The Only Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe You’ll Ever Need

I am admittedly a ‘dumper’ when it comes to cooking—I have a hard time being prepared enough to have all the ingredients for a recipe and usually just kind of wing it. Sometimes, though, you just have to admit that only a recipe will do. Chicken noodle soup is one of those dishes that I’ve never quite gotten right, so when the Mr. suggested to me that it sounded good, I knew I needed to do some research. I landed on the original recipe HERE and they called it ‘The Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe,’ so it had to be good, right?

I gotta tell you, this soup does not disappoint! Bonus, it was so quick + simple to make that it could easily make its way onto our list of cold-weather favorites! Honestly, you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry + fridge to make this at the last-minute as well!

What You Need:

2.5 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs—It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my life, so I didn’t want to even mess with the skin or bones; I used boneless skinless chicken thighs and they were delicious! I still used the 2.5 lbs and followed the cooking instructions. The only thing that was different is that I had to add a little more oil to cook the onions b/c the chicken didn’t yield as much grease to cook in.

1 ¼ tsp. ground pepper, divided

½ tsp. salt

1 tbsp. canola oil—I use a heart-healthy blend oil, but I think anything with a higher flash-point is fine to use.

1 large onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced—I used the pre-chopped kind b/c I’m lazy and it still tastes fine; a gourmet I am not.

10 cups chicken broth—The lower-sodium version is just fine!

4 celery stalks, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme

8 oz. kluski or egg noodles—I used a 16oz bag of frozen egg noodles and it worked great; there was still plenty of liquid to support the noodles.

1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Dry chicken with a paper towel + sprinkle with ½ tsp. pepper + salt. Heat oil on medium heat in a 6-qt. stockpot. Add chicken in batches and cook until skin is nice and brown. Remove chicken from the pan and discard skin and drippings. You’ll need 2 tbsp. of drippings to cook the onions. – I didn’t have the skin to remove b/c I used the skinless thighs and, again, did have to use a bit more oil for the onions since my chicken didn’t render as much fat.

2. Cook onions until tender, add garlic—stir and cook for 1 minute longer. Add broth and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any browned pieces. Return chicken to pan and add carrots, celery, bay leaves + thyme. Reduce the heat, simmer + cover—cook for about 25-30 minutes.

3. Remove soup from heat, take the chicken out and allow to cool. Add noodles and let sit, covered, for 20-22 minutes.

4. When the chicken cools a bit, shred or chunk it; if you’ve used bone-in chicken, you’ll remove the bones at this time.

5. Return chicken to soup mixture and add parsley + lemon juice. You’ll also want to add in the other ¾ tsp of pepper this time and salt to taste.

6. Remove bay leaves before serving.

As with (almost) all soups, this one gets better with time, so it’s perfect to make ahead for company or for a busy week-nite dinner! Serve it with a slice of your favorite crusty bread and you’re set!