At my house, if you don’t feel well, you must eat this soup.  It’s just a part of being in my family.  The old ways are definitely the good ways in this case.

This is, as the title says, just perfect chicken noodle soup.  The broth is rich and nourishing and full of vegetables, the noodles are thick and hearty and minus any mystery ingredients, and the chicken is simmered to perfection.

You know the benefits of cooking down good, organic beef or chicken bones to make good bone broth, right?  If not, do a little reading like this.  We were given tools to be healthy, and I firmly believe this is one of them.  I make bone broth from turkey, chicken and beef bones and can it.  But you can definitely get a lot of the same goodness from cooking a good, organic chicken all day to make a pot of soup.

And it’s much easier than you think.  In fact, I hope that I can take a lot of the mystery out of making some of the foods you once thought were too complicated or only for your grandma to make.  I promise,  just follow these few steps and you are on your way to amazing homemade goodness.  Whip up some Soft Oat Rolls or Artisan Cheese Bread to accompany this goodness.

Please keep in mind that all the seasonings and veggie amounts are estimated as I never measure them, but adjust to taste as I go.  I will give you approximates, but certainly season to your taste.

Cook That Chicken!

Start with a whole chicken or a mixture of bone-in white and dark meat pieces.   I try to keep a chicken in the freezer for just such an occasion.  Once it’s cooked using any of the following methods, you can use the broth you cooked it in or read on to make simple and nourishing Bone Broth!

Stove Top:

Put it in a huge pot and cover it with water (I usually use 12-16 cups of water).  Add in salt, pepper, herbs, and leftover veggie scraps for flavor. Let all of this goodness come to a boil over medium heat and then reduce it to low to simmer for about an hour.  You can use the broth right now, and skip to the soup making, OR…

When the chicken floats, usually within an hour and a half or so, remove the chicken and let it cool and take all the meat of the bones.  Refrigerate the meat and add the bones back into the broth and let them simmer for the rest of the day. How long the bones are in the pot depends on what you have time for. The longer they simmer, the more nutritious, so let them simmer as long as possible.

Crock Pot:  Start the day before by putting the whole chicken and the whole crock pot full of water (12-16 cups usually does the trick) on high and cook until the chicken is done (about 3 hours or so), and then remove the meat and put the bones back in and simmer on low overnight and up until you’re ready to make the soup using your crock pot full of bone broth!

Instant Pot: (6qt) Put a whole chicken into the instant pot and fill to the fill line with water.  Add in seasonings and veggie scraps to flavor if desired. Pressure cook for 35 minutes and let it release     Remove the chicken from the broth and when it’s cool enough to handle, remove all the bones and put them back into the pot.  Set the pressure cook time for 3 hours and let it work its magic.

While your broth is turning into chicken-y medicine, chop your veggies and make some homemade egg noodles.  But, be warned;  once you try these there is no going back to noodles from a bag. If you’re in a hurry, make sure you skip the egg noodles on the grocery shelf and go right to the freezer section and buy frozen noodles.   They are a second best option for sure!

Noodles:

At least three hours before serving time, mix the following:

• 3 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Add in 3 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 T. melted butter.

Separate the noodles so they can dry well.  Either let them stay on the counter and flip them over at some point, or you can lay them on a rack of some sort to let air get through to the bottom. Usually, I let these dry for the afternoon, but sometimes, I have rushed things and they are not completely dry.  They still work just fine.

Soup Time:

Now, dice up the following:

• 1 onion,
• at least 1 cup of celery,
• at least 1 cup of carrots,
• and 2 cloves of fresh garlic.

To put it all together, heat a large soup pot on medium heat and add in 4 T. butter.  Add the veggies and the following  spices and cook until tender.

• 2 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt,
• 1/2 tsp. pepper,
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning.

Add in 8 cups of broth (you can definitely bump this amount up if you also increase your seasonings).  Heat to boiling and drop in all the noodles and let them cook.  Add in the chicken about fifteen minutes later so it can heat up.  Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.  You can make a little slurry of cornstarch and cold water (a couple Tablespoons full of each) and add it to the hot soup as a bit of a thickener if desired.)

And there you have it!  The perfect chicken noodle soup.  If you manage to have leftovers, this freezes beautifully.  I just put it in a glass mason jar and keep it on hand in case someone starts sniffling.  Or worse, if it’s me (the soup-maker) and no one had this blog post to make me this soup!

No more excuses for them or for you.  Now you know.  Go make soup.

Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

 

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Prep time

3 hours

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

5 hours

 

Quite simply, this is the Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup! The recipe includes instructions on how to make delicious, homemade egg noodles and bone broth as well!

Alison: That Which Nourishes

Recipe type: Soup, Meal

Cuisine: American

Serves: 10-12 servings

Grocery List

• 1 whole chicken or at least three pounds of chicken parts, bone-in, white and dark meat (preferably organic, hormone, and preservative free)
• 1 onion
• 1 c. chopped celery
• 1 c. chopped carrots
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tsp. sea or kosher salt (more to taste)
• ½ tsp. pepper (more to taste)
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 4 T. butter
• 8-10 cups broth (how-to in blog post)
• Homemade Noodles:
• 3 c. flour plus extra for the counter
• 3 eggs
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup milk
• 2 T. melted butter

Here's how...

1. Please note that there are several cook methods listed in the blog post from stove top, crock pot, and Instant Pot. Read the post for all the options.
2. Prepare chicken, broth, and noodles using the desired method.
3. Dice up the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.
4. Heat a large soup pot on medium heat and add in 4 T. butter.  Add the veggies and the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, and cook until tender.
5. Add in 8 - 10 cups of broth.
6. Heat to boiling and drop in all the noodles and let them cook.
7. Add in the chicken once the noodles have cooked just to heat through..
8. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
9. You can make a little slurry of cornstarch and cold water (a couple Tablespoons full of each) and add it to the hot soup as a bit of a thickener if desired.)

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