Is there any food on earth more comforting, more nurturing, or more universally beloved than a classic, steaming bowl of Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup? Whether you’re feeling under the weather or simply craving a taste of pure, soulful comfort, this is the one recipe that always feels like a warm hug in a bowl.
This recipe, inspired by the legendary Chef John, is your ultimate guide to creating a truly spectacular, from-scratch chicken noodle soup that is bursting with deep, savory flavor. Forget thin, watery broths and bland ingredients. We’ll show you the simple secrets—like using a rich, roasted chicken broth and a touch of rendered chicken fat—that will elevate your soup from good to absolutely unforgettable. This is the real deal.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: The Ultimate Bowl of Comfort
What makes this Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup the gold standard is its unwavering focus on building deep, layered flavor at every step. The foundation is a rich, golden, roasted chicken broth, which provides a profoundly more complex and savory flavor than a simple boiled broth. Sautéing the classic mirepoix of vegetables in a little chicken fat (schmaltz) is another key step that adds an incredible, authentic richness. It’s a classic, straightforward recipe that honors tradition and results in a truly perfect bowl of soup.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 45 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 8 |
The Essential Ingredients for the Best Soup
This recipe uses a handful of classic, high-impact ingredients to create its signature comforting flavor.
- The Broth (The Soul of the Soup): The recipe specifies roasted chicken broth, and this is the single most important ingredient for a superior soup.
- What is it?: A roasted chicken broth is made by simmering the carcass and bones of a roasted chicken (along with vegetables like onion, carrot, and celery) for several hours. The initial roasting of the bones creates a deep, caramelized, and incredibly rich flavor that you simply cannot get from a broth made with raw chicken.
- Easy Shortcut: You can easily make your own by buying a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Use the delicious meat for the soup, and then simmer the leftover carcass and bones in a pot of water with some vegetables for a few hours to create a fantastic, golden, roasted broth.
- The Fat (Butter & Chicken Fat): Using a combination of butter and melted chicken fat (also known as schmaltz) to sauté the vegetables is a classic, old-world secret to the most flavorful chicken soup. The chicken fat adds an extra layer of rich, authentic chicken flavor that you can’t get from just butter or oil alone. You can easily render your own by gently cooking chicken skin, or simply skim it from the top of your homemade broth.
- The Mirepoix (Carrot, Onion, Celery): This classic trio of aromatic vegetables, diced and gently sautéed, provides the sweet, savory, and essential flavor foundation for any great soup.
- The Chicken: This recipe calls for cooked boneless chicken breast halves. Using the meat from the rotisserie chicken you used for the broth is the perfect, easy, and flavorful option. A mix of both white and dark meat will provide the best flavor and texture.
- Wide Egg Noodles: The classic, comforting noodle of choice. Their tender, slightly chewy texture and ability to soak up the delicious broth make them the perfect addition.
Step-by-Step to the Most Comforting Soup
Follow these simple, detailed steps to create a truly perfect, classic, and soul-warming meal.
Step 1: Build the Aromatic Flavor Base
In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, melt the 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.
Stir in the diced carrot, diced onion, diced celery, fresh thyme leaves, and a pinch of salt. Add the 2 tablespoons of melted chicken fat.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes. You want the onions to soften and become translucent, releasing their sweet, aromatic flavor into the fat.
Step 2: Simmer the Rich Broth
Stir the 2 quarts of your rich, roasted chicken broth into the pot with the vegetables and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once it is boiling, taste the broth and season it with more salt, if necessary. The amount of salt you need will depend on how seasoned your homemade broth is.
Step 3: Cook the Noodles and Add the Chicken
Stir the 4 ounces of uncooked wide egg noodles directly into the simmering broth.
Pro Tip: Cooking the noodles directly in the broth is a great technique that allows them to absorb all that delicious, savory flavor as they cook.
Let the noodles cook in the simmering broth for about 5 minutes, or until they are tender.
Now, add the 2 cups of cooked, cubed chicken breast meat to the soup. Let the soup continue to simmer for about 5 more minutes, just until the chicken is heated all the way through.
Pro Tip: It’s important to add the already-cooked chicken at the very end. If you let it boil in the soup for too long, it can become tough and dry.
Step 4: Season and Serve
Turn off the heat. Season the finished soup with a pinch of cayenne pepper (if you like a very subtle warmth), and with more salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste.
Ladle the hot, steaming soup into large, cozy bowls and enjoy immediately!
The Best Classic & Comforting Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
A classic recipe for a rich, homemade chicken noodle soup. The flavor base is built by sautéing a mirepoix of diced carrot, onion, and celery in butter and rendered chicken fat. A high-quality roasted chicken broth is used, and the soup is filled with wide egg noodles and cubes of pre-cooked chicken breast. The soup is simply seasoned with fresh thyme for a comforting and traditional meal.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Sautéing, Simmering
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup diced carrot
- ½ cup diced onion
- ½ cup diced celery
- ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons melted chicken fat
- 2 quarts roasted chicken broth
- 4 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
- 2 cooked boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper (Optional)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Stir in the carrot, onion, celery, thyme, and a pinch of salt.
- Add the melted chicken fat. Cook and stir for 5 to 6 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Stir in the roasted chicken broth and bring the soup to a boil. Season with additional salt if necessary.
- Add the egg noodles to the boiling broth and cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender.
- Stir in the cooked, cubed chicken breast meat. Reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 5 more minutes to heat the chicken through.
- Season to taste with cayenne pepper (if using), salt, and black pepper.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- This recipe gets extra depth of flavor from using rendered chicken fat to sauté the vegetables and a high-quality roasted chicken broth.
- The recipe uses pre-cooked chicken, which is a great way to use up leftovers or a rotisserie chicken.
- The egg noodles are cooked directly in the broth, which helps to thicken the soup slightly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of recipe (approx. 1.5 cups)
- Calories: 250-320
- Sugar: 4-6 g
- Sodium: 800-1100 mg
- Fat: 10-15 g
- Saturated Fat: 4-6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15-20 g
- Fiber: 2-3 g
- Protein: 18-25 g
- Cholesterol: 70-90 mg
Serving Your Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
A perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup is a complete meal in itself. It’s best served steaming hot, straight from the pot.
For a classic presentation, you can garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of fresh, chopped parsley or dill. Serving it with some simple, salty crackers (like saltines or oyster crackers) or a piece of warm, crusty bread for dipping is always a welcome and delicious addition.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
Chicken noodle soup is a fantastic dish for leftovers, but there is one crucial tip for the best result.
- The Noodle Tip: If you plan on having leftovers, it is highly recommended to cook and store the noodles separately from the soup base. If you store the soup with the noodles in it, the noodles will continue to absorb the broth overnight, becoming very soft and mushy, and leaving you with very little broth.
- Make-Ahead: You can prepare the entire soup base (without the noodles) up to 3 days in advance and store it in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat, simply bring the soup to a simmer and cook a fresh batch of noodles directly in the broth.
- Storage: Store leftover soup (without noodles) in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: The soup base (again, without the noodles) freezes beautifully. Let it cool completely and freeze it in airtight containers or freezer bags for up to 3 months.
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Creative Recipe Variations
This classic recipe is a wonderful base for your own comforting and creative touches.
- Add a Lemony Herb Finish: For a bright, fresh, and vibrant “deli-style” chicken soup, you can stir in a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and a handful of fresh, chopped dill at the very end of cooking, after you have turned off the heat.
- Make it a Chicken and Rice Soup: For a classic, gluten-free alternative, you can swap the egg noodles for rice. It’s best to stir in about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of already-cooked white or wild rice at the very end with the chicken, just to heat it through.
- Add More Veggies: Feel free to add other comforting, chopped vegetables to the soup. Parsnips, peas, or small cubes of potato can be added along with the carrots, celery, and onion at the beginning.
Enjoy The Ultimate “Hug in a Bowl”!
You’ve just created a truly special, from-scratch meal that is the very definition of comfort and care. This Classic Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, with its rich, golden broth and tender chicken and vegetables, is a timeless recipe that is perfect for nourishing the body and the soul. It’s the kind of meal that makes everyone feel better.
We hope you enjoy every last, warm, savory, and comforting spoonful!
If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves a classic, homemade soup!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the absolute secret to a really flavorful chicken soup broth?
The number one secret is to use a broth made from roasted chicken bones, not raw ones. Roasting the chicken carcass and bones before simmering them creates a deep, complex, and caramelized flavor (thanks to the Maillard reaction) that is much richer than a simple boiled broth. The second secret is to use a little bit of rendered chicken fat (schmaltz) to sauté your vegetables, which adds an extra layer of authentic chicken flavor.
Q2: Should I cook the noodles directly in the soup or should I cook them separately?
It depends on when you plan to eat the soup! If you are planning to eat the entire batch of soup right away, cooking the noodles directly in the soup is a fantastic method because they absorb the flavorful broth. However, if you know you will have leftovers, it is best to cook the noodles separately and add them to each individual bowl as you serve it. This will prevent the leftover noodles from becoming soft and mushy in the stored soup.
Q3: Can I make this soup in a slow cooker?
Yes, you can adapt this recipe for a slow cooker. You should still follow the first step of sautéing the vegetables in the butter and chicken fat on the stovetop first, as this builds a crucial layer of flavor. Then, you can transfer the sautéed vegetables to the slow cooker and add the broth and cooked chicken. Cook on Low for 4-6 hours. You will still want to cook the noodles separately on the stovetop and add them to the soup just before serving.
Q4: How can I get a nice, clear broth?
If you are making your own broth from scratch, the key to a clear broth is to never let it come to a rapid, rolling boil. You want to keep it at a very gentle, bare simmer. As it simmers, you can also use a spoon to skim off any foam or impurities that rise to the surface.
Q5: Can I use chicken breasts or thighs for this recipe?
Yes. The recipe calls for already-cooked chicken. Using the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken is the easiest and most flavorful option, and you can use a mix of the breast and thigh meat. If you want to cook your own chicken for the soup, poaching a couple of chicken breasts or thighs in water or broth is a great option.