Chicken Noodle Soup

March 13: National Chicken Noodle Soup Day

For those suffering from late winter blues or the common cold and flu this time of the year, cheer up and know that spring and better health are coming soon. Meanwhile, have a cup or bowl of heartwarming homemade chicken noodle soup. It is easier to cook than one might think.

We start with a leftover roast chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken. We do not let the meat and bones go to waste and cook homemade chicken soup using the carcass for bone broth and meat for protein. Some recipes call for boiling the vegetables with the carcass to impart flavor and then discarding all the solids. But we boil our vegetables in the strained broth to keep the nutrients in and cook the vegetables and chicken pieces together to save time, since the broth already took a few hours to cook already. We also cook the curly pasta noodles separately, so the broth is not so “cloudy” (besides, we do not like mushy pasta in case it is overcooked in the soup—especially if the chef gets distracted!). The strained broth can be saved in a jar and used in other recipes later.

The recipe seems rustic, but it is a classic comfort food. Make homemade chicken noodle soup on National Chicken Noodle Soup Day.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 leftover roast chicken
• Water
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cooked curly pasta noodles

Directions

Remove the meat from the bones and chop into bite-sized pieces. Refrigerate the pieces to use in the soup later. In a large stock pot, place the carcass and cover with enough water. Bring to a boil, cover the pot with a lid and then lower heat to low and simmer for 3-4 hours. Drain the scum and debris from the liquid and reserve the chicken stock. Wash or wipe the pot clean.

Place the chicken stock back into the cleaned pot. Add the onions, celery, carrot and sprigs of thyme. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the sprigs. Add the chicken pieces and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes to give the broth more flavor and heat the meat through.

Meanwhile, cook the curly pasta noodles according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and place a serving size into a soup bowl. Ladle the chicken, vegetables and stock over the pasta. Serve hot.

Notes

• Optional: Add a chicken bouillon cube or two for stronger flavor in the boiling broth. This does add more sodium to the soup, so we usually leave it out.
• After the soup cools down, add the pasta noodles then mix it all together. Refrigerate in a tightly covered container. Heat up individual servings of the chicken noodle soup. The pasta will not be as mushy then because it is not being overcooked, just reheated.