Recipes > Chicken Noodle Soup
Rich chicken broth with carrots, celery, moist pieces of chicken and tender noodles. This homemade chicken noodle soup is sure to warm the soul.
Kimberley Slobodian
- Serves: 4 to 6
- Active Time: 1 hr
- Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
- Views: 71,364
- Success Rating: 84% (?)
Steps
Step 1: Blanching the Chicken Legs
- 5 chicken legs
Method
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.
Step 2: Preparing Your Mise en Place
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 large carrot
- 2 medium onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 small bunch parsley
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
Method
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).
Step 3: Starting the Broth
- salt (1/2 tsp per L/qt of water)
Method
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.
Step 4: Removing the Meat
Method
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
Method
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
- 12 cups chicken broth
Method
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.
Step 7: Preparing the Garniture
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
Method
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.
Step 8: Cooking the Noodles
- 1 cup dried egg noodles
- 1 tsp salt per L/qt of water
Method
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.
Step 9: Finishing the Soup & Serving
- kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- reserved chicken meat (as much as desired)
Method
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.
63 Comments
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I'm making chicken noodle soup for dinner. I want to add rosemary for flavor. When do I put it in? Thanks! -
Rouxbe Staff
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! -
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? -
Rouxbe Staff
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!
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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!
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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
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Rouxbe Staff
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!
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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
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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
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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! -
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. :) -
Rouxbe Staff
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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We had this yesterday and it was really good, I'm always taken aback by 'real' flavors, by how natural and pure things taste when you make them from scratch. One mistake I made was cooking the noodles straight in the broth. They absorbed a lot of the broth, and I had to add water, which diluted the flavor a little. I felt really bad as I saw everyone add salt to their soup, especially because I knew what it tasted like before I added the noodles. Next time I'll make the noodles separately. One thing though that I thought should be better is the flavor of the chicken itself, which I thought was very bland. What can I do to enhance the flavor of the chicken? I'm thinking that adding salt/pepper to the chicken would come off as soon as you add water and would do little to the chicken itself. I thought about maybe brining the chicken overnight, or roast the chicken first, take the meat off and use the carcass and bones for the broth. Any other tips? -
There are a couple of reasons why the chicken could have been a bit bland. Perhaps the chicken was cooked a bit too long? It should be removed from the broth as soon as it is cooked (then remove the meat and place the bones back into the broth). Also, the quality and flavor of the chicken to begin with will make a big difference as well. If you were to roast the chicken before hand, you would end up with a much darker broth. If you are okay with that, then you could do that. However, it will not necessarily make the chicken itself that much more flavorful if it was not flavorful to begin with, but it will add some flavor for sure. You might want to try making this again using a nice free-range organic chicken and see if that makes a difference. Of course, you still need to make sure that it doesn't stay in the broth too long etc. Hope that helps. Cheers!
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It was an organic chicken. The broth (before I had to add the water) had a super flavor, REALLY good, so I was very surprised that the chicken itself had so little flavor. So what you're saying is that the longer you let it go, the more the flavor is extracted from the chicken? What I did was butcher the chicken, because I've always wanted to try that and it was really easy following the lesson here on Rouxbe. Initially I let it simmer for maybe 1-1.5 hour before I took the meat out. Next time I'll definitely check for doneness and take the meat out sooner (I assume that works the same as when you roast it, stick a thermometer in the thigh, done when that hits 165 degrees). About butchering the chicken first, should I have done that or not?
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Great idea to practice your butchering skills for this Daniel, and yes, you can butcher the chicken if you like. Just keep in mind that you will need to remove the pieces of meat as they are done. For instance, the chicken breasts will be cooked well before the thighs. If you overcook the breasts they will become quite flavorless. This is why we generally recommend using chicken legs for the broth, that way they are all done around the same time. They also offer more flavor than the breasts (due to the fat and connective tissue). Same if you were going to add roasted chicken, cook until just done and then add any meat last minute. Hope that helps Daniel. Cheers!
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Oddly enough the store only sells drumsticks, wings and skinless thighs, so I went for the whole chicken. Will go to another store next time for legs and let you know how that turned out. Thanks for your time Dawn I appreciate it. Have a great weekend :)
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If the price of the drumsticks and thighs is a good price, then you could just buy those. After all, together they are the two parts of the chicken leg. Have a great weekend yourself Daniel. Hopefully it's as nice where you are as it is here. Cheers!
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In the 2012 Thanksgiving season in the New York Times, Jacques Pépin revived the Chinese method of steaming poultry, scaling things up to accommodate a nice, plump turkey. Inspired by that technique, I started with a large roasting chicken. The results were excellent (finishing the moist, nicely-rendered chicken to crisp the skin in a hot oven for less than a half hour), so I persisted. I have been using the pasta insert for my stock pot to steam the chicken, and I place a couple of halved onions, some chopped celery and scrubbed, chopped carrots in the steamer water beneath the insert. When the chicken is done steaming (often barely a half hour - be sure to cut slits down to the leg and wing joints to guarantee even cooking), I lift out the chicken (I used thighs this latest time) in its insert and give the resulting rich chicken broth left in the stock pot a quick reduction and end up with the finest chicken soup I have ever had. Almost no effort, and the result speaks for itself. I studded the latest soup experiment with 1" herbed dumplings that I used to top the soup in its serving vessel. I finished that in the oven, to general acclaim. My mother-in-law, coming from several generations of Italian restaurant owners, gave the loudest praise. Sounds like a good Rouxbe lesson candidate! Steamed Chicken. Give it a try! -
Good for you for practicing and experimenting with different techniques Jack. It does sound like something like this would make a good practice recipe for the steaming lessons. Cheers!
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I'm interested in making this into a thicker soup. Would it be best to use cornstarch and warm water, or somehow incorporate a roux? Please briefly discuss the pros and cons of each method, and when it's best suited to use one or the other. Thanks!
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Technically you could use either a slurry (starch + water) or you could make a roux. A slurry would give the soup a bit more of a glossy finish, while the roux would add a bit more flavor — but not much, depending on how much was used. As for when to use one over the other, it partly comes down to personal preference and even different cultures. For instance, Asian cuisine often makes use of a slurry, rather then a roux — which is why a lot of Asian dishes have that glossy sheen. Another example, French cuisine, a roux is often used over a slurry, but it's not a hard fast rule. It depends on what is being made etc. Cheers, Dawn
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You can start with a much larger amount of vegetables. After simmering the broth down, finish it using an immersion blender. That should give you what you're looking for, with no additions that might change the flavor profile.
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Question, should I sweat the carrots, onion and celery before adding stock? -
Hi, Jonathan, Sweating your base vegetables is a great idea. Maybe go wild and get a little bit of caramelization into the mix. Enjoy the improvement, and best wishes.
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Rouxbe Staff
Agreed Jack... some stocks are really great with that added color and flavor base. Enjoy the stock making process and keep building the repertoire. ~Ken -
Good and wonderful dish ..enjoy stew your fresh vegetable
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good chicken soup, thank -
Good
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Good chicken soup.
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Good and wonderful dish enjoy stew your fresh vegetable & thank you for a delicious chicken soup -
thanks
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Tried this one as part of the broth lesson in the Pro Cook Course. The broth had fantastic, rich, chicken flavor and was very clear. The soup was simple and tasty. I did use the dark meat in the soup (since it was on hand and used to make the broth), but next time, just for personal preference, I think I will add some breasts to the broth making process and use the breast meat in the soup (and reserve the dark meat for another use). -
I plan to make the broth as a practice but don't need a full meal this week. Can I freeze the broth and chicken meat separately and make the soup when needed? Or should I just make the soup and freeze the soup? I am afraid the noodles wont freeze well.
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Hi Ben, You could make the broth and freeze. The meat should freeze well too. If you were to make the soup, wanting to freeze a portion, I would cook the noodles separately for the portion you are eating fresh and freeze the rest without the noodles. Your instincts are correct, they don't hold up well to freezing and thawing in the soup. Hope this helps! Cheers, Sandy -
How much water shall I use post blanching of the chicken.thank u.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Emma- You need enough water to cover and blanch the chicken legs twice. The recipe calls for "tall, skinny soup pot and cover with cold water". I am estimating about 1 1/2 to 2 qts. each time, (about a gallon total). It's easier to just cover legs with fresh cold water, then bring to a boil. The amount of water will be right each time. Sounds like you may use bottled water and curious to know the exact amount. Hope I helped! -
How much water shall I use post blanching of the chicken and can i make broth and freeze it. -
Rouxbe Staff
Sunil, the amount of broth this recipe yield is 12 cups. I recommend starting with at least that amount post blanching. You will use the same poaching liquid to start the broth and you can most definitely freeze it for later use. Just be sure to follow the proper cooling timing method prior to freezing. - Chris -
Rouxbe Staff
Sunil, We are happy to know you like engaging with Rouxbe! - Chris
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Can I use rice noodles?
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Hi Dal, Absolutely! Rice noodles would be nice in this soup. Just remember to cook them as directed on the package, as there are many varieties out there. Cheers, Sandy
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This study is very helpful for me to develop my skills and improve myself
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This study is very helpful for me to develop my skills and improve myself
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nice -
This is study is very important for us . -
how many grams in chicken are the five chicken legs in total please?thank you.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Jack--thanks for writing. The average chicken leg, bone-in, weighs about 32 grams per leg. So, the five legs would weigh about 150 grams. You can just ask the butcher for "five, average sized chicken legs" and that should do the trick. Have fun making the soup, and thanks for writing. Cheers, Char -
how much water would be used as a basic template in litres for this recipe?thank you. -
Can I sweat the mirapoix with olive oil?
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Rouxbe Staff
Hi Riaz, fundamentally, the "submersion" cooking methods like simmering call for water to cover the food item. Therefore, it depends on the size of your pot and the amount of food (chicken) you will use. Note that the pot should not be too large. See the photo, above. -
Rouxbe Staff
Hi Riaz, if you wish to sweat the mirepoix with olive oil, you may.
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Eric I made this broth with a chicken leg and chicken bones but the end liquid had this weird smell it was very strong.
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Rouxbe Staff
Hello Riaz, the smell could be from the dark meat of the legs. Consider the white meat cuts of the breasts and wings and see how you like the results. Also, be sure to rinse the meat and bones before use to remove the blood and other "impurities" that may be on the surface. ~Eric
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THANKS FOR RECEPE. -
Thank you for the Recipe.
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Thanks for the recipe.
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can i do this with bone in chicken thighs as they hit the middle between being dark meat but way less impurities than leg meat but not dry like breast meat even tho i know myself that broth made with chicken breast has the cleanest taste profile but i cant say its the most economical.
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Thanks for the recipe -
thanks for the recipe good chicken noodle soup
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....Thanks for the recipe
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Thanks for recipe -
Thanks for the recipe
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