This winter, I got sick and desperately wanted chicken noodle soup. I drove to Chick-Fil-A, only to realize I wanted a brothy soup, not a creamy one. If I'm sick, I don't generally want a ton a dairy, so a rich, warming broth was in order. So, through the stuffy nose and the sore throat, I made myself soup. And I watched The Family Stone while I did it. It was the medicine I needed.
This chicken soup is very much a labor of love. It'll take a couple hours, but the end result is very much worth it. This broth tastes like home. It tastes like comfort and coziness. It also tastes clean and fresh after a holiday season of mashed potatoes and cookies. It has very limited ingredients, and doesn't require tons of spices or fancy equipment.
That means that this soup is also versatile. Add kale! Add turmeric! Add a different pasta if you're not an egg noodle person. Make this a soup that gives you comfort and makes you feel warm inside. The possibilities are endless. The important thing is the broth. Make it yourself. Stay away from the boxed broth. I promise you, from scratch is worth it on this one.
Ingredients
1 3-4 pound whole chicken
8 oz egg noodles
4 stalks of celery (2 chopped roughly for broth, and 2 chopped bite-sized for soup)
1 large carrot, chopped roughly (for the broth)
1 medium onion, quartered, with skin on
1 1/2 cups chopped carrot (for the soup)
1 bunch thyme
1 large head of garlic (or 2 small ones), chopped in half, with the skin on
3/4 cup finely chopped parsley
salt and pepper
Method
If you have the time, salt the chicken before you boil it. 30 minutes to an hour will do the trick.
Place the chicken, roughly chopped carrot, garlic, onion, thyme, and 2 stalks of the celery (roughly chopped) in a large pot. Cover with water (about 12 cups. It may be more or less depending on how big your pot and your chicken is.) Leave all the skins on. It will give a beautiful color to the broth, and add a lil extra goodness to the flavor.
Simmer on medium for about 50 minutes, until the breasts are done. Every 10 minutes or so, skim the fat off the top with a spoon and discard.
After 45 minutes, remove the chicken from the pot, and let cool enough to handle. Keep all the veggies in the pot with the water, and continue to simmer lightly.
After about 5 minutes, when you can handle the chicken, remove the wings, legs and thighs, and breasts. Put the carcass, wings, and legs and thighs back in the pot and continue to cook until the thighs and legs are done, another 20-30 minutes.
When the thighs and legs are done, remove them from the broth. Discard the carcass and wings.
Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer to remove the veggies and bits and pieces from it. Place strained broth back on the stove, and bring to a simmer. Add egg noodles and cook for approximately 5 minutes, then add in the 1.5 cups of chopped carrots and 2 stalks of chopped celery. Cook for another 5 minutes, so that the carrots and celery cook, but don't become mushy.
While the noodles and vegetables cook, cube the chicken breasts, and remove and cut up the meat from the leg and thigh pieces. Add chicken to the pot, along with the parsley.
Add in a generous amount of salt and black pepper. Taste it, and add more if you need to!
Serve with warm bread, or crackers, or whatever makes your soul happy.
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