Noodles meet dumplings in this rich and brothy chicken noodle soup. Perfect for a cold winter night, treating your summer cold, or any time you want a bowl of homemade comfort.
Cliff Notes:
Remove the thighs and breast from a whole chicken and set aside; make stock using the remainder of the chicken, vegetables, seasonings; strain stock; cook thighs & breast then shred meat; cook veggies; make and cut noodles, then drop into boiling soup; stir in shredded chicken.
Make it Your Own:
– Add celery, tomatoes, corn, or any other vegetable you like
– Add herbs or seasonings into the noodles (thyme, black pepper, chili flakes)
– Make lots … the leftovers are amazing, and it freezes very well too!
Simplify It:
– Use purchased stock instead of making it from scratch
– Use the meat off of a rotisserie chicken
– Use frozen vegetables
– Please, please, please don’t substitute store-bought noodles. These are too amazing!
There’s one in every family – that one meal that draws cheers from absolutely every everyone when it’s on the way to the table. In my childhood home, it was homemade chicken noodle soup. A humongous pot filled with salty broth, sweet carrots, delectable bites of chicken, and almost-magical fluffy-chewy homemade dumpling-noodles (a.k.a. doodles). It wasn’t until I was well into my adult life when I realized that most people used dried store-bought egg noodles in their soup, because in my mind, homemade chicken noodle soup was only authentic if it included handmade egg noodles, cut into thick strips, and simmered in the broth for the final 10 minutes of cooking where they turn puffy and chewy and savory, and become what every store-bought noodle wishes it could be. And trust me … the leftovers from this soup just may change your life forever.
The magic starts with the homemade broth. Use a whole chicken, but before putting it into the Instant Pot, remove the breast meat and thighs and set them aside to cook separately so it ends up tender and flavorful in the final dish. After the broth is made, it gets strained into a big pot, and the pieces of meat you set aside earlier are added to gently poach until they’re cooked through, then they are pulled out of the broth, shredded, and re-added right before serving. We keep the veggies simple – onions, carrots, and green beans – but feel free to add in other veggies if you want. Finally, about 30 minutes before dinner time, start making the noodles. It’s a very simple dough of flour, eggs, milk and salt that is mixed together, rolled out to about 1/4″ thickness, and cut into 1″ x 2.5″ strips. The strips are then dropped into the boiling soup where they absorb some of the rich, delicious broth, getting all chewy and delicious. Finally, add the shredded chicken back to the pot, and dinner’s on the table!
Be sure to make a big pot, because leftovers are even more delicious as the noodles continue soaking up the flavors of the broth.
Homemade Chicken “Doodle” Soup
Ingredients
- FOR THE BROTH:
- 1 whole Chicken, 3-4 pounds
- 1/2 Onion
- 2 large Carrots
- 1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1 large Bay Leaf
- 1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- ———————
- FOR THE SOUP:
- 1/2 White or Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 pound Carrots, peels and cut into rounds
- 1/2 pound Green Beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- ———————
- FOR THE NOODLES:
- 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Milk
- 1 teaspoons Kosher Salt
Instructions
- FOR THE BROTH:
- Remove the wings, legs, and breast meat from a whole chicken. Set the thighs and breast meat in the fridge while you make the broth.
- Put the remainder of the chicken (carcass, wings, drumsticks) into your Instant Pot. Add 1/2 onion (no need to chop) and carrots (cut or broken to fit), thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Add water to reach the “max fill” line. Set the Instant Pot to manual and cook for 40 minutes at high. Let the pressure release naturally. This total process will take approximately 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
- After the pressure has released, remove the lid and strain the contents into a dutch oven or other large, heavy pot. Discard the chicken bones and vegetables.
- ———————
- FOR THE SOUP:
- Bring the broth to a gentle simmer. Add in the reserved chicken thighs and breast meat and cook through (internal temperature 150°-160°. Remove from pot, let cool, then shred or cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Set in fridge.
- Add carrots, onions, and green beans to broth. Cook 10-14 minutes until tender.
- ———————
- FOR THE NOODLES:
- Working directly on your counter top, measure out the flour and salt into a mound. Make a large well in the center, crack in the eggs, and add the milk. Using a fork, beat the eggs and milk together, incorporating flour from the sides of the well as you work. Continue working the flour into the egg/milk mixture, switching to kneading with your hands when necessary. Add extra flour if needed. The dough should be slightly tacky, but easy to handle.
- Roll out the dough to about 1/4″ thickness (roll in batches if necessary), using flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the dough into 1″ x 2.5″ strips.
- Drop the dough strips into the boiling soup, a few at a time, to prevent them from sticking together. After the last noodle has been dropped into the soup, add the shredded chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed, and serve.
- ———————
- And here’s the video!
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