Here at Food52, we love recipes -- but do we always use them? Of course not. Because once you realize you don't always need a recipe, you'll make your favorite dishes a lot more often.
Today: Our former head of distribution and partnerships, Maddy Martin, beats back flu season with the purest, simplest form of chicken noodle soup.
My husband, Dana, normally has an iron stomach. But when he catches something at the office (often around this time of year) and comes back home with a cold, the go-to remedy is always a simple chicken noodle soup. The trick to making a good one, in my mind, is to create a quick, rich broth. This sets you up for a soup that's mild and throat-coating for your cold-stricken companion, but still flavorful enough to enjoy a bowl yourself (with your taste buds still in full working order).
Note that the method here calls for using only half of the pulled chicken you extract from the whole bird. If it suits you better to use all of that chicken for another recipe, this soup can certainly be plumped up with other add-ins, like turkey meatballs, shrimp dumplings, or matzo balls. And of course if you have bits of other vegetables lying around waiting to be called to action -- fennel tops, half a cauliflower, green garlic shoots -- feel free to add them to the simmering stock. The more the merrier.
How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup Without a Recipe
1. Take giblets et al. out of the whole chicken and put the bird in a large pot. Add water to fully submerge the chicken, along with 2 large whole carrots (scrubbed, not peeled), 3 stalks of celery (just washed), 1 quartered onion, about 5 sprigs each of fresh parsley and thyme, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon of cracked black peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the chicken is fall-apart tender and the stock is flavorful, about 1 hour.
Note: You can put the fresh herbs in the sachet, but I don't. Perhaps letting them float around adds more flavor? I think so.
More: Take a deeper dive into the makings of homemade chicken stock.
2. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside for a moment while you strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer (a colander lined with a clean kitchen towel works in a pinch) into a clean large bowl. Discard remaining stock solids, rinse the large pot, pour all but about two cups of stock back into the pot, and return it to the stove (not over any heat).
3. Pick all the chicken from the bones and place it into that large bowl you left with 2 cups of stock. The stock keeps the picked chicken moist while you get all the meat off the bones and prepare the soup.
Note: At this time you can separate dark and light meat into two bowls of broth, since you will be using only about half of the picked meat and can be choosy with what goes in the soup. I do this so I can get mostly dark meat in the soup (and use the white meat for chicken salad later), but it's up to you. I find the dark meat takes more kindly to reheating later on.
4. Add peeled and chopped carrots and chopped celery (both cut 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick) to the strained stock in the pot along with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, and bring to a boil. Don't salt to taste here; just add a little to season the vegetables, as some broth will evaporate.
5. When the stock comes to a boil, taste a carrot. If it's still pretty crunchy, let the vegetables cook for another minute before adding the egg noodles. If the carrot is tender, I go in with the egg noodles right away after the stock comes to a boil. For the amount of egg noodles, I estimate 1/4 to 1/3 the volume of the stock in the pot, depending on how chock-full of noodles you like your soup.
When the noodles are al dente, add half of the picked chicken (reserving the rest for chicken salad, or whatever you like) along with the stock it steeped in, and warm through for a minute.
6. Add a handful of minced fresh parsley, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and salt to taste. Serve.
We're looking for contributors! Email [emailprotected] and tell us the dish you could make in your sleep, without a recipe.
Photos by James Ransom
FAQs
It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings. The same is true with soups.
How to add depth of flavor to chicken noodle soup? ›
There are several ingredients you can add to chicken noodle soup to enhance its flavor. Some popular options include fresh herbs like thyme or parsley, spices like garlic powder or paprika, and savory ingredients like diced tomatoes or mushrooms.
What to do if you don't have enough chicken broth? ›
To substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth, simply use a 1:1 ratio. No additional salt is needed, as vegetable broth is typically seasoned. Chicken bouillon granules or cubes: These are concentrated chicken flavorings that can be dissolved in water to make a broth substitute. To substitute bouillon for chicken.
How to add extra flavor to chicken soup? ›
Seasoning the Soup: If you feel the soup is missing some zing, add a bit more salt. You can also add a pop of flavor with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, a dash of fish sauce (we use this trick for store-bought stocks and broths often) or Worcestershire sauce.
What gives soup more flavor? ›
"Ground paprika, turmeric, nutmeg, ground ginger, and other powdered spices add a touch of color and spiciness to broths," she says. As a general rule, use fresh herbs at or near the end of cooking and dried herbs and spices early on. This helps you get the flavors you're looking for in the right balance.
How to doctor up chicken noodle soup? ›
Add Acid. Arazi likes adding a touch of preserved lemon paste to her chicken noodle soup, which she says adds “zesty flavor” as well as a punch of umami. Alternatively, just squeeze some lemon juice into your soup, which will brighten everything up and round out the flavors.
Why add vinegar to chicken noodle soup? ›
Add Vinegar To Begin With To Avoid Oversalting
By adding a splash of an acidic ingredient to your soup as you cook it, you'll reduce the need to add as much salt, while still highlighting and deepening the flavors in the pot.
What is the best way to thicken chicken noodle soup? ›
Add Flour Or Cornstarch
Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.
What if soup is not enough broth? ›
Chicken Broth Substitute: Water
If your recipe calls for a small amount of broth for deglazing a pan or thinning out a soup, stew or sauce, try water instead. You may want to add a few more seasonings like salt, pepper, or dried herbs to get the full flavor the chicken broth would provide.
What happens if I use water instead of chicken broth? ›
Fortunately, we're here to let you in on a game-changing secret: Water makes a more than acceptable replacement for chicken stock in most soups, stews, sauces, and braises. And in many cases, water actually produces a better-tasting result.
Throw In Extra Aromatics
The base of most stocks are flavorful aromatics, like onion, carrot, and celery. An easy way to punch up the lackluster flavor of boxed stocks is by adding more of those basics. An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks.
What to do if my chicken soup is bland? ›
Salt and pepper are the basic ones. Adding soup base is another good way to kick it up a notch as is adding a little acid. You can use lemon juice or vinnegar but be sparing, a little is awesome but too much is overpowering.
How do you deepen soup Flavour? ›
How do you make soup more flavorful? Depending on what kind of soup you have, there are lots of things that add flavor. Black pepper can give an “after burn" to any recipe. Worcestershire sauce, Maggi sauce, tomato paste, fresh herbs, mustard, vinegar, bouquet garni, garlic, hot sauce, soy sauce.
What spices are good in soup? ›
To season it, we recommend starting with our Vegetable Soup Mix. It contains celery salt, parsley flakes, garlic powder, sea salt, summer savory, marjoram, thyme, black pepper, turmeric and sage, which are all excellent with root vegetables, so you can incorporate things like carrots or potatoes into the soup.
What is the most significant ingredient of a soup? ›
Great broth — Most soups are anchored by a stock or broth, and one with depth of flavor (not just a lot of salt) is key. Buy a quality one, or simmer up a batch of your own. Try an easy chicken or mushroom broth, or our versatile Homemade Vegetable Broth opens in a new tab.
What gives vegetable soup that depth of flavor? ›
Tips for Flavorful Vegetable Soup
Flavor the base: We add Italian seasoning and tomato paste to the aromatics and warm them up to bring the seasonings back to life. You could use fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary, or even add a Parmesan rind for more flavor.
What are key ingredients soups? ›
Key Ingredients
I love onion, carrot, celery, potato or sweet potato, cabbage, and peas. You can customize this vegetable soup with your favorite seasonal vegetables! In the summer, add fresh zucchini or corn. In the winter, try hearty root vegetables like parsnips or turnips.
