This Chicken Noodle Soup recipe features a deeply rich, flavorful broth, and tender chicken. It’s the perfect classic comfort food for chilly nights, an easy lunch or soothing a cold. Made from scratch with simple, wholesome ingredients, this easy soup delivers warmth, nourishment, and the best nostalgic flavor in every spoonful.
Keys to Success with Chicken Noodle Soup Recipes
Buy bone in, skin on chicken breast for roasting to protect it from drying out. See the Oven Roasted Chicken Recipe for more details on juicy chicken breast.
If you already have skinless, boneless chicken breast or thighs, skip the roasting and just cut it up into small pieces. This will be added at the end, same as the roasted chicken, but you’ll have to cook it a few minutes longer to ensure it’s cooked through. The soup will be delicious either way, but the roasting adds that browned savory chicken flavor.
Salt the chicken early, also known as Dry Brining. This is going to give you the absolute best result as the salt is pulled into the chicken to flavor it and protect it from squeezing out all the moisture. Dry brining is simply sprinkling salt over the chicken and giving the salt enough time to permeate the chicken, so try to salt it 30 minutes in advance or better yet overnight.
Salt to taste at the end once all ingredients are added. Train your palate to be able to salt to taste by tasting it knowing it needs salt, then adding a little bit at a time until you start to taste the salt and the flavors of the dish pop.
Salting to taste is an incredibly important skill to get the soup (or any dish) to taste good. Just using a quantity of salt without tasting and adjusting means there’s a good chance the salt will be off. Unless of course you’re using the same type and brand of salt as the author and happen to have the same salt preference. I nerd out on why here if you’d like to learn more and up your cooking skills!
Time Tips for Chicken Noodle Soup Recipes
Roast the chicken while you’re prepping & cooking the other veggies is an efficient way to speed up the process. Or you can roast the chicken the night before for dinner with a little of the Ultimate Soup Herb & Spice Mix under the skin. Just double the recipe so there’s enough for soup the next day!
If you have a big enough pot, consider doubling the recipe and freezing half. That way next time you don’t have the energy you cook, you can easily pull out the soup and defrost it. I like these Pyrex 11-cup glass containers for freezing food, so I can pop it straight into the microwave or oven. I’ve had them for about 9 years and haven’t had one break yet!
If you have time right when you get home from the grocery store, go ahead and dry brine the chicken by sprinkling 3g of salt per lb on the chicken. I typically sprinkle salt on all meat I purchase right away so I get this step out of the way and it has ample time to work it’s magic. This can also be done the night before or morning before cooking if you forget after the grocery store. Whenever you have a minute to sprinkle salt, but the earlier the better, trust me you will be rewarded!
This recipe does call for a lot of garlic, so it’s a great opportunity to use a frozen garlic cubes! This is a time saving hack I use often. I do suggest dethawing the garlic cube for a bit in the microwave so it can spread evenly over the potatoes.
Consider doubling or tripling the Ultimate Soup Herb & Spice mix and storing in an air tight container as it can be used for future Chicken Noodle Soup batches, Chicken Wild Rice Soup or even quick roasted veggies.
Onion and celery seem to be the scary items for kids in this dish, so I recommend chopping them finely. That way they disappear into the dish once they’re cooked. My kids didn’t even know there was onion and celery and gobble up the soup no problems.
If this is a new dish for your kid, one bite today is a win! You can pick out some of the cooked carrots and chicken and separate them on the plate if they are really apprehensive. Remember, it can take an average of 12 tries before a kid (and even some adults) will start to like the flavor. By exposing them to new flavors slowly (meaning low quantities) but often, they will start to get used to the new flavor and may even start to love it! For more tips check out this article on 10 Strategies to Encourage Picky Eaters.
Dry brine the chicken by sprinkling salt on top of the skin and allowing at least 30 minutes for it to permeate the chicken. Best to do this in the morning or night before.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF
Spread olive oil on the skin of the chicken and roast in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 165ºF at the thickest part of the breast.
Remove from the oven. Once cooled slightly, remove the skin and bone and chop into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces.
Prep the vegetables and fresh herbs
Finely dice the onion, garlic and celery.
Chop the carrots into 1/4 inch bite size pieces.
Finely chop the parsley.
Herb & spice mix
Use a spice grinder, old coffee grinder or mortar and pestle to create a power with all spices and herbs together, including the thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, black pepper, nutmeg and cloves. Alternatively, chop the rosemary, use the bay leaf whole and rub the remaining dried herbs between your clean hands so they are small bits. Sometimes they come finely chopped up and this step can be skipped.
If you choose to double or triple the recipe for future soup, store the herb mix in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Cook the vegetables & noodles
Heat a heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a Tbsp of butter and fully coat the bottom of the pan.
Add the onion and cook for 6 to 10 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, celery and carrots and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the herb and spice mix and let it cook for 1 more minute.
Add the chicken broth and agave nectar. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the carrots start to soften.
Once carrots softened, add the egg noodles and cook according to package. Usually around 4 to 8 minutes.
The last 2 minutes of the egg noodles cooking, add the roasted chicken breast. If using raw chicken, add in with the egg noodles and cook until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 165ºF.
Salt & adjust flavors to taste
Taste the broth knowing it hasn't been salted yet so it will most likely be bland. This trains your palate to know when your food needs salt.
Add salt slowly and stir to incorporate, then taste again. Repeat until you start to taste the salt and the flavors pop. If you taste the salt and it is still a little bland, a touch more of the Ultimate Soup Herb & Spice Mix can be added.
Top with chopped parsley & serve.
Prep Time:30 minutes
Cook Time:1 hour
Category:Main Course
Cuisine:Healthy American
Variations
This makes a chunky soup, if you like more broth add additional chicken stock. If you have leftover turkey after Thanksgiving, this is a great use for it.
The herb & spice mix is also delicious on chicken, fish, and roasted veggies. Make a big batch and have fun with it!
Let us know how it turned out and if you tried any variations in the comments!
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