It’s officially Fall which means I get to make pot roast, chicken pot pie and other belly warming dinners again. It hasn’t exactly started cooling down here yet, but I was craving a rich chicken noodle soup. This wasn’t quick by any means, but the flavor that the three hour simmering created was well worth it. I also have three quarts of flavorful chicken stock stashed in the freezer! Thanks for reading, enjoy!
Cooking the Chicken –
- 1 4 – 5 pound whole chicken (rinsed and dried)
- 1 box of chicken stock
- 2 – 4 carrots cut in half
- 2 – 4 stalk celery, roughly chopped *make sure you put lots of leafy tops in too*
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 5 – 6 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 TBSP peppercorns
- 3 -4 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried sage
- 1 TBSP dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3 sprigs lemon thyme
- kosher salt and pepper
- enough cold water to cover the chicken
1. Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot, bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Carefully pull the chicken out of the pot and set it aside to cool – about 40 minutes. Once it’s cooled, shred – place pulled chicken in a container and place the carcass back into the stock pot.
Chicken Stock –
- two chicken carcasses (* I had one in the freezer from this)
- reserved cooking water
1. Simmer the contents of the stock pot for at least three hours. Carefully strain the finished stock over a fine mesh strainer into a large container. Discard the bones and vegetables. Set the stock aside to cool. Skim as much fat off the top or place in the refrigerator for the fat to solidify. Store in air tight containers and place in the freezer.
Chicken Noodle Soup –
- 2 quarts chicken stock (*more or less depending on how “soupy” you like it)
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 4 cups total of chopped carrots, celery and onion
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 cups egg noodles (*I used No Yolks)
- lemon thyme
- lemon zest
- kosher salt and pepper
1. Heat a large soup pot to medium and add olive oil. Once the oil is warmed, add all your diced veggies to the pan. Saute for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, place a soup pot with the chicken stock to simmer and add the cooked vegetables and shredded chicken to the soup pot. Bring to boil, season to taste and add the egg noodles and peas. Cook until the egg noodles are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Taste again, season if needed – enjoy the soup with a crusty loaf of bread…yum!