Can we talk about chicken noodle soup?

[jadenegro]

The only chicken noodle soup I've ever really eaten is the one my mom makes.

She will place a whole chicken in the crockpot with onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns, and a little salt. Once the chicken is cooked, she strains the broth and debones the chicken. She always refrigerates the broth overnight, skims, reheats, and adds back in the chicken meat and Reames frozen egg noodles and cooks until the noodles are done.

It's good comfort food but I'm wondering if there is something I can do to make it a little more flavorful? Does anyone add vegetables or herbs or anything to chicken noodle soup? Or would preparing the chicken and broth in some other way than the crockpot give a different result?

Anyone make a fab chicken noodle soup they want to share? :D

[avariell]

I have made a ton of chicken noodle soup over the past few months. For whatever reason, it has been hitting the spot for me lately :)

I don't follow a recipe (This is a common theme with me) but I will fill you in on a few things I do to make mine extra yummy imho.

I usually have roasted shredded chicken in the freezer and homemade chicken stock. I prefer roasting my chicken to simmering it because I think it tastes better. Then I use the roasted bones to make the stock on the stove. I think Bobby Flay has a good recipe you can follow if you search for it.

I sautee onions, carrots and celery in a heavy stock pot (usually something that can go in the oven). Sometimes I will add diced mushrooms or peppers. Once the veggies are tender, I add in the shredded chicken and stock. At this point I decide if I want to fiddle with the soup or not. If not, I just add noodles and eat. If I do want to fiddle - which happens more often than not - I will do some of the following variations:
1- add a can or two of fire roasted tomatoes
2- add rice instead of noodles
3- sometimes add corn and black beans
4- sprinkle in lots of red pepper flakes or tons of hot sauce
5- add some cream of mushroom soup, reduce the amount of stock used, add noodles and bake in the oven. sometimes I put breadcrumbs on top. (this is my personal fave)

Basically I think chicken noodle soup is a very blank canvas - you can do a lot or a little to it :) But I don't think you can go wrong.

[dorothyntototoo]

I cook the chicken on top of the stove & after I remove the meat, concentrate the stock by cooking a while longer. You can add fresh carrots, celery & onion when you put the noodles in to cook. Experiment with different pasta - Aldi has fun spiral shells that look like Shrek's ears & tri-color mini lasagne noodles (don't remember the names of these) but they make the soup interesting. I also like the color of a little dried parsley thrown in.

Rock Chalk - go Orange Bowl

[SusanMac]

I learned that lots of herbs make a huge difference in flavor depth. Add a few bay leaves, and lots of thyme & rosemary (either fresh or dried is OK)

I always add lots of veggies, too. Just chix & noodles isn't very interesting to me, plus, just a huge missed oppty for veggies. Carrots, peas, zucchini, shitake mushrooms, red bell peppers. Also white beans.

I make mine in a crockpot simply b/c it's easy to let it sit all day long w/out worrying about it.

[Lulu711]

I prefer to add a little richness to the broth so I add the rinds from parmigiano reggiano while the soup is cooking. It really adds a creamy depth to the soup.

[Canice]

I don't know anything about crockpot cooking so I can't comment on that part, but I make my stock out of necks, backs, wings and whatever remnants I've stashed in the freezer. For aromatics I use carrot, celery, onion, parsnips. Bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, fresh parsley and fresh dill. I bake chicken breasts in the oven separately.

For the soup itself I like it simple: onion, celery, carrot, peas. Brightened with fresh lemon juice and more dill or parsley.

[PAMMELA]

This is my favorite CL chicken soup recipe:

Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled baking potato
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced leftover roasted chicken
1 cup evaporated skim milk
4 ounces (2 cups) uncooked wide egg noodles
Fresh thyme (optional)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, and garlic clove; sauté 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour, oregano, thyme, and poultry seasoning over vegetables, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, potato, and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 25 minutes or until potato is tender. Add roasted chicken, milk, and noodles, and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

Yield: 2 1/2 quarts (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 215 (19% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 14.9g; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 101mg; SODIUM 355mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.6g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 1996

[patsyk]

I prefer to add a little richness to the broth so I add the rinds from parmigiano reggiano while the soup is cooking. It really adds a creamy depth to the soup.

I love this idea! I think I'll do that next time I make my soup.

I agree that adding herbs to the soup really brings more depth to the flavor and just makes it so much better. I also like to throw in carrots and celery (chopped).

[SusanL]

Simply onions, celery, parsley, chicken, water, and a little salt. My mom's recipe.

[RecipeGirl]

This is my favorite CL chicken soup recipe:

Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled baking potato
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced leftover roasted chicken
1 cup evaporated skim milk
4 ounces (2 cups) uncooked wide egg noodles
Fresh thyme (optional)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, and garlic clove; sauté 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour, oregano, thyme, and poultry seasoning over vegetables, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, potato, and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 25 minutes or until potato is tender. Add roasted chicken, milk, and noodles, and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

Yield: 2 1/2 quarts (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 215 (19% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 14.9g; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 101mg; SODIUM 355mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.6g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 1996

Our family absolutely loves this chicken soup recipe. It's soooo easy, and very flavorful. As DH always says when he really likes something, "it's restaurant quality!"

I don't add the potato as I think it's a bit overkill with the noodles.

[foodfiend]

I like to flavour mine with cumin instead of oregano and basil.

[PAMMELA]

I don't add the potato as I think it's a bit overkill with the noodles.

I don't either! You're right, it doesn't need them. That is the only change I make to the recipe.

[patty520]

I too do a basic soup, i use the whole chicken, carrots, celery and onion... recently, i found using parsnips make a big difference. I also found using celery salt instead of regular salt makes the broth more favorable. I tend to change things around a bit so sometimes i add lemon juice and dill at the very end for a lighter broth flavor...or a bit of italian seasonings also makes for a great soup. enjoy!

[Lrimerman]

DH is the real chicken soup maker in our house, and it is really good.

I also make chicken soup and it is usually very good too.

We use homemade chicken stock (we save carcasses and wings, etc. when we make it and add all our (saved and frozen) vege scraps as well as a few carrots, onions and celery. We add a bit of vinegar when we make stock to help leach the minerals from the bones.

I don't skim the fat.

To make soup I do as posted above, I use shredded or chopped roasted chicken (sometimes DH does boil the chicken and go from there, but I like the roasted meat better). I saute onion, celery, carrot and fresh garlic till soft, add salt pepper and stock. I then add the chicken meat and whatever grain/starch (sometimes rice, sometimes noodles, sometimes matzo balls). If I have it we also add parsnips to the soup with the veges. I also add dried or fresh dill to the soup. Let it simmer a bit and taste for seasoning.

Last night it was brown rice in the soup and it was soooo good. I love the flavor of dill in my soup (last night I also added a sprinkle of Penzey's Tuscan Sunset along with dried dill, and that was tasty too).

YUM!!!

You can do a lot of things, but those are my favorite.

Lisa

[jadenegro]

Thanks! So it sounds like I should really try roasting the chicken and going from there. That sounds like a good improvement because I know we like everything roasted!

After that I can pretty much add a variety of things to taste...except potatoes :D I just read over the recipe for the Roasted-Chicken Noodle Soup and I don't think I would add the potatoes either - 4 cups potatoes to 2 cups chicken really makes it potato soup, no? I have heard of people serving chicken noodle soup over mashed potatoes, but I hadn't heard of putting potatoes in the soup.

[Arete]

I don't either! You're right, it doesn't need them. That is the only change I make to the recipe.

I just made this soup for the first time yesterday! I also left out the potatoes, and I used whole wheat egg noodles. VERY yummy!