Homemade Chicken Soup
Chicken Soup is a true classic that I love to make for my family on a cold day, or when someone is under the weather. I truly believe there is magic in a good homemade bone broth that helps nourish you and makes you feel so good.
Is there anything more comforting and delicious than a bowl of homemade chicken soup? This is truly one of the ways I show my family I love them is by making them a pot of nourishing homemade chicken soup whether it’s a chilly day, or if someone is under the weather. My Homemade Chicken Soup doesn’t take a lot of ingredients, but instead it’s the time that it takes to cook your chicken and make your broth is where this recipe really shines. Cooking your chicken for a longer period of time is what makes the robust bone broth that is the backbone for a great homemade chicken soup. I start by simply adding a whole chicken (giblets removed), vegetables, herbs, and seasonings to a pot and add water to cover as much as possible. And that’s it, turn your heat on and let your chicken stew for at least 60 minutes, but closer to 90 will give you the best results. While the broth comes together, take the time to prepare your carrots and celery, that way you won’t have to get your cutting board back out and you can save yourself some time. After you take your chicken out of the pot and strain your broth, it’s time to put the soup together with your delicious homemade broth. Add your strained broth back to the pot along with your carrots and celery and cook them until they are tender. Once your vegetables are done, you can add your noodles and cook them until they are done, usually about 10 minutes. Your final step is adding your shredded chicken and adjusting the salt to taste. I usually only add about 3 cups of my cooked chicken and save the rest for chicken salad the following day, however you can add as much or as little of your chicken as you like. I started making this soup years ago and it is easily one of the most requested meals for me to make at home. This soup has classic flavors that are reliable time and time again. Speaking of being reliable, or should I say unreliable, did I ever tell you about that time my son came home with a bobcat? We had just moved into our new house in the woods and my kids wanted to go out exploring while I was unpacking. They took their walkie talkies so that we could communicate with me, and off they went. Every few minutes or so, I would hear them on the radio telling me they found a cool mushroom or cool frog as I went about my business unpacking. Everything seemed to be going great until they radioed me in an absolute uproar about a lost and injured kitten they found. They begged and begged to take it home and nurse it back to health. Naturally, I can’t let an animal suffer so I allowed them to bring the kitten back home so we could nurse it back to health. While I awaited their return, I began to prepare some blankets and food for our poor injured cat. A short while had passed and my kids had returned with an animal that was clearly not a lost and injured kitten but a small bobcat! I quickly alerted them to the fact that they had gotten their cat identification wrong and urged them to quickly get inside the house in case it’s mother was nearby. Sure enough, as soon as we got inside the house, the larger and considerably more menacing mother bobcat was heading over to retrieve her young. We all learned a lesson that day, and we were all hungry and exhausted from the day's adventures. It was time to put on a pot of delicious and nourishing homemade chicken soup.
- 1 Whole Chicken (About 4 lbs, giblets removed)
- 1 Onion (Peeled, ends removed and cut in half)
- 4 cloves Garlic (Peeled)
- 3 Carrots (Peeled, ends removed, cut in half)
- 2 Celery Stalks (Ends removed, cut in half)
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 tsp Dried Thyme
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
- 3 Carrots (Peeled and chopped small)
- 2 Celery Stalks (Chopped small)
- 1 1/2 Cups Egg Noodles
- 3 Cups Chicken (Pulled from your boiled chicken)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Start by preparing your broth. Remove your chicken from the package and discard the giblets if they are inside the cavity of the chicken. Prepare your remaining vegetables.
Add your chicken and remining broth ingredients to a large pot or dutch oven and cover with enough water to mostly or completely submerge. Heat your burner to medium heat and cook for about 60-90 minutes flipping your chicken halfway through and adding more water as necessary.
While your chicken broth is cooking, prepare your carrots and celery, set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Once your chicken is done and separating from the bone, carefully remove it from your pot and place it into a bowl and set aside. Using a separate bowl, remove your vegetables from the pot and set aside.
Dont' skip using a bowl for this step. Broth will drain from both the chicken and vegetables. Add your drained broth back to your soup.Strain your broth. Using a fat separator, add your broth in batches and add your strained broth into a pitcher until you have strained all of your broth.
Time to start making your soup. Add your broth back to your pot along with your prepared carrots and celery. Turn your burner on to medium high heat and cook until your vegetables are tender. While your vegetables are cooking, separate the meat from your cooked chicken and set aside until ready to use.
Your broth may evaporate some from cooking or become absorbed by your noodles. Add more water to your soup as necessary.Once your vegetables are tender, add your noodles to your pot and cook according to package directions, about 10 minutes usually. Add more water if necessary if your noodles are absorbing all of your broth. Add your desired amount of chicken to your pot and cook until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Usually the meat from an entire chicken is too much, I typically use about half, depending on the size and use the rest for chicken salad the next day.
If you want to add a little more color and texture to your soup. Reserve your carrots you used to make your broth with, mash them with a fork and add them to your soup towards the end.
Shout out to https://burlyboardswoodworking.com/ for their beautiful hand crafted cutting boards! Not only are their boards gorgeous, they are a pleasure to cook with.
Thank you for visiting Tall Tales from the Kitchen!