Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
My family got sick with Flu A a few weeks ago, and I decided to finally make Bon Appétit’s Classic Chicken Soup recipe. It took some time to make, but was well worth it. My son Harrison enjoyed the soup so much, he couldn’t stop saying how much he loved it. He asked me, “How come you haven’t been making this soup my whole life?”. My reply to him was, “From now on, this is the chicken soup I will make forever.” This soup is that good! The flavor is perfect, and I’m pretty sure that this soup kept me from getting sick on my birthday.
Ingredients:
1 3-4lb. whole chicken
4 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
2 medium onions
4 medium carrots
4 celery stalks, divided
2 heads garlic
1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
½ small bunch of dill, divided
6 oz. ditalini or any small quick-cooking pasta
Freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Season the chicken all over with 4 tsp. salt
Cut 2 medium onions in half, leave skin on for color.
Peel 4 medium carrots. Coarsely chop 2; set aside the 2 remaining.
Coarsely chop 2 celery stalks.
Cut 2 heads of garlic in half crosswise.
Now combine the chicken, cut vegetables, 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, and 2 dill sprigs in a large pot. Cover with 14 cups cold water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as needed to maintain a simmer. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface of the pot. Simmer until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155°, approximately 20-25 minutes.
Using tongs carefully lift the whole chicken out of the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
Grab the wing and pull it outward, cut through the joint with a chef’s knife to separate the wing from the breast. Do this on both sides.
Cut through the skin connecting 1 leg to carcass. Pull the leg back and cut through the joint to separate the leg. Do this on both sides.
Now for the breasts: Cut along the lefts side of the breastbone. Angling your knife, cut breast meat away from the carcass. Repeat this on the ride side for the other breast.
Pull off and discard any skin from the legs and breasts.
Return the legs, wings, and what remains of the carcass to the pot with vegetables.
(You should now have only the chicken breasts remaining on your cutting board.)
Continue to simmer soup, occasionally skimming fat that rises to the surface with a large spoon, until reduced by an inch or two and full-flavored, about 40 minutes.
NOTE: If you feel like you reduced the soup too much, you can always add in a little more water.
While the soup simmers, shred the chicken breasts with 2 forks into bites-sized pieces.
Thinly slice remaining 2 celery stalks crosswise. Cut remaining 2 medium carrots into ½” diagonal pieces. Finely chop enough dill to yield ¼ cup.
Transfer 2 chicken legs to cutting board to cool. Shred the meat and discard the bones.
Set a fine mesh strainer over another large pot. Strain the soup into second pot, discarding bones, carcass, wings and vegetables.
Bring broth to boil over medium-high heat. Add 6oz of pasta and stir once. Cook 5 minutes.
Add the shredded chicken, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook until the pasta is cooked through, and the vegetables are tender but not mushy, 4-5 minutes longer.
Turn off heat. Stir in dill. Season with salt (it’s going to take a lot!) and pepper.
Recipe: Adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2020
½ small bunch of dill, divided
6 oz. ditalini or any small quick-cooking pasta
Freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Season the chicken all over with 4 tsp. salt
Cut 2 medium onions in half, leave skin on for color.
Peel 4 medium carrots. Coarsely chop 2; set aside the 2 remaining.
Coarsely chop 2 celery stalks.
Cut 2 heads of garlic in half crosswise.
Now combine the chicken, cut vegetables, 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns, and 2 dill sprigs in a large pot. Cover with 14 cups cold water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, reducing heat as needed to maintain a simmer. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface of the pot. Simmer until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 155°, approximately 20-25 minutes.
Using tongs carefully lift the whole chicken out of the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Let rest until cool enough to handle.
Grab the wing and pull it outward, cut through the joint with a chef’s knife to separate the wing from the breast. Do this on both sides.
Cut through the skin connecting 1 leg to carcass. Pull the leg back and cut through the joint to separate the leg. Do this on both sides.
Now for the breasts: Cut along the lefts side of the breastbone. Angling your knife, cut breast meat away from the carcass. Repeat this on the ride side for the other breast.
Pull off and discard any skin from the legs and breasts.
Return the legs, wings, and what remains of the carcass to the pot with vegetables.
(You should now have only the chicken breasts remaining on your cutting board.)
Continue to simmer soup, occasionally skimming fat that rises to the surface with a large spoon, until reduced by an inch or two and full-flavored, about 40 minutes.
NOTE: If you feel like you reduced the soup too much, you can always add in a little more water.
While the soup simmers, shred the chicken breasts with 2 forks into bites-sized pieces.
Thinly slice remaining 2 celery stalks crosswise. Cut remaining 2 medium carrots into ½” diagonal pieces. Finely chop enough dill to yield ¼ cup.
Transfer 2 chicken legs to cutting board to cool. Shred the meat and discard the bones.
Set a fine mesh strainer over another large pot. Strain the soup into second pot, discarding bones, carcass, wings and vegetables.
Bring broth to boil over medium-high heat. Add 6oz of pasta and stir once. Cook 5 minutes.
Add the shredded chicken, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook until the pasta is cooked through, and the vegetables are tender but not mushy, 4-5 minutes longer.
Turn off heat. Stir in dill. Season with salt (it’s going to take a lot!) and pepper.
Recipe: Adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2020