Chicken Noodle Soup

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Why we love it:

If you can do it, making your own broth will take this from good to stellar. You might even become “known” around town for your skills if you share with friends. When you make broth, freeze a batch and next time you need it Chicken Soup will be ready in 10 minutes. To keep this super simple, the recipe is written for store bought stock though (or already done homemade stock), so see substitutions for the stock recipe.

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Ingredients

1 pound Chicken Breast (boneless, skinless)
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt (divided)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Black Pepper (divided)
8 cups Chicken Stock (or broth)
1 Yellow Onion
4 Carrots
4 ribs Celery
1 clove Garlic
¹⁄₂ bunch Fresh Thyme
2 Bay Leafs
3 cups Egg Noodles (about 8 ounces)
¹⁄₂ Lemon (juiced)
¹⁄₄ teaspoon Nutmeg (freshly grated, omit if you only have the bottled kind)

Cooking Instructions

1. CHICKEN

Dice the chicken into 1 inch cubes.

Set a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add ½ of the butter and when it’s melted, add the chicken pieces. Don’t stir for a minute or two so they have time to sear, if you move them too soon, they’ll tear. Add ½ of the salt and pepper. Cook for about 4 minutes total, stirring a couple of times just until the outsides turn white - they’ll still be raw.
2. STOCK

Add the stock and turn up to high. Scrape the chicken off the bottom to make sure nothing is sticking. Bring to a boil, but as soon as it’s boiling, turn down to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 5-6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Set up a bowl, container or another pot large enough to catch all of the stock. Place a colander on it, then pour the chicken and stock out.

Return the pot to the stove.
3. MIREPOIX

While the stock is coming to a boil, dice the onion, carrot, and celery into small cubes. Mince the garlic.

When the stock and chicken have been strained, melt the remaining butter in the pot, then add the veggies and the rest of the salt and pepper. Sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
4. SOUP

Once the veggies have sautéed a bit, pour the stock back into the pot. Add the thyme stalks and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.

Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. SHRED CHICKEN

While the mirepoix is simmering, shred the chicken cubes with your hands or using 2 forks.
6. NOODLES

Add the noodles and shredded chicken to the pot and simmer for about 6-7 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
7. LEMON + NUTMEG

Lift out the thyme stems and bay leaves if you see them. Squeeze in the juice of ½ a lemon and freshly grate a bit of nutmeg, if using. Stir and taste. You may or may not prefer another pinch of salt
8. SERVING

Ladle into large bowls to serve.

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Substitutions

GLUTEN FREE:

try with rice or GF noodles
PALEO:

omit noodles and add more vegetables
EGG NOODLES:

rice, quinoa, matzoh balls, whatever you like!
VEGGIES:

adding sautéed mushrooms, frozen peas, handfuls of baby spinach are all welcome
HOMEMADE STOCK :

place a 3-4 pound chicken in a large pot. If you’ve been saving onion, carrot, and other veggie scraps, add them. Otherwise add half an onion and a carrot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 75 minutes, keeping a steady simmer but turning down the heat if it boils over. When ready, strain into a large pot through a fine mesh colander. Lift the chicken out and shred the meat. Discard the veggie solids. Freeze the stock in 2 or 4 cup increments for up 6 months or refrigerate for 1 week
USING HOMEMADE STOCK:

when making this recipe with homemade stock and precooked chicken, you can skip the first 2 steps (CHICKEN and STOCK) and being with the MIREPOIX step since your broth will already be well flavored