Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup in 40 minutes just as flavorful as grandma’s. Easy, comforting and soul warming homemade chicken noodle soup with juicy chicken and tender noodles.

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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Good chicken noodle soup takes hours to make. It begins with a whole bird and ends with a tired housewife. JK. But that is how my, and I am sure your, grandma used to make chicken noodle soup.

And it is good! Don’t get me wrong. That is why I have slow cooker chicken noodle soup and Instant Pot chicken noodle soup recipes on the blog.

But in 2019 we need everything quick. Or if you are sick, this easy and quick chicken noodle soup just “fits the bill”.

Ingredients You Will Need

• Boneless or bone in chicken thighs – no skin though.
• Onion, garlic, carrots and potatoes
• Chicken broth
• Fresh herbs

Truth be told, you can use what you have on hand. Only must haves for quick chicken noodle soup are chicken thighs and chicken stock.

How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup

Cook chicken thighs with chicken broth, bay leaves, peppercorns, whole onion and 2 garlic cloves for 20 minutes. Keep lid on while bringing broth to a boil. Then move it to the side for the whole soup making process.

As broth is cooking, foam will rise to the top. You will want to skim it a few times with a mesh strainer. Also this is the time I dice carrots, potatoes, and chop dill and grate garlic. No idle or waste time.

Then you add diced carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Smaller pieces – faster cooking.

Then we add pasta and you want to stir a few times to make sure pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pot or each other. Cook for 5 minutes.

Now discard “old” seasonings like onion, peppercorns and bay leaves with a mesh strainer. And add “new” seasonings like freshly grated garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and dill.

This last step makes this soup recipe the best chicken noodle soup in the world.

Serving

If you have time, let soup sit for 5-10 minutes. Flavors develop more and pasta absorbs liquid and makes soup more hearty.

You can serve soup with whole chicken thighs. Frankly, I always do that. Or for the looks, shred meat right in the pot or on a cutting board. I hold a piece of meat with a spoon on a side of the pot and shred with a fork in my other hand.

In Ukraine, we traditionally serve chicken soup with fresh rye bread. Here, in Canada we toast a slice of whole grain bread.

Kids love chicken noodle soup!!! Your dinner will go so well.

Can I Freeze It?

Chicken noodle soup lasts for up to 5 days if refrigerated. If you want to make this recipe for freezing, do not add pasta. It just doesn’t freeze well. Add cooked pasta after thawing and warming up. Or even cooked rice would be so good.

I usually warm up defrosted soup on the stove by simmering it. That’s it.

Tips for Best Chicken Noodle Soup

• Do not use chicken breasts as they are lean and not very flavorful.
• To keep onion whole, peel it but do not trim off the ends.
• Cooking chicken noodle soup covered will make it more murky.
• Keep bay leaves, peppercorns and onion cooking till the end to make broth flavorful.
• Use any short pasta like corkscrew, elbow, orzo, penne or broken up spaghetti or linguine.
• For broth I use organic bouillon cubes mixed with water. Cheaper and I always have stock on hand.

More Healthy Soup Recipes to Try

• Turkey meatball soup
• Chicken noodle vegetable soup
• Lime quinoa and chicken soup
• Buckwheat soup

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup in 40 minutes just as flavorful as grandma’s. Easy, comforting and soul warming homemade chicken noodle soup with juicy chicken and tender noodles.

• Author: Olena of ifoodreal.com
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Soup and Stew
• Method: Stove
• Cuisine: Ukrainian

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 – 1.5 lbs chicken thighs, bone in or boneless (skinless)
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 peppercorns, whole
• 1 small whole onion, just peeled
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 12 cups chicken stock, low sodium
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 cups potatoes, diced
• 1 1/2 cups dry small pasta, whole grain (I used elbow macaroni)
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, parsley or green onion, finely chopped

Instructions

1. In a large Dutch oven or pot, add chicken thighs, bay leaves, peppercorns, onion, 2 garlic cloves and stock.
2. On high heat, bring soup to a boil covered and then move lid to the side a bit to keep soup clear. Cook for 20 minutes, removing foam as it rises to the top with a mesh strainer, occasionally.
3. Meanwhile dice potatoes and carrots. Chop dill and grate garlic.
4. Add potatoes and carrots, stir and reduce heat to medium. Cook with half lid open for 5 minutes.
5. Add pasta, stir and cook for another 5 minutes. I would stir a few more times to prevent pasta from sticking.
6. Discard onion, bay leaves and peppercorns with a mesh trainer.
7. Add salt, olive oil, grated garlic clove, dill and ground black pepper to taste. You can also shred chicken right in the pot now.
8. Stir and adjust any seasonings to taste. If you have time, let chicken noodle soup sit covered for 5 minutes.
9. Serve hot with a slice of toasted bread.

Store: Refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Freeze: Fully cook, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw on a stovetop covered on low.

Notes

Instead of broth I use water + organic bouillon cubes.

★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.

2 cups2322.6 g674.7 mg6.2 g1.4 g0 g28.2 g2.3 g18 g30 mg

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