It was a gorgeous weekend and I was so looking forward to a beerfest-filled weekend with my sous chef and his brother who was in town for a few days; and nevertheless, Saturday morning welcomed me with the joys of a stomach virus. Luckily, it was short lived and by 3 p.m. or so I was able to physically leave the house to at least enjoy the good company (but definitely not the beer). With a very weak stomach the remainder of the weekend, nothing spoke to me like homemade chicken noodle soup. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is; when you come down with a cold or virus, nothing is as soothing as chicken noodle soup. There’s something to the warm broth, earthy herbs and hearty chicken that assuages discomfort and appeases the soul. And that, my friends, is exactly what this did. It was so, so good. So if that time comes (which hopefully it doesn’t) when you simply need the comfort of a delicious, soothing soup, look no further.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup:
(Yield: ~3 quarts of soup)
- 3 quarts chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 3-4 stalks of celery, sliced lengthwise into thirds, then sliced diagonally
- 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bunch (about 5-6 thyme sprigs)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt, to season the vegetables
- 1 tablespoon pepper
Alright, I’m going to begin with my caveat – as noted in the ingredients, this recipe, of course, uses cooked chicken. You can broil, bake or boil your chicken breast – but I’m just going to throw out there that we grilled our chicken breast (and marinated it in Italian dressing beforehand). Not totally necessary, though very flavorful, but feel free to cook using your preferred method.
Next, slice and dice the celery, carrots, onion and mince garlic. Then, in a large stock pot, add your olive oil over medium high heat. Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic.
Then, season with salt and pepper and add your thyme and bay leaves.
Let cook for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the vegetables are close to being cooked through, stirring occasionally (you want them to have a slight crunch, very slight, because no one likes mush, right?).
Once the vegetables are finished, add your chicken stock.
Let simmer for about 30 minutes or so to allow the stock to absorb the flavors of the vegetables.
In the meantime, shred your chicken using a fork and set aside.
Once the 30 minutes or so has passed, add your shredded chicken and parsley. Let simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Then bring the stock to a boil and add the noodles. Let cook for about 6-7 minutes until the noodles are nice and tender.
And now, you’re all ready for serving.
This soup is so flavorful, so full of hearty goodness. So much so, that being under the weather, this is all you really need (and as much as I love wine, I know when to hold off… er, maybe…).
And with that, enjoy!
