Chicken noodle soup is the perfect food for this season: comforting, warm, and scientifically proven to bust a cold!
I'm a semi-crunchy mom and wife.
Sure, we have ibuprofen. But the moment someone says their throat hurts, they don't feel good, and especially that they got a fever, here I come with the onion slices, the socks, the homemade ginger ale, the onion syrup, the garlic, the mondongo, the Vicks Vapor Rub, and the soup.
This soup. The chicken noodle soup with the home-style ribbon egg noodles. Because they look a little fancy pants, but really they're just egg noodles.
First and foremost, you're going to notice that I roast my chicken. And that I only use dark meat chicken.
The typical way is to simmer up the raw chicken with everything else in water or chicken broth. To me, that doesn't impart as much flavor (and it's certainly not as easy) as some nice, roasted chicken legs and thighs.
Roasting the chicken gives it a richer chicken flavor, and you can simply roast chicken thighs and legs then have it simmer in the broth for however long to make it just fall apart tender instead of shredding it by hand once out of the oven.
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Left over chicken (a great idea is to freeze some leftover chicken just for leftover occasions) or a rotisserie chicken is perfect for a quick fix of chicken noodle soup. Which is really necessary when it's mom who's the sick one. Or if everyone is sick (my nightmare!). Because who wants to be poking and stirring and simmering for forever while you just want to sleep and rest? Not me.
I use mostly chicken stock (and a little water, for evaporation purposes) in this recipe, because while the veggies and chicken help with their vitamins and proteins, and the noodles help with their belly-filling carbs, the stock is the cold-busting star of chicken noodle soup.
I've been telling y'all, homemade stock is the best. Stock is the bones itself being simmered with the usually chicken stock suspects (onions, garlic, carrots, celery), instead of just the chicken meat, like in broth. Stock has all the good stuff, like collagen and marrow goodness. Not to mention the hot, seasoned stock itself helps loosen up all the cough and nose gunk so you can get rid of it easier. I talk about it more on my chicken stock post.
So, scientifically, with all the good stuff in chicken noodle soup: the hot soup itself, the proteins of the chicken, the vitamins of the veggies, and the filling egg noodle carbs (which of course also help you keep your body's energy up to fight the cold!) it is one of the best things to beat whatever sickness you have.
It's also just plain out delicious and perfect for chilly weather days.
More amazing cold weather recipes:
Creamy Chicken Tomato Tortellini Soup
French Dip Sandwiches
French Onion Soup
Perfect Tender Pot Roast
Short Rib Bolognese Ragu
Don't forget to PIN this chicken noodle soup recipe!
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Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken noodle soup is the perfect food for this season: comforting, warm, and scientifically proven to bust a cold!
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
- OR
- Meat from a rotisserie chicken
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 2 tsp granulated garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped small
- 2 celery ribs, small chop
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 8 ounces dried egg noodles
- 2 quarts chicken stock
- 2 cups water
- Half of a lemon
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place chicken thighs in a small baking dish and season all parts of the thighs well with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic and leave skin side up.
- Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Remove from the oven. When the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones and skin. Shred the chicken with a fork, then set aside. *If using leftover or rotisserie chicken, just shred the meat and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent and starting to brown a little. Add garlic and saute for one minute to ensure garlic doesn't burn. Add turmeric, thyme, bay leaf, and poultry seasoning to the pot then pour in stock and water. Add shredded chicken. Stir well and bring to a lively simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- While soup is simmering, in a separate pot bring water to a boil. Boil egg noodles according to package instructions. This ensures no excess noodles are sitting in the soup getting soggy.
- To serve, once soup is ready, place a serving of drained noodles in a bowl, and add chicken soup over the noodles. Squeeze in a bit of lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 290
Eden Westbrook is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Sweet Tea and Thyme. A classically trained chef, Eden has inspired home cooks into the kitchen with cultural comfort foods, easy family-friendly eats and sweets, and glorious spreads for date night and entertaining since 2015.
Love the fact that you used chicken thighs for this recipe, they are so delicious. Saving this one, as I know we will need it.
My mama always told us that chicken soup heals a cold because "there is actually stuff in there to make you feel better." She never did say what the "stuff" was but I agree with you - it' works! This recipe is absolutely one to keep on hand!
Homemade ginger ale too? I feel like maybe your family feigns illness just to get your delicious sick treatment. The soup looks divine.
Chicken noodle soup is one of my favorites! This recipe looks amazing and delicious. I love how hearty it is!
This chicken noodle soup looks so hearty and comforting! Lovely photos!
There are some soups in life that are basically a necessity in order for one to recover from an illness. Chicken noodle is one of those soups, and nothing beats homemade chicken noodle soup.