This homemade chicken noodle soup recipe is easy, absolutely delicious and healthy too. Eating a bowl of this soup truly feels like home to me and I hope you love it too! You can use bone-in chicken thighs, leg quarters or even whole chicken to make this super satisfying chicken soup with noodles.
Homemade Chicken Soup With Noodles
Chicken soup has got to be one of the very best homecooked meals that pretty much anyone can make. You can’t go wrong with soup, right? You put all the ingredients in a cooking pot, boil them and you’re almost done! Now, you’ve made some healthy dinner or lunch for the next 2-3 days.
Since I was a child I love making my chicken soup from scratch! From making that broth, to adjusting the salt and spices – I love the process and truly enjoy the result. This easy chicken noodle soup has been tested by me and my family many many times. It is one of my go-to meals during soup season.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Bone-In Chicken Leg Quarters. I love the chicken thighs and leg quarters, as they are much faster to cook through and de-bone than an entire chicken. However, you can also use a whole chicken for this soup.
- Noodles. Use thin noodles, something like vermicelli noodles will be great here. Break them apart and put them in the soup in the last minutes of cooking.
- Onion and Carrot. A very classic soup duo. My preference is to chop these very thinly or to even grate them.
- Garlic, celery, bell pepper, and spices. You can also add different seasonings if you’d like to make the soup spicier. I kept mine very simple with black pepper only.
- Vinegar and egg yolk. I know it sounds weird, but this combination turns the chicken soup from clear into a thicker consistency without using cream or flour. It’s pretty magical and you’ll wait until the end to mix these two together and to add them to the soup.
- Salt. Last but not least, you’ll need to add what will seem like quite a bit of salt – but understand that we’re working from scratch here. There are only natural ingredients in the soup and to make the flavors pop, you’ll simply have to add salt.
How To Make The Best Chicken Noodle Soup
- Boil the chicken leg quarters at medium-high in enough water to cover and add salt. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium. Cook for about 30 minutes.
- Use the time while the chicken is cooking to prepare the rest of the ingredients. Chop the vegetables and herbs.
- Once the chicken leg quarters are fully cooked take them out of the water. Let the chicken cool off in some cold water and start taking the meat off the bones, shredding it with your hands or with a fork into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the onions, garlic, carrot, bell pepper and celery to the broth that you just made by boiling the chicken with salt.
- Once you’ve removed the bones and “shredded” the chicken by hand – put the shredded chicken back into the boiling soup and boil for an additional 15 minutes. Have a taste and add some salt if necessary.
- Break the noodles into smaller pieces and add them to the soup. You can use vermicelli noodles or other thin noodles of choice. Boil for 2-3 more minutes or until noodles are done (follow package instructions).
- Turn the heat off and leave the soup on the stove. In a heatproof bowl mix the vinegar with the egg yolk until combined. Take 1/2 ladle of the soup and pour it into the yolk-vinegar mixture. Whisk or stir well with a fork until well combined (the soup should change color and look creamier). Add another 1/2 ladle and stir well again.
- Now, put this mixture back into the cooking pot, give the soup a good stir – the color and consistency will change and it’s done!
- Serve immediately or let the soup cool off and keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
How To Store
This recipe doesn’t make a lot, but if there’s 1-2 of you at home – you can have this soup for the next few days. Keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.
Tips For The Best Chicken Noodle Soup
- Use thin noodles and make sure to adjust the cooking time according to the instructions on the package. Meaning, that if your noodles cook in 2 minutes, add them when the soup is almost done and cook for those 2 minutes. If the noodles should cook for 10 minutes, add them at the same time as the vegetables or 10 minutes before you take the soup off heat.
- Fill a bowl with cold water to cool off the cooked chicken before removing the bones. This will speed up the process and save your fingers from getting burned.
- Once the soup is cooked, you’ll make the egg yolk and yogurt mixture. This is to slightly thicken the soup and to add some color to the broth. As I mentioned you can also use apple cider vinegar instead of yogurt. It’s important to mix the yogurt and the egg yolk well. It’s also very important when adding the ladle of soup to stir consistently well to get a smooth texture.
More Homemade Soup Recipes:
I hope you enjoy this tasty simple chicken noodle soup and make sure to check out these healthy soup recipes too:
Homemade Chicken Soup With Noodles
This homemade chicken noodle soup recipe is easy, absolutely delicious and healthy too. Use bone-in chicken thighs or whole chicken to make this super satisfying chicken soup with noodles for dinner or lunch!
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in chicken leg quarters
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 of a medium-sized onion, thinly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 small carrot, thinly chopped
- 1 Tbsp bell pepper, thinly chopped
- 1 Tbsp celery, thinly chopped
- 2 Tbsp thin noodles (break them)
- 5 cups water (more if needed)
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt + to taste
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Boil the chicken thighs at medium-high in enough water to cover and add salt. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium.
- Use the time while the chicken is cooking to prepare the rest of the ingredients. Chop the vegetables and herbs.
- Once the chicken thighs are fully cooked (should take around 20-30 minutes) - take them out of the water. Let the chicken cool off in some cold water and start taking the meat off the bones, shredding it with your hands or with a fork into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the onions, garlic, carrot, bell pepper and celery to the broth that you just made by boiling the chicken thighs with salt.
- Once you've removed the bones and "shredded" the chicken by hand - put the shredded chicken back into the boiling soup and boil for an additional 15 minutes. Have a taste and add some salt if necessary.
- Break the noodles into smaller pieces and add them to the soup. You can use vermicelli noodles or other thin noodles of choice. Boil for 2-3 more minutes or until noodles are done (follow package instructions).*
- Do a taste test and add more salt if needed. Otherwise, the soup can taste bland, the salt is needed to make the flavors pop.
- Turn the heat off and leave the soup on the stove. In a heatproof bowl mix the vinegar with the egg yolk until combined. Take 1/2 ladle of the soup and pour it into the yolk-vinegar mixture. Whisk or stir well with a fork until well combined (the soup should change color and look creamier). Add another 1/2 ladle and stir well again.
- Now, put this mixture back into the cooking pot, give the soup a good stir - the color and consistency will change and it's done!
- Serve immediately with fresh parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
- Let the soup cool off and keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Notes
*Make sure the noodles you use either cook this fast, or add them to your soup earlier - follow instructions on the package
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 339Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 213mgSodium 597mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 32g
This recipe was originally published in January 2020 and updated with new images and tips in September 2022.