This chicken egg noodle soup is comfort food at its best. Forget the canned stuff, if you have a little time on your hands make your own delicious chicken soup. It’s easy, and doesn’t take all that long. You’ll be happy you did.
This soup may not be from scratch but it’s very good and it comes together in a fraction of the time. We take a few shortcuts like using prepackaged chicken broth instead of making our own. Plus using boneless, skinless chicken breast cuts down on prep and cooking time.
The onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme give the broth that “homemade” taste. And the shredded chicken and tender egg noodles make this soup delicious and comforting!
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Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken Breasts (2 pieces) skinless, boneless and trimmed of any fat
- 8 cups Chicken Broth, divided (2 cups to poach the chicken, plus 6 cups for the soup)
- Pinch of Salt
- 4 Thyme Sprigs, divided (2 for the poached chicken and 2 for the soup)
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 small Onion, finely diced
- 2 Carrots, sliced into rounds (about 1 cup)
- 1 Celery Rib, sliced or diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons Flour, all purpose
- 4 ounces Egg Noodles
Poach the chicken
Poached chicken is boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs gently simmered in liquid until the chicken is cooked through. The liquid used is usually water or chicken broth and it’s flavored with aromatics, herbs and spices.
Place the chicken in a medium saucepan that’s large enough so that they fit side by side without overlapping. Cover the chicken with chicken broth, 2 cups should do it. Add 2 thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt.
Start the chicken on high heat and bring the broth to a boil. As soon as it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cover.
Gently simmer the chicken breasts for 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked. The internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken breast should be least 165°F. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure.
Remove the chicken breast from the poaching liquid and set it on a cutting board to cool.
Don’t discard the chicken broth; we are going to use it for the soup. That’s some concentrated chicken broth goodness you have there!
Strain the cooking liquid using a fine mesh strainer and reserve it for the soup.
When the chicken has cooled enough to handle shred it using two forks, or your hands.
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot and the butter has melted, add the onions, carrots and celery. Gently cook the vegetables for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.
- Next, add the flour to the pot and stir well until it’s incorporated. The flour will add a little bit of body to the soup. We do want to cook it some to get rid of the raw flour taste.
- Cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes. Stir almost constantly.
- Slowly add in the reserved poaching liquid and the 6 cups of chicken broth. Stir constantly until the ingredients are combined and the flour mixture is dissolved in the broth.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the broth to a boil. It will take about 8-10 minutes for the liquid to start boiling.
- Add the shredded chicken and the remaining thyme sprigs to the pot. Stir well.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and cook the soup for 20 minutes. Stir the soup occasionally and keep it at a simmer; if it starts boiling too vigorously lower the heat a bit.
Simmering the soup for a little while allows the flavors to come together, giving the soup that homemade taste.
Cook the egg noodles
We want to cook the egg noodles in a separate pot, not in the soup.
If we add the uncooked noodles to the soup they will soak up most of the broth as they cook. By cooking them separately we get tender noodles, plus get to keep all the delicious broth.
Cook the egg noodles following the package directions using the lowest recommended cooking time. We don’t want to overcook them.
Drain the egg noodles well and set aside until the soup is ready.
Finish the soup
Remove the thyme stems from the pot. Use tongs to fish them out and discard.
Add the cooked noodles to the soup and stir well. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the soup sit for a few minutes before serving. Taste the soup and add salt if needed.
Cook’s Note: We don’t add salt to the soup until the end because packaged chicken broth contains a good amount already. Taste it at the end and add salt if needed. As a reference, we did not add extra salt to our chicken soup.
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Chicken Egg Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound Chicken Breasts (2 pieces) skinless, boneless and trimmed of any fat
- 8 cups Chicken Broth divided (2 cups to poach the chicken, plus 6 cups for the soup)
- Pinch of Salt
- 4 Thyme Sprigs divided (2 for the poached chicken and 2 for the soup)
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 small Onion finely diced
- 2 Carrots sliced into rounds (about 1 cup)
- 1 Celery Rib sliced or diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 3 tablespoons Flour all purpose
- 4 ounces Egg Noodles
Instructions
Poach the Chicken
- Place the chicken in a medium saucepan that’s large enough so that they fit side by side without overlapping. Cover the chicken with 2 cups chicken broth, add 2 thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt.
- Start the chicken on high heat and bring the broth to a boil. As soon as it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cover.
- Gently simmer the chicken breasts for 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked (165°F at the thickest part).
- Remove the chicken breast from the poaching liquid and set it on a cutting board to cool.
- Don’t discard the chicken broth; we are going to use it for the soup. Strain it using a fine mesh strainer and reserve it for the soup.
- When the chicken has cooled enough to handle shred it using two forks, or your hands.
Make the Soup
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot and the butter has melted, add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.
- Add the flour to the pot and stir well until it’s incorporated. Cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes. Stir almost constantly.
- Slowly add in the reserved poaching liquid and the 6 cups of chicken broth. Stir constantly until the ingredients are combined and the flour mixture is dissolved in the broth.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the broth to a boil.
- Add the shredded chicken and the remaining thyme sprigs to the pot. Stir well.
- Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and cook the soup for 20 minutes. Stir the soup occasionally and keep it at a simmer; if it starts boiling too vigorously lower the heat a bit.
While the soup simmers Cook the Egg Noodles
- Cook the egg noodles to package directions in a separate pot. Use the lowest recommended cooking time. We don’t want to overcook them.
- Drain the egg noodles well and set aside until the soup is ready
Finish the soup
- Remove the thyme stems from the pot. Use tongs to fish them out and discard.
- Add the cooked noodles to the soup and stir well. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the soup sit for a few minutes before serving.
- Taste the soup and add salt if needed. As a reference, we did not add extra salt to our chicken soup.
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