This is my base recipe for making homemade chicken noodle soup. Obviously, different vegetables can be used or omitted. You can use homemade or prepared chicken broth instead of the water/chicken base combination. You could leave out (and I sometimes do) the milk and flour. And you might want to taste as you go along, to monitor how flavorful the mix is before adding new things.
There are no photos today, since I am sick and wishing someone could make this for me. Plus, a dear daughter-in-law asked for the recipe and I wanted to get it ready for her quickly. The recipe is available in printable pdf form here:
Very Good Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
First, the ingredients (I have underlined the key words to make shopping or preparation easier):
- 3 pounds chicken thighs, bones, skin, and all
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups sliced or medium diced carrot
- 1 medium yellow onion (probably about 1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely diced
- 3 teaspoons of salt (adjust if necessary according to type of broth used)
- 1/8 teaspoon black ground pepper
- 1.5 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 12 cups water, (or see notes about broth in introduction)
- the amount of chicken base or bullion of your choice that normally makes broth from that much water
- 2 – 3 cups of easily cooked or already cooked green vegetables (I usually use something milder, like peas or green beans)
- 2.5 cups uncooked macaroni (I usually use elbow macaroni)
- 2 cups corn
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup flour
- whole eggs (optional, dropped in to poach in last few minutes)
Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender. Remember that garlic cooks much faster than onion, so don’t put it in until the onion is getting closer to being done.
Add the carrots, seasonings, water, chicken base, (or broth) and chicken. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the carrots are almost done and the chicken is cooked.
Take out the chicken, let it cool some, then de-bone. Cut up the chicken meat, then set aside to add back in later. Throw away the bones and skin, unless your husband wants to keep them to gnaw on…
Mix in the green vegetables, corn, and macaroni. You may want to do this in stages, depending on whether or not any of the vegetables are pre-cooked (I usually use frozen vegetables, which are blanched, therefore don’t take as long as fresh ones) and how thick the macaroni is. Simmer it all until these items are cooked to desired degree.
Add the chicken meat back in.
Shake the milk together with the flour. Gradually stir that mix into the soup and heat through until slightly thickened.
Crack eggs right into the broth and don’t stir again until they have had time to poach-cook.
Serve, trying to get one egg in each bowl!