Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Article by Alice K. Thompson

There are a lot of versions of chicken noodle soup, but Tyler’s is a standout for its simple, authentic approach that yields a lot of satisfying flavor. A fantastic homemade stock, a freshly poached whole chicken (you’ll have some left over!) and lots of tender noodles make it a winner.

Tips for Making Chicken Noodle Soup

Here’s what Tyler Florence wants you to know about preparing the easy elements of this classic.

Make the broth first. Plan on about 1 1/2 hours to simmer up the stock. The best part? You’ll be poaching up a whole chicken while you do it, giving you a fabulous amount of tender, freshly cooked meat for the soup, and then some.

Add just enough water to cover the chicken. This broth simmers fairly quickly, with less evaporation time than some stocks, so keep water to a minimum of about 3 quarts. You can add a little more if the water level drops as it cooks.

Skim foam for clear broth. As the liquid simmers you’ll see foam, sometimes called “impurities,” rise to the top. It’s really just coagulated proteins; skimming it off a few times keeps the finished stock a bit clearer and brighter. But don’t go crazy, it will taste fantastic anyway!

Customize with veggies in your fridge. A mix of carrots, celery and onion is traditional for a soup. But you can mix it up if you have other ingredients in your fridge. You can stir in chopped fresh spinach or kale, peas, scallions, red bell pepper, sliced green beans, chopped tomato and more.

Shred or dice the chicken. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and skin and shred it into bite-size strands or chop it into cubes. You’ll want about 1 1/2 cups for the soup, but you could add more if you like. Refrigerate the remainder for up to 3 days.

Season the soup generously. The homemade stock contains no added salt, so make sure you taste the soup and add enough salt so that all the flavors stand out.

The Best Noodles for Chicken Noodle Soup

Egg noodles are a classic for this type of chicken soup, but they’re not the only choice.

• Different widths of egg noodles: Wide egg noodles give the soup a rustic comfort-food feel, but medium or narrow egg noodles are also an option. If your noodles come rolled in small nests you may want to break them up a bit before adding them.
• Fun pasta shapes: If you’re making this for young children, they might prefer smaller, playful shapes like stars, alphabets or tiny ditalini tubes. For a hearty pasta bite try farfalle (bowties), corkscrews, elbows, shells or gemelli.
• Long pastas: You can break up long-strand pasta like spaghetti or linguine before adding them to the soup if longer noodles appeal to you.
• Small stuffed pasta shapes: Tortellini or agnolotti are also excellent and can add even more heartiness (and a bit of an Italian accent) to your soup.

How to Store and Freeze Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup stores and freezes very well. Cool leftovers to room temperature first and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days or transfer them to airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. You can thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator, microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop.

One caveat: The longer the noodles sit in broth the more liquid they will absorb. Some may prefer these softer noodles, although others find them soggy or flabby. If you’re in the latter category you can strain the soup and refrigerate the noodles and vegetables separately from the broth. Or, if you know you’re making the soup ahead, only add the noodles before serving.