Chicknoodle_soup_a_onecolumn

Chicken Noodle Soup

by Kimberley S in Rouxbe Recipes

Rich chicken broth with carrots, celery, moist pieces of chicken and tender noodles. This homemade chicken noodle soup is sure to warm the soul.

  • Serves: 4 to 6
  • Active Time: 1 hr
  • Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
  • Comments: 12
  • Views: 7372
  • Success 100%

Step 1: Blanching the Chicken Legs

Blanching the Chicken Legs

To blanch the chicken legs, place them into a tall, skinny soup pot and cover with cold water. Bring the water up to a boil over medium-high heat.

Skim the impurities off the top as they rise to the surface. Once the water comes to a boil, drain and discard the murky water. Cover the chicken legs with cold water and return to the heat. Slowly bring to a simmer, skimming any additional impurities off the surface.

In the meantime, prepare your mise en place.

  • 5 chicken legs

Step 2: Preparing Your Mise en Place

Preparing Your Mise en Place

To prepare the mirepoix, peel and cut the onions into large dice. Cut the celery and carrots into about 1/2" -inch pieces. Peel the garlic. Gather the bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns).

  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 large carrot
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 small bunch parsley
  • 10 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns

Step 3: Starting the Broth

Starting the Broth

Once the impurities have been skimmed from the surface of the broth, add the salt, mirepoix and bouquet garni. Continue to gently simmer just until the meat is cooked through.

  • salt (1/2 tsp per L/qt of water)

Step 4: Removing the Meat

Removing the Meat

Once the meat has just cooked through, remove the legs from the broth. Set aside to cool.

Once the legs are cool enough to handle, remove the nice chunks of meat from the bones and set aside. The meat can be used in other preparations or it can be added back to the broth later, if making chicken soup.*

Step 5: Finishing the Broth

Finishing the Broth

Once all of the meat has been removed from the bones, return the bones to the broth. Continue to simmer the broth for 1 hour to extract the flavor from the bones.

Once the broth has finished cooking, remove and discard the solids. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth.

Skim as much fat from the surface as possible. If desired, cool the broth over an ice bath and refrigerate. Remove any hardened fat before proceeding with your recipe.

This delicious, rich chicken broth can be used to make a variety of soups and it can also be used as a flavorful stock.

Step 6: Heating the Broth for the Soup

Heating the Broth for the Soup

To start the soup, bring the broth to a simmer in a large pot over medium heat.

Reserve the rest of the broth for another dish or freeze for future use.

  • 12 cups chicken broth

Step 7: Preparing the Garniture

Preparing the Garniture

To prepare the vegetables, cut the carrots and celery into 1/2" -inch pieces and add them to the simmering broth. In the meantime, cook the pasta.

  • 2 carrots
  • 2 stalks celery

Step 8: Cooking the Noodles

Cooking the Noodles

Place a large pot of cold water over high heat and bring to a boil. Season with salt. Add the pasta and cook until done.

  • 1 cup dried egg noodles
  • 1 tsp salt per L/qt of water

Step 9: Finishing the Soup & Serving

Finishing the Soup & Serving

Once the celery and carrots are almost tender, add as much of the reserved chicken to the simmering broth to heat through.

Once the noodles are done, drain and add them to the broth. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, add some finely chopped parsley and serve immediately with a nice big slice of buttered bread.

  • reserved chicken meat (as much as desired)
  • kosher salt (to taste)
  • freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Amanda M

Rosemary Chicken Soup

I'm making chicken noodle soup for dinner. I want to add rosemary for flavor. When do I put it in? Thanks!

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Adding Herbs

If you want a rosemary flavor in all of the broth, then put it in with the bouquet garni when you are making the actual broth (Step 2).

If you only want a rosemary flavor for the soup that you are preparing, then add a sprig when you bring the 12 cups of broth to a simmer (Step 6). You can also chop it up, but be careful with rosemary though, as it can be quite strong.

Let the broth simmer for a bit so the rosemary can infuse its flavor. If using a sprig, you can remove it prior to serving. Cheers!

Debra G

Can recipe be doubled?

I'm assuming this is easy to double? I can't imagine making soup only for 4. I normally double and freeze half.

Should it be frozen before adding noodles, and then add the noodles when reheated?

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Can recipe be doubled?

Yes, absolutely this can be doubled/tripled...you can make this soup in the biggest pot you have.

I would add some cooked noodles when you reheat the soup. You can add them before freezing, but their texture won't be as nice. Cheers!

N M

My first chicken soup :)

I'm glad to report this turned out excellent. I had a very clear broth for the most part, except I got hungry and after 1h 20min the chicken was still pink inside (was simmering it for that long). So I decided to cheat and bring it to a boil to finish cooking the chicken faster. The broth went cloudy as expected, but given I was just making a soup, I didn't really care.

I actually peeled the skin off my chicken meat to keep it healthier (less fat) and it still turned out excellent. Thanks for the great video and next time I'll start my chicken soup a bit earlier!

James R

SimmerIng problems

Hi there,

All went well up until step 5, but when simmering for 1 hr a lot of my broth disappeared ( only got to 45 min). There was only a few cups of water left. Not sure why (lid was still on the pot). Any ideas on why this happened?

Regards
James

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Simmering Problems

It might be helpful to review the lesson on Broth-Based Clear Soups and the Stock Fundamentals. If you used a tall, skinny pot and the same amount of ingredients, you should have wound up with a good amount of broth in the end. A wide pot can cause a lot more evaporation; however, you say you used a lid. We cook our broths and stocks without a lid to prevent the ingredients from boiling, which is a very important step in making stocks and broths.

Did you remove the meat once it was cooked and then add the bones back to the broth? It is important that the ingredients are always covered with water during cooking. Let us know. Cheers!

James R

Simmering

Thanks for the advice, I gave it another go & it worked perfectly.
I think the main issue on the first attempt was boiling, rather than simmering. Now for the next challenge... :-)
- James

Michael K

White Meat

I want to make this soup for my family but they don't eat the dark meat of the chicken. I would like there to be substantial pieces of meat in the finished product, so how would I modify this recipe?

-Mike

Dawn T
Rouxbe Staff

Re: Chicken Noodle Soup Using Breast Meat

For flavor, I would suggest that you make the broth the same way as stated in the recipe. You could then add some chicken breasts at the end. Just be sure that you don't over cook them; otherwise, they will be dry. Then remove the meat and use the breast meat in the soup for garnish.

If you haven't already you may also want to check out the lesson on "How to Make Broth Soups" and maybe even the lesson on "How to Make Stock-Based Soups". Hope this helps. Cheers!

Jody H

Making It Again...

Wow! I followed the directions to the tee. The broth was so clear! Made this tonight to aid in getting rid of a cold. The soup is very soothing and especially when I know the exact fresh ingredients that goes in my soup. Thank you for the recipe. :)

Kimberley S
Rouxbe Staff

RE: Making it Again

Great job! If you haven't check out the lesson yet (Broth-Based Clear Soups), make sure to do so. Aside from making chicken noodle soup, you'll have the flexibility to make many other flavorful soups to suit your tastes. Hope you're feeling better! Cheers!

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