • FOR THE SOUPIn a large stockpot, sauté onion until softened and starting to caramelize
  • Add chicken broth and bring to a low boil.
  • Add carrots, celery, peppers, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Reduce to simmer and cook until tender.
  • Remove bay leaves or keep in for awhile but always remove before serving since they are very dangerous to eat whole.
  • Stir in cooked chicken. (If using raw chicken pieces, add them now and cook until just cooked through)
  • Stir in cooked and reserved lasagna noodles.
  • If you prefer a more brothy soup, stop here. Check for seasoning and you are done.
  • If you prefer a thicker soup with a heartier consistency, it’s time to add the Cornstarch Slurry. Add 4 Tablespoons Cornstarch to a small bowl. Slowly add and whisk in 1/4-cup cold water or broth. Stir until mixture is completely smooth.
  • Gradually stir this slurry into the hot soup mixture (just start with half of it to make sure the soup doesn’t get too thick). Bring to boil and boil for one minute, then reduce to simmer. If soup is thick enough, you are done. If not, add the remaining slurry and repeat the steps above. NOTE: if you boil a cornstarch thickened soup for too long, the thickening will break down so keep to a simmer if you can.

If we take the longer route, we’ll cook a whole chicken and make some delicious broth while we’re at it. Grab a chicken, grab a pot, add some water and a bunch of aromatics. For this one we used onion, carrot, celery, and then scrounged around the herb beds at home to come up with a bundle of bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme. There are also some red and black peppercorns and plenty of salt. All this gets simmered until the chicken is cooked through, then strain off the liquid and there’s your broth. Set the chicken aside until he’s cooled, pull the meat off the bones and cut into nice big chunks.

While all of that is going on, get your vegetables chopped for the soup itself. We’re going with onions, celery, carrots and orange peppers. Feel free to use whatever sounds good. Many like to add sautéed mushrooms which is a good strategy if you happen to be in the mood for them.

Chicken ready? Check. Broth ready? Check. Vegetables chopped? Check. Haul out a big soup pot, sauté the onions until soft, then toss in the other vegetables. Pour the broth over the top and let simmer until everything comes together.

Once the vegetables are softened, add your chicken and the already cooked and rinsed lasagna noodles (if you add the noodles straight out of the package and cook them in the broth, your soup will be kind of muddy looking and will get super-thick due to all that starch – however it will still taste delicious so go for it if you want, just break the lasagna noodles in half if you go this route). Another way to thicken the soup is to add a cornstarch ‘slurry’ (the details are in the recipe below). You guessed it – all that’s left is diving right on in.

PS: The recipe below doesn’t allow me to put in the range of times this soup might take to complete, so just know that time will fluctuate depending on if you cook a whole chicken or if your go the quicker route of boneless and skinless chicken added directly to the broth toward the end of cooking.

Go on, have another bowl. Hope you enjoy this one! And thanks so much for reading today!! xoxo

Hello. I’m Roberta Reynolds.

I’m so glad you dropped in! Welcome to Bird’s Nest Bakery and Café, a collection of ‘made from scratch’, seasonal recipes developed in my home kitchen. I’ve been obsessed with creating the easiest and most delicious recipes possible since I could reach the top of a stove.

I hope you’ll find this site a welcome and relaxing place where you can come for inspiration and ideas. Take a look, have fun, and feel free to modify these recipes to suit your particular palate. It would make me so happy if you would share these recipes with friends and family. After all, cooking and baking are meant to be shared with those we care about. That’s what’s so much fun about it!