Chicken Noodle Soup From Scratch — The Real Thing, Not From a Can

Ingredients

How to Make It (Full Version)

Make the Broth

Place the whole chicken in a large pot. Cover with water. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a gentle simmer. Skim any foam that rises to the surface — this is protein and fat that makes the broth cloudy. Simmer uncovered for 1 to 1.5 hours until the chicken is fall-off-the-bone tender and the broth is golden and flavourful.

Remove the chicken and let it cool enough to handle. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the aromatics and any small bits. Return the broth to the pot. Shred the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. This is the step where you taste the broth and realise why homemade is worth the time — it’s rich, golden, and deeply chickeny in a way no box broth can match.

Build the Soup

Bring the strained broth back to a simmer. Add the carrots and celery. Cook 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the egg noodles and cook according to package directions — usually 6-8 minutes. Add the shredded chicken back. Season with salt and pepper. Don’t undersalt — chicken soup needs to be well-seasoned to taste like medicine for the soul and not just hot water.

Finish

Add chopped fresh parsley and — here’s my Polish addition — fresh dill. Americans don’t traditionally put dill in chicken noodle soup, but Poles put dill in everything, and it works beautifully here. The bright, herbaceous flavour lifts the whole bowl. If you’ve never tried dill in chicken soup, consider this your gateway. It’s what makes Polish soups taste distinctly Polish, and it’ll make your American chicken soup taste distinctly yours.

The Shortcut Version (30 Minutes)

When someone’s sick and soup needs to happen fast: heat 8 cups of good chicken broth in a large pot. Add diced carrots and celery, simmer 10 minutes. Add egg noodles, cook 6-8 minutes. Stir in shredded rotisserie chicken. Season. Add parsley and dill. Done. It won’t have the depth of the from-scratch version, but it’ll still cure whatever ails you. This is the version I make at 7pm when a kid comes home from school sniffling and I need soup on the table in half an hour.

American Chicken Noodle vs. Polish Rosol

Since I make both regularly, here’s how they compare:

• Broth: Rosol simmers longer with parsley root, leek, and celery root, giving a more complex vegetable flavour. American chicken noodle uses standard mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery). Both are golden and beautiful.

• Noodles: Rosol uses thin egg noodles (makaron, often lane kluski). American uses wide egg noodles. Both catch broth perfectly.

• Herbs: Rosol always has fresh dill and sometimes parsley. American always has parsley and sometimes thyme. Both benefit from adding the other’s herbs — which is what I do.

• Purpose: Identical. Both are made when someone is sick, when it’s cold outside, or when you need to feel taken care of.

Tips

How to Store

Store soup and noodles together for up to 4 days. The noodles will absorb liquid and get softer — add more broth when reheating. For freezing, store without noodles (they get mushy) and cook fresh noodles when you defrost. Broth freezes perfectly for 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions