Nothing says comfort like a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. It’s a timeless classic that’s perfect for chilly autumn days—because as far as I’m concerned, October is officially soup season! 🍂 But even the most classic recipes can benefit from a few technical tweaks to make them even better. So, let’s take this beloved soup up a notch with a couple of strategic improvements!
Why This Recipe Stands Out 🔬
Chicken noodle soup seems simple, but there’s actually a lot of science behind getting it just right. From cooking techniques to ingredient choices, small changes can have a big impact on the final result. Here’s what makes this version different:
- Skip the Mushy Veggies
Many recipes suggest adding the same vegetables used to flavor the broth back into the soup, but after simmering for so long, they’re often mushy and tasteless. Instead, snack on those veggies or discard them. For the final soup, use freshly chopped vegetables—this keeps the texture vibrant and the flavor bright. - Protect the White Meat
White meat (chicken breast) tends to dry out quickly during prolonged cooking, even at gentle temperatures. This is due to its low fat content and muscle fiber structure, which contracts and squeezes out moisture as it cooks. To prevent this, remove the breast meat after about 20 minutes of simmering and set it aside. This simple step ensures you’ll have juicy, tender meat to add back to the soup at the end. - Avoid Bouillon Cubes
While MSG-packed bouillon cubes can add a quick punch of flavor, they’re not necessary for a great soup. Instead, use a high-quality chicken stock or broth (preferably low sodium), which will provide a more natural and robust flavor base without overwhelming the soup. - Cook Noodles Separately
Boiling noodles directly in the soup may seem convenient, but it releases a lot of starch, turning your clear broth cloudy. For a cleaner presentation and better texture, boil the noodles separately and add them to the soup just before serving.
The Science Behind Soup Perfection 🔬💡
When making a clear chicken noodle soup, it’s all about controlling the release of proteins, fats, and starches:
- Why Cloudy Broth Happens: As proteins break down in the stock (from the chicken bones and meat), they can coagulate and make the broth murky. By removing impurities early and simmering gently, you minimize the release of these proteins and achieve a clearer soup.
- Starch Release from Noodles: Noodles release starch when cooked, which thickens and clouds the broth. Cooking the noodles separately prevents this and keeps your broth clear and light.
Tips for Even More Flavor 🌟
- Start with a Cold Water Base: When making stock, always start with cold water. This helps extract more flavor from the chicken bones and vegetables.
- Add a Splash of Lemon juice: A tiny splash of lemon juice at the beginning helps break down the collagen in the chicken bones, creating a more gelatinous and rich broth.
- Control the Simmer: Avoid boiling the stock. A gentle simmer is key to keeping the broth clear and the flavors balanced. Rapid boiling can break down the proteins too quickly, leading to a cloudy, less flavorful soup.
Final Thoughts
With these simple adjustments, you can transform a basic chicken noodle soup into a refined, restaurant-quality dish that’s bursting with flavor and texture. Whether you’re battling a cold or just craving something warm and comforting, this soup will be your go-to recipe all season long. 🍲💛
Let’s get cooking and enjoy a bowl of comfort done right!
Place all of the ingredients in the pot, add a healthy pinch of salt and pour stock or water over the chicken almost completely submerging it. You will need at least a 5 quart pot.
Water works just fine, however, chicken stock results in much more flavourful soup.
Bring the contents of your pot to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low to maintain a gentle simmer and cover the pot. As the soup comes to a boil, skim some of the foam/impurities that rise to the top.
You will need to cook this for 60-90 minutes until the chicken is very tender, cooked through and falling off the bone.
Optional, but highly recommended step.
After 18-25 minutes of simmering the soup, check the internal temperature of the chicken breast, to ensure it reached the safe internal temperature of 165°F. Then carefully, using forks, detach the breast from the carcass and remove to a plate; set aside for later.
The reason for this is that the dark meat full of connective tissue, can withhold prolonged simmering time, however, chicken breast - cannot. As it cooks, even on gentle simmer, the fibers will contract, squeeze out all of the juices and become dry and tough. But if you remove this meat and set it aside, you will end up with exceptionally flavourful soup with tender breast meat. In my opinion, this extra effort pays off.
If you do choose to make this extra effort, be sure to be very careful as stock/chicken will be very hot.
When your chicken is falling off the bone, strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve removing all of the impurities. Set chicken meat aside, you will shred it with forks after it cools down and add it back to the soup. Discard the bay leaves and the veggies (carrots and celery.) Some people choose to keep those veggies, however, they are too mushy. I personally snack on them, but do not add them back to the soup.
When the chicken is a bit cooler and easier to handle, shred the meat. Also shred the meat of the chicken breast that you set aside in Step 3.
Add the chopped carrots, celery and anything else you may wish (parsnips, onions.) Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until tender. Season the soup well with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking, add the shredded chicken meat back until heated through.
You can add noodles in Step 4, however, they will make the broth cloudy. As such, I recommend bowling them in a separate pot according to the package instructions and adding cooked noodles at the same time as you add back the chicken meat, until heated through.
Remove the soup from heat and add the fresh herbs of choice. Serve and enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Place all of the ingredients in the pot, add a healthy pinch of salt and pour stock or water over the chicken almost completely submerging it. You will need at least a 5 quart pot.
Water works just fine, however, chicken stock results in much more flavourful soup.
Bring the contents of your pot to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low to maintain a gentle simmer and cover the pot. As the soup comes to a boil, skim some of the foam/impurities that rise to the top.
You will need to cook this for 60-90 minutes until the chicken is very tender, cooked through and falling off the bone.
Optional, but highly recommended step.
After 18-25 minutes of simmering the soup, check the internal temperature of the chicken breast, to ensure it reached the safe internal temperature of 165°F. Then carefully, using forks, detach the breast from the carcass and remove to a plate; set aside for later.
The reason for this is that the dark meat full of connective tissue, can withhold prolonged simmering time, however, chicken breast - cannot. As it cooks, even on gentle simmer, the fibers will contract, squeeze out all of the juices and become dry and tough. But if you remove this meat and set it aside, you will end up with exceptionally flavourful soup with tender breast meat. In my opinion, this extra effort pays off.
If you do choose to make this extra effort, be sure to be very careful as stock/chicken will be very hot.
When your chicken is falling off the bone, strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve removing all of the impurities. Set chicken meat aside, you will shred it with forks after it cools down and add it back to the soup. Discard the bay leaves and the veggies (carrots and celery.) Some people choose to keep those veggies, however, they are too mushy. I personally snack on them, but do not add them back to the soup.
When the chicken is a bit cooler and easier to handle, shred the meat. Also shred the meat of the chicken breast that you set aside in Step 3.
Add the chopped carrots, celery and anything else you may wish (parsnips, onions.) Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until tender. Season the soup well with salt and pepper. Towards the end of cooking, add the shredded chicken meat back until heated through.
You can add noodles in Step 4, however, they will make the broth cloudy. As such, I recommend bowling them in a separate pot according to the package instructions and adding cooked noodles at the same time as you add back the chicken meat, until heated through.
Remove the soup from heat and add the fresh herbs of choice. Serve and enjoy!
