There are few things I love as much as a bowl of chicken noodle soup. I’m most definitely not talking about the one in the can.
I’m talking about soup in a rich, flavorful broth with chunks of roasted chicken, freshly chopped tender pieces of carrot and celery, noodles soaking up the chicken taste and fresh parsley floating throughout the whole thing.
Sounds long and involved and exhausting, right? Well, usually that is right. What usually happens is that you start out with all great intentions and energy and a nice whole chicken.
You toss it in the soup pot with some water and a prayer or two, and hours and days and weeks later you have a cooked chicken and some “broth.”
But if you are me, the chicken is a little rubbery from having boiled away for ages and I’m sorry, all the onion and carrots in the world have not been able to produce a nice rich broth — for me, anyway. It ends up watery and sad and you have to skim the top of it, and on and on and on.
It was time for something to be done. It’s our right to have a fantastic chicken soup that doesn’t require ages and a nap and a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. So here’s what needs to happen.
ingredients needed to make the best chicken noodle soup!
Here’s how to make this easy, scrumptious chicken noodle soup!
STEP 1: First you need a bone-in split chicken breast. Put in in a baking pan, brush that baby with a little olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and pepper and roast it at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes. (And if you have some already cooked chicken on hand, you can have your soup even faster by using that! You need about two cups.)
STEP 2: While the chicken is roasting, chop up a couple carrots, some celery, an onion and some fresh parsley. If I have a leek on hand I’ll chop that up too. I usually just drop everything in my food processor and pulse it a few times – you want small bite sized chunks.
STEP 3: Once your chicken is roasted and cooled a little, shred it into bite sized pieces – use two forks, or (if you are me) your own clean fingers. Set it aside.
STEP 4: We need to talk about BROTH. Broth is the foundation of any chicken noodle soup, and let me tell you, things have gotten a LOT better in the prepared broth arena.
My best best best advice is to go for the broth in the box, NOT the can. Imagine and Pacific make great boxed chicken broth, and Wegman’s store brand is also terrific. Bring the broth to a nice simmer and drop in the veggies and some short pasta (think egg noodles or bow-ties) and simmer it covered until the veggies are tender and the pasta is cooked.
STEP 5: Taste to see if you need to add in any salt or pepper…and that’s it, folks. You have now made the perfect chicken noodle soup. It will keep for several days and get better and better. If it gets too thick, pour in a little more broth and it will be just fine.
more tips for making this perfect perfect soup!
100% yes, and that will save even more time. If you are a dark meat chicken lover, go ahead and add that part of the chicken too.
Pretty much all supermarkets are carrying this now, and it’s right next to the canned soups. I always have at least a couple of boxes in my pantry for broth emergencies.
That’s another beautiful thing about this soup – you can mix and match anything you like. Have a celery disliker in your house (raises hand)? Just double up on the carrots. Toss in some baby spinach. Etcetera and so on!
Put your question in the comments below and I will answer pronto!
Doesn’t everything seem right with the world now?
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The Best, Easiest, Quickest Chicken Noodle Soup Ever
Prep Time: 10- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Low Lactose
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Pin RecipeDescription
Is there anything more wonderful than perfect chicken noodle soup? Here’s a recipe for The Best, Easiest, Quickest Chicken Noodle Soup Ever!
Ingredients
- 1 split bone-in chicken breast (or two cups of shredded cooked chicken)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Two 32 ounce boxes of chicken broth
- Two large carrots, sliced
- Two stalks celery, sliced
- One leek, sliced or one sweet onion, peeled chopped
- 1 cup short pasta (bow-ties, egg noodles, etc_
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Place chicken skin side up on baking sheet lined with foil. Rub olive oil onto chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 50 minutes and then cool until chicken is cool enough to shred with your fingers. Discard bones and skin.
- Heat broth until simmering. Add carrots, celery, leek or onion and pasta and cook until pasta is done, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in parsley and chicken and season to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
Updated (and made even more delicious!) from a previously published Framed Cooks post!
OTHER CHICKEN SOUP RECIPES WE LOVE!
 Fill up your slow cooker with chicken, barley, veggies and broth to make this warm and comforting slow cooker chicken barley soup! |
 Chicken dumpling soup is the world’s best comfort food, and with this easy recipe you can make it in a jiffy! The perfect soothing meal. |
 It’s hard to improve on the deliciousness that is chicken noodle soup, but adding tortellini to the mix might do it! Try it today with this easy recipe. |
Yep! I've been using these boxed broths like mad!!…In everything! Love them…and love chicken soup too. I'm gonna have some today as a matter of fact! :-)
I spent most of my childhood eating Campbell's based chicken soup so it's no surprise that I'm never super excited when I see a recipe for it. That being said, I've seen SO MANY of them in the past few days that I figure there must be something redeeming about it. And actually. T his sounds awesome.
i totally agree that the Imagine chicken broth is the best out there. About as low in sodium as you can find without making your own! i always stock up when it goes on sale!
Whole Foods has really good chicken broth. I never feel guilty for buying and using it. Oh, and I love adding some lemon juice to my chicken noodle soup. So good.
What a great way to make a quick chicken noodle soup! I use the second brand of chicken broth and love it!
Definitely going to try this! I attempted to make chicken noodle soup from scratch and it was awful but I'm determined to learn how to make a great one.
Also, love the Bunnykins bowl – takes me back to my childhood :)
I noticed the bunnykins off the bat. I have a set.
I love this recipe but I sometimes use bone in pork chops and cook for eight hours and they melt in your mouth. Other spices like rosemary and garlic powder and shallots. I add a couple of dashes of liquid smoke (Wrights only).
So yummy! Put on a layer of mashed potatoes, or add pasta, rice or even couscous.
Elizabeth! First of all, I am so glad you have this bunny bowl. It’s really hard to find these day – I get lots of questions about it. Second, I love your variations – especially the layer of mashed potatoes part! :)
OK, I can do this .
It is raining and cooling off , might even be in the 70s later. Maybe I can stand to have soup for dinner.
besos ! C
When do you use the thyme? is it for the chicken or the broth?
thanks
Whoops! You stir it in with the parsley – all fixed now. Thanks for your eagle eye! :)
I like to do a riff on this. Instead of parsley and thyme I add one fresh garlic clove smashed, a coin of fresh ginger in matchsticks, juice of half a lemon, the leaves from one bunch of fresh cilantro. With all that flavor going on I don’t even need salt & pepper! Too lazy to add noodles. Just made this last week and it was fabulous if I say so myself.
★★★★★
Love your riff (well, except for the cilantro because I am not a cilantro person, but I know lots of people are!). Sounds like a lovely spiced up version of this old classic. :)