Farmhouse Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup in a white bowl garnished with parsley

Farmhouse Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Comfort food at it's best. There's nothing like a big bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. And chicken noodle soup done right. Learn which noodles to use, and how to give it the best chicken flavor.

Course Soup, Stews and Chilis

Cuisine America

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 484kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs skin on, bone in
1 pound split chicken breast boneless, skinless or skin on, bone in, or 2 - 2 1/2 pounds of chicken pieces of your choice.
1/4 cup Canola oil
3 stalks celery sliced, about two cups
3 carrots peeled and sliced, about 2 cups
1 medium onion medium dice, about 1 cup
2 quarts chicken broth or water
1 heaping tablespoon Soup Seasoning or use following 4 spices. Pick recipe back up at parsley.
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound Frozen homestyle Egg Noodles Thick noodles
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 lemon juiced

Instructions

Heat a Dutch Oven over medium high heat. Once hot, add oil. When oil is hot and shimmering add chicken pieces skin side down. Cook until nicely browned, about 5 minutes per side. When they easily release from bottom of pan using tongs, remove chicken to a plate.
Using the same hot pan, add carrots, celery and onions. Cook until just starting to become tender and starting to brown around the edges. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the bits left from the chicken. That means flavor.
Once the vegetables are browned, add the seared chicken pieces on top. At this point you can make the decision to remove or not remove the skin. The skin will add fat to the soup, which mean adding flavor. But you'll have to skim the fat once the soup is cooked to avoid it becoming too greasy.
Add enough chicken broth or water to cover the chicken. Add the seasonings. Simmer about 30-45 minutes. Remove the chicken from the soup and once cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and shred the chicken with forks. Return the shredded chicken meat to the chicken noodle soup.
Once the chicken has been returned to the pot, add the noodles. Following package direction simmer until noodles are tender. Don't cook them to death! Please. Remember, egg noodles from the freezer section are already cooked. They just need to heat through. Cover and let them simmer until nice and hot.
Remove bay leaf, add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve in wide rimmed white bowls. Or your favorite comfort food soup bowls. Garnish with parsley leaves.

Notes

I highly recommend making this Soup Seasoning Mix to keep in your pantry. It's a fabulous flavor that works for most any soup. If you haven't made this, use the spices indicated in the recipe.

To make this hearty chicken noodle soup even easier, use rotisserie chicken. Instead of adding uncooked chicken to the soup, shred meat from a rotisserie chicken. Since the rotisserie chicken is already cooked, decrease the cook time for the chicken from 30 minutes to 10 minutes. This also works very well, if you have leftover homemade roasted whole chicken.

For a creamy chicken noodle soup, swirl in 4 tablespoons of heavy cream once the soup is cooked and removed from the heat.

Whenever using dried herbs, add them at the beginning of the cooking process. The long simmer will release the flavor from the dehydrated leaves.Whenever using dried herbs, add them at the beginning of the cooking process. The long simmer will release the flavor from the dehydrated leaves.

Whatever chicken pieces you choose for this soup, I highly recommend including a couple of chicken thighs. Simply stated, they make a better soup. And always remember there's flavor in those chicken bones. You can most certainly use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but be aware they may dry out if over-cooked and you'll be sacrificing flavor.

Can This Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup Be Made In the Crockpot? Yes. Simply follow the stovetop instructions for searing the chicken and vegetables. Transfer all ingredients, minus the noodles, to a crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to crockpot, add noodles and cook on high for another 30 minutes.

Nutrition