Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup is the ultimate comfort food. My son was recovering form a cold this weekend so I made him this soup. He gobbled it up and asked for refills. After 2 bowls, he told me that his Mama is “the best cooker.” I about melted. I hope your family gives you the same reviews! 🙂
I learned to make ‘real’ homemade chicken noodle soup from Angelina, my husbands cousin. She actually seasons and roasts her bird first and then slow cooks the broth longer. I wanted this to be ready for my boy when he got home from school so I figured out a way to make it quicker and it turned out amazing. If you’re looking for a really speedy version, try our EASY Chicken Noodle Soup.
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Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe:
Let me tell you the tale of the young rooster used for this chicken noodle soup. Maybe it’s rooster noodle soup, eh? This year, my parents decided they wanted to keep chickens so my mom bought about 20 chicks from a local farmer, built them a baby chicken “sauna” (heat lamps, the works!) and kept them in the shower of the guest bathroom since they were too tiny to be outdoors.
Their Jack Russell terrier made it into the bathroom and basically annihilated every single one of the chicks. Poor babies. My mom was so upset, but the dog was curious, got in and temptation overtook him I guess. So Mom went back to the farmer for more chicks but by then, all of the female chicks had been bought up so she ended up with about 50% roosters.
Something had to be done with the roosters who had a little too much testosterone to co-exist in the same coup. So the rooster that you see in the ingredient picture below, well…
Ingredients or the Chicken Broth:
2 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (drum, breast, wing, neck..) I used a whole small rooster
2 bay leaves
1 small onion, halved (or 1/2 medium onion)
2 garlic cloves, pierced
1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
5 Quarts water
12-16 oz egg noodles (keep in mind they expand as they cook)
Ingredients for Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup:
3 celery sticks, finely diced
2 large carrots, quartered and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely diced
salt & ground black pepper, to taste
4 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
4 Tbsp Fresh Dill, chopped
How to Make the Original Chicken Noodle Soup:
1. Separate chicken into pieces (wings, drums, etc) leaving the skin on and trim chicken pieces of excess fat. Next use a heavy knife to whack/cut/chop the chicken along the center of the bones to expose bone marrow and release the iron-rich good stuff into the broth.
2. In a large soup pot (at least 8 Qt pot), combine chicken pieces with a halved onion, 2 bay leaves, 2 pierced garlic cloves and 1 tsp dried thyme. Add 5 quarts water and bring to a boil. Using a large spoon, remove and discard any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook partially covered for 1 1/2 hours. It should be barely bubbling. The chicken meat will be tender and broth will be infused with chicken flavor.
3. Remove chicken pieces and once they are cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones (you’ll be putting the meat back into the soup later). Discard bones. Cover meat with foil or a lid to keep it from drying out.
4. Strain the broth into a large heat-proof bowl over a sieve lined with a large paper towel. Angelina shared this tip and it’s brilliant; it catches all of the excess fat in the soup. Mine didn’t have much fat since it was a young rooster.
5. Rinse the now empty pot, and place back over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté 3 finely chopped celery sticks, 2 thinly sliced carrots and 1 finely diced onion. I love my celery and onion finely chopped but if you like it coarsely chopped/diced; by all means! 🙂 Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
6. Add chicken broth back to pot and salt and pepper to taste. I added at least 1 Tbsp sea salt and about 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to a light boil and continue cooking another 15 minutes.
7. Add shredded chicken and egg noodles and continue cooking until noodles are cooked through (check the cooking time on your noodles – mine took 20 min). Thank you to Ree Drummond who recommended these egg noodles from the freezer section. They only have 3 ingredients (flour, water and eggs) and they remind me of the dough used for pelmeni (dumplings). So homey.
8. Turn off heat and stir in fresh parsley and dill. Ladle into warm soup bowls.
Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Ingredients
For the Chicken Broth:
- 2 lb chicken pieces, bone-in, skin-on*
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small onion, halved (or 1/2 medium onion)
- 2 garlic cloves, pierced
- 1 tsp dried thyme , or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 5 Quarts water
- 12-16 oz egg noodles, keep in mind they expand as they cook
For the Chicken Noodle Soup:
- 3 celery sticks, finely diced
- 2 large carrots, quartered and thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 Tbsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
- 4 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 4 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Instructions
- Separate chicken into pieces (wings, drums, etc) leaving the skin on and trim chicken pieces of excess fat. Next use a heavy knife to cut/chop the chicken along the center of the bones to expose bone marrow and release the iron-rich good stuff into the broth.
- In a large soup pot (at least 8 Qt pot), combine chicken pieces with halved onion, 2 bay leaves, 2 pierced garlic cloves and 1 tsp dried thyme. Add 5 quarts water and bring to a boil. Using a large spoon, remove and discard any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook partially covered for 1 1/2 hours. It should be barely bubbling. The chicken meat will be tender and broth will be infused with chicken flavor.
- Remove chicken pieces and once they are cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones (you'll be putting the meat back into the soup later). Discard bones. Cover meat with foil or a lid to keep it from drying out.
- Strain the broth into a large heat-proof bowl over a sieve lined with a large paper towel.
- Rinse the now empty pot, and place back over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté 3 finely chopped celery sticks, 2 thinly sliced carrots and 1 finely diced onion. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
- Add chicken broth back to pot and salt and pepper to taste. I added at least 1 Tbsp sea salt and about 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to a light boil and continue cooking another 15 minutes.
- Add shredded chicken and egg noodles and continue cooking until noodles are cooked through (check the cooking time on your noodles - mine took 20 min).
- Turn off heat and stir in fresh parsley and dill. Ladle into warm soup bowls.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
This sounds like a great recipe, but how long do I cook, if I choose to use zucchini noodles instead? Thanks.
Hi Alex! I have not made this with zucchini noodles but they won’t take very long to cook. I would cook it until your noodles reach the desired texture.
I make this all the time. For those of you that use whole chicken or parts I wrap chicken in cheesecloth which makes it easier to remove chicken from stock pan. great recipe
The whole Chicken that I bought is 5lbs. How can I use it and make sure I don’t add to much chicken and do I add the breasts or no? Making this tomorrow
Hi Kristen! You can try using a kitchen scale to measure out the 2 lbs you need.
Such a delicious soup! Perfect for those days you want something light or for someone who is sick and needs an old fashioned bowl of chicken noodle soup during recovery!
Thank you Natasha for always having the best and easy to follow recipes!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Katerina! Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!
Do you have a cookbook that i can buy? I checked on Amazon and couldn’t find anything!
Hi Mary! Not yet, my first cookbook will release this coming Fall.