I dream of chicken plum fairies dancing in my head. Or at least my daughter does. A few years after we found out she and my husband had Celiac Disease, she started asking me for chicken noodle soup. And not the kind from Campbell’s soup can either. I tried many attempts until I reached this version. A homemade soup may sound time-consuming, but if you have time on a Sunday afternoon to check on a boiling pot every once in a while, you can make this soup!
The best part about my version is that it contains an entire chicken. Yep, legs, wings, and all, and the key to giving this recipe it’s depth. This homemade stock is rich in gelatin from the chicken bones, cartilage, and tendons, which is healthy for you, and one of the reasons why a homemade chicken stock is so beneficial.
First, I make the stock with an entire whole chicken. I place a stalk of celery, a carrot, and an onion cut in fourths into some water with the chicken. I put enough to cover the whole chicken, which is about 2 quarts or 8-10 cups or more. I let that come to a low boil for about an hour. I turn off the heat to the pot cool. Next, I cut the meat from the bones, and I strain out any solids from the stock. I discard all of the veggies I used in this first step. All of the nutrients are cooked out, and no longer needed, thus making a delicious homemade chicken stock brimming with vitamins.
While the whole chicken is busy on the stove, making its magic broth, I chop all the veggies. During this step, I cook my gluten-free noodles in a separate pot according to package directions.
To start cooking the actual soup, I warm olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. I toss in chopped carrots, onion, celery with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I cook this, often stirring, until the onions turn translucent and softening. This step takes about 5-7 minutes.
Now for the secret ingredient. I add in curry powder. I have to insist on the curry powder in my sternest homeschool mom’s voice. It adds a depth of flavor, and you won’t even know it is there. I then pop in other spices like garlic powder and Italian seasoning into the carrot mixture. I keep stirring to wake up the spices.
I add in the homemade broth into the soup pot, the cut-up chicken that I have shredded into bite-size bits, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. I will occasionally add in Slap Ya Momma (my favorite cajun spice), garlic salt, bay leaf until the taste is JUST right.
Make-Ahead and Storing Tips
I will even make an extra-large batch of soup so that I can freeze for later. Because in my case, if I am going to go through the trouble of making a homemade chicken soup, I better be able to enjoy it for more than one meal. Or go for gold, and if your pot is big enough, boil two chickens, and shred one for enchiladas.
The soup can be made and refrigerated for 3 to 4 days and frozen up to 3 months, although I have been known to eat it after three months after unearthing it at the bottom of the freezer drawer (I’m still alive).
If you have plenty of leftovers, you may want to consider freezing the soup. If you do, hold off on adding the noodles. Egg noodles and gluten-free noodles, especially, tend to soak up extra moisture and fall apart upon reheating. When I make the whole batch of soup the first night, I only cook enough noodles for that evening. When when I reheat the soup, I splash a little bit more broth (or water and check the flavor of spices) and cook more noodles in a separate pan to add to the soup for that meal.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup in 3 Easy Steps
This soup is as easy as counting to three. Most of the time it takes to make this soup requires no hands while it simmers away on the stove.
- Simmer whole chicken with one onion, carrots, celery.
- Strain broth, discard the first round of veggies and remove meat from the bones.
- To make soup: cook the broth, celery, carrots, and spices. Stir in chicken and prepared noodles.
In Oklahoma, we recently received 2 inches of snow. This batch of soup is a welcome warmth after a captivating day sledding and throwing snowballs.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
To Make Broth
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 whole onion
- 3 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 3-4 sprigs fresh herb like parsley, rosemary, or thyme
- 3 dashes of pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- 10 cups water
To Make Soup
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 whole onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 stalks thinly diced celery (1-1.5 cups)
- 2-3 carrots (1-1.5 cups)
- 1/4 tsp salt (add more to taste later once soup is simmering)
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 8 oz pasta (if freezing, only add enough noodles to eat for this night's serving).
- 2 tbs chopped parsley, plus extra for garnish
- all broth from previous step (should be 8-10 cups)
Instructions
- To make broth: add all ingredients to soup pot. Cover the ingredients with water. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down to simmer for 1.5 hours. *If you loose too much water during the cooking process, add chicken broth to pot.
- Remove chicken, shred meat, discard bones and veggies. Strain broth through fine-meshed strainer.
- To make soup: warm olive oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are softening. This takes about 7 minutes.
- Cook pasta in a separate pot according to package instructions.
- Add in curry powder and garlic powder and stir in to wake up the spices. Add in the rest of the ingredients.
- Turn the temperature up to a boil, then reduce heat to a medium-low and continue simmering until veggies are tender, about 20-25 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat and season generously with pepper. Add other spices if necessary to taste. Serve hot with some extra parsley for garnish- it makes it so pretty!
- Once cool, store soup in covered container in refrigerator for 3-5 days. If freezing, don't include any noodles. Add those later when you reheat, otherwise they will soak up too much moisture and fall apart upon reheating- especially if they are gluten-free or egg noddles.
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