Chicken Noodle Soup is ‘temple’ food. As in your body is a temple. People even call it 'Jewish penicillin' because it's famous for fixing ailments. It makes us feel better when we're sick or crave something warm and delicious. Chicken noodle soup is nourishing, healthy and easy to digest.
We cook basic ingredients for a long time to make something far greater than the sum of its parts. We simmer chicken meat, extra bones, and vegetables in water, creating a golden clear broth. Strained broth with poached chicken, soft carrots and noodles creates a delicious meal. Chicken noodle soup is good for the body and soul, smells delicious and looks beautiful.
Jump to:
💭Tips for tasty chicken noodle soup
- Use lots of chicken bones for flavour. The bones and cartilage contain collagen. This breaks down over a long simmer to create a flavourful and gelatinous broth. We can even use frozen bones saved from other chicken meals.
- A well-made broth may form a jelly that melts on reheating, providing a rich mouthfeel.
- Remove the meatier parts of the chicken early for juiciness. We shred this and add it back to the soup to serve.
- Cook the broth for four hours to make it extra tasty.
- Making the soup a day or two in advance enhances its flavour.
😋Achieving a clear and delicious soup
- skim off the stuff that comes to the top during simmering. This is the most labour-intensive part of the recipe (but not difficult).
- don’t stir the broth while it’s cooking.
- keep the ingredients chunky, so that they don’t ‘melt’ into the broth.
- always start broth with cold water.
- simmer it uncovered without letting it boil.
- gently scoop out the solids in the soup rather than pouring and straining.
Best of both worlds
This recipe strikes the balance between
(a) cooking the broth for long enough to get good flavour AND
(b) having juicy chicken to serve with it.
We poach some chicken chops until we have juicy, succulent meat that falls off the bone. We remove the meat when it's perfectly cooked and juicy. Then put the bones back in the broth and let them simmer for a few more hours to extract rich flavour from the collagen. Genius!
🥘 Ingredients
The photo below shows you everything you need to make low FODMAP chicken noodle soup, plus some important notes on the ingredients.
Top Tip: Keep all your chicken bones!
When it comes to making Low FODMAP Chicken Noodle Soup, the more bones, the better. Your only limit is the size of your stock pot 😊 The chicken suggested here is a guide. Don’t discard bones from other chicken dinners. Chuck them together in a freezer bag to retrieve when chicken noodle soup is called for. No need to defrost the bones first, chuck them in as is!
Chicken Frames/Carcasses – these are the parts left after removing the meaty sections, like the breast, legs, thighs and wings. We discard these after they have done their work in the broth. They are full of the collagen needed to make this broth rich and tasty. Using frames is a cost-effective way to add amazing flavour. It feels good to buy these parts of a chicken that are usually discarded. You should be able to get these from your local butcher very cheaply. My local butcher sells pairs of frames for $2 AUD. They often still have a lot of meat left on them too, which all adds to the flavour of the soup.
Chicken Wings – like frames, they're an affordable, collagen-rich way to boost the soup's body and flavour.
Chicken Thighs/Chops – in Australia, 'chicken chops' are bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. These contain more flavour compared to boneless, skinless cuts. The bones and skin contribute rich, savoury notes to the broth. After simmering, the chicken meat from the thighs is easily separated from the bones and skin. We shred this meat and serve it with the broth.
Carrots, Parsnips & Celery – these readily available vegetables are typical for chicken noodle soup. We serve the carrots in the finished bowl of soup.
Parsley Stems & Bay Leaves – robust herbs that can stand up to the long simmer time for this broth. Note: we use parsley stems, not the leaves. This way we get subtle parsley flavour without the soggy leaves making the broth cloudy.
White Pepper – used to season the finished broth. White pepper is black pepper with the outer part removed. It works well here because it's milder than black peppercorns. The lighter colour complements the broth. Substitute with black if you don’t have.
Thin Egg Noodles - try to get the loose short strands in a bag version. You'll often find them in supermarkets in areas with a large Jewish population. I now grab a couple of bags when I see them. I couldn’t find them when I made this, so used the pasta nests instead. Same thing, but you need to crush them to break them into short strands for easier eating. Or chop up a bit once cooked.
🔪 Instructions
In this section there are step-by-step photos with notes to guide you through making low FODMAP chicken noodle soup. The specifics of the ingredient amounts are in the recipe card below. If you’ve made this recipe before, feel free scroll to the detailed printable recipe card below. Or use the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button under the first photo at the beginning of this post.
Before you start:
It will take a total of around 5 hours to make. It will taste even better if left a day or two after making. This is a perfect recipe if you’re pottering around the house. It needs some attention at the start for skimming and occasional checks after to make sure the broth is simmering.
The vegetables – peel, chop, brown
We start by peeling the carrots and parsnips. Although there’s a lot of flavour and goodness in the skins, there’s a reason for peeling these. First, the carrots will end up served in our finished bowls of chicken soup. They look brighter and fresher and more appealing when peeled. Parsnip skins are quite wrinkly and hard to clean well. For this reason, we peel the parsnips too.
Cut the vegetables into large pieces to prevent them from falling apart during the long cook. Make the carrots look consistent for appearance. You can be more casual with the parsnips and celery. They get discarded after we’ve extracted their flavour (Photo 1)
Brown the parsnips and celery over high heat in a little olive oil for 5-10 minutes, taking care not to burn them. Turn them often for even colouring. This is not to cook or soften them but to add flavour and colour to the final broth. We leave the carrots for this to keep them bright and orange (Photo 2).
Throw everything into the stock pot
Then we throw in cold water (from the tap is fine), all the chicken parts, the parsley stems, bay leaf and carrots (Photo 3).
Skim! And skim some more.
Over high heat, bring the water to a gentle simmer. This will take a while – there’s a lot of stuff in that pot. Then, reduce the heat to a setting low enough to maintain a simmer and nothing more vigorous. We aim to maintain a gentle movement of the surface of the liquid through the rest of the cooking time. As the liquid heats up, the soup will look a bit gross (Photo 4). There will be little white lumps of stuff and foamy scum. Be patient and skim this off (Photo 5). It will keep on rising to the surface for about 20 minutes. Resist the temptation to stir the ingredients of the pot or push them down to access the scum more easily. The reward will be a clearer, cleaner-looking soup at the end. Once you have removed most of the scum, add the black peppercorns. If you have a spice bag, even better. Chuck them in loose if not (Photo 6). We kept them separate because otherwise, you would have removed them while skimming. 😉
Simmer for a short time to cook the thighs
Simmer for about 45 minutes with the lid on but not properly. Leave a small gap so that steam can escape, it won’t boil over and we don’t lose half our soup to evaporation. Check if often to make sure the surface of the liquid stays on the move, but only just. We don’t want the heat so low that the broth has come to a standstill or too high that it is boiling furiously. Skim as necessary.
Remove the chicken thighs from the pot after the 45-minute simmer. We aim to take out the meat (to shred for the final soup) while it's tender and perfectly cooked. It might take a while to locate them in amongst everything else. Use tongs and try not to break the carrots in your quest.
Simmer for long time
Transfer the thighs to a plate to cool slightly. Let the soup continue its simmer as before, for another 3 ½ hours. Yes really!
Shred the meat – use your hands!
Once the chicken thighs are cool (around 30 minutes), use your hands to peel the meat from the bones. Place the meat in a bowl to add back to the soup. It's easier to do this by hand to ensure you only get the meat and not cartilage or fat. Cover closely with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Return the thigh bones/skin to the broth. They’ve still got more work to do.
Strain the broth, season and cool. Keep the carrots!
At the end of the long simmer time, take the pot off the heat. Carefully lift out the pieces and place them in a sieve over a big bowl (large enough for all the broth once strained). Gently pick out the carrot pieces from the tumble of stuff (they’ll be very soft) and transfer to a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
When most of the pieces are out, you can pour the contents of the broth slowly through the sieve into the bowl. There will be about 2 litres.
You can discard the solids or pick over them to nibble at (Chef’s treat). There’s a lot of goodness in those soggy parsnip and celery pieces. If you’re not squeamish about picking over the chicken bones; the meat on these can be delicious too. It’s much easier to find the meat amongst everything else if you do this while it’s still warm.
It’s far easier to season the whole batch of hot broth, rather than individual portions. Remember, we haven’t added any salt yet. It needs a generous amount to make the flavour sing. Freshly ground white peppercorns blend better colour-wise. Sieve the powder to make sure we don’t get chunky bits in our soup. Stir the seasoning through.
Allow the broth to cool for a bit before covering and transferring to the fridge for at least a day (and up to five).
Remove schmaltz
Once the soup is cooled, the fat from the chicken skin will solidify and rise to the surface. This is 'schmaltz'. Scoop it off using a spoon. Small amounts left in the broth is fine. These droplets of oil are delicious in the finished bowl of soup. Keep the fat you scoop off for tasty uses, like cooking roast potatoes instead of olive oil. Stir a tablespoon through boiled egg noodles to prevent sticking.
Serve!
Cook the egg noodles separately, according to the packet instructions. Drain and rinse and transfer to a separate bowl. Stir in a tablespoon of the reserved chicken schmalz to coat and separate the strands. Gently reheat the broth until steaming hot. Allow 2-3 ladle-fuls (about 200-300ml) per serving. Divide the shredded chicken, noodles, and carrot into each bowl, then pour over the broth to heat.
❓FAQ
Most recipes use onions and garlic to create broth to add colour and flavour. Sometimes the skin of the onions is left on to intensify the golden colour of the soup. I’ve left these high FODMAP ingredients out. To make them tastier, brown the parsnips and celery well before adding other ingredients. Some recipes add shop-bought broth. I’m not keen on this idea – this soup is traditional home cooking at its best; broth cubes don’t sit right with me. They also can be high in FODMAPs.
I like to peel the carrots and parsnips that go in this chicken soup. Serve the peeled carrots in the finished soup for a brighter and fresher look. This is why we don’t brown them along with the other veg. The parsnips and celery don’t end up in the finished bowl. Parsnips, with their wrinkly skin are hard to clean well without peeling.
Skimming is an important part of making chicken soup. This part takes the most 'effort'. It involves staying close to the pot for about 20 minutes at the beginning. Scoop off the scum, which looks like white or brown lumps, as the broth simmers. It will come seemingly out of nowhere and there will be so much of it. As soon as you remove some, more will come to replace it. Rinse your skimmer clean under running water and repeat until mostly gone. A skimmer is a fine sieve-like metal tool that can go under scum, lifting it out while leaving the water behind. Avoid stirring the pot or pushing the ingredients down.
Jelly is made by adding gelatine (leaves or powder) to water. But what is gelatine? Gelatine is a by-product when collagen is heated over a long period of time. Collagen is like a strong thread in connective tissue that keeps muscles and bones together. When heated, it unravels into gelatine, giving broths texture. Chicken legs, wings, back, and skin have a lot of collagen. Simmering for over 4 hours extracts the most collagen and gives the broth a jelly-like texture.
Yes! It adds lots of flavour. It helps create gelatine, giving your broth a great texture and mouthfeel. It won’t make your finished soup ‘fatty’. When the soup cools, we’ll skim off the fat (‘schmaltz) that will settle on the surface. You can save and freeze this for when you want a flavoursome (non-vegetarian) fat. Maybe for Roast Potatoes or roasted veggies. I use some to stir though the boiled noodles to keep the strands separate and intact.
I wouldn't recommend it. It’s better to cook the noodles on their own, then put in each portion. This is for a couple of reasons. First, the excess starch in the noodles can make the broth cloudy. Second, it’s easier to judge the amount going into each bowl. See if you can buy the noodles that are already broken into short strands. It’s tricky enough to eat chicken soup from a bowl without balancing too-long pieces of noodle on a spoon.
In a traditional French broth, clarity is valued above all else. Fat and dissolved minerals and proteins (otherwise known as ‘scum’!) makes broth cloudy. If you keep a broth at a bare simmer, you can more easily remove bigger particles of proteins. Boiling the broth disperses scum into tiny droplets that can't be fully removed. Not the end of the world if your broth starts to boil though, I promise! This is home cooking. Reduce the heat to reduce the movement in the liquid and continue.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Lidded broth pot (no less than 8-litre capacity)
- skimmer
- (optional) tea infuser or spice bag (for peppercorns)
Ingredients
- 4 carrots
- 2 parsnips
- 2 celery stalks (not leaves)
- Tablespoon olive oil
- 3.5 litres water
- Stems from a bunch of parsley
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 chicken frames
- 4 chicken chops (thighs on the bone, skin on, approx. 750g)
- 6 chicken wings OR chicken necks
- 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns (note)
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon white peppercorns (note)
- 150 g dried egg noodles (note)
Instructions
- Prep Veg - peel the carrots and parsnips. Cut the carrots in half, then halve again to make chunky batons. Set aside. Cut the parsnips and celery into large chunks.4 carrots2 parsnips2 celery stalks
- Caramelise Parsnips & Celery – set the broth pot over medium heat. Add the oil, parsnips and celery (not the carrots). Shake the pan so that the veg lies in a single layer. Cook, turning often, until the veg is well browned in spots, 5-10 minutes.Tablespoon olive oil
- Water – add the (cold) water. From the tap is fine. Crank the heat up to the highest setting.3.5 litres water
- Parsley, Bay Leaf, Carrots & Chicken Parts - add the parsley stems, bay leaf, carrots and all the chicken. Over high heat, bring the water to a gentle simmer (this may take a while), then reduce the heat to minimum. We want to maintain a gentle simmer for the rest of the cooking time.Stems from a bunch of parsley1 bay leaf2 chicken frames4 chicken chops6 chicken wings OR chicken necks
- Skim – off the foam and sediment as it forms until it’s mostly gone. Be patient – this to take around 20 minutes. Avoid stirring or pressing the ingredients down to skim.
- Peppercorns – add the whole peppercorns (in a spice bag if you have one).2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
- Simmer - for about 45 minutes more with the lid the lid on but not properly. Leave a small gap. Check every so often that the soup hasn’t come to a standstill or is boiling furiously. Skim as necessary.
- Remove Thighs – use tongs to remove the chicken thighs (there were four) from the broth. Take care not to break the carrots. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly (keep the soup simmering). It may be tricky to source them amongst the other chicken bits. The meat on the thighs should be falling-off-the-bone-tender. If it isn’t, cook for a little longer before re-checking.
- Simmer – continue simmering the soup, keeping mostly covered for another 3 ½ hours. Check occasionally that a gentle simmer is maintained.
- Shred Thighs - as soon as the chicken thighs are cool enough (after about 30 minutes), peel the meat from the bones and tear into bitesize pieces. It's easiest to use your hands. Return the thigh bones/skin to the broth. Place the shredded meat in a small bowl to add back to the soup later. Cover closely with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.
- Strain Soup – when the 3 ½ hours is up, the broth is done. Turn off the heat. Use tongs to gently pick out any carrots you can see (they will be very soft) and transfer these to a small bowl to serve with the soup later. Use a skimmer or slotted scoop to lift out the rest of the contents of the stock pot and place in a sieve set over a very large bowl. Retrieve any further carrot pieces with care from the tumble of stuff.
- Sieve Soup - when most of the pieces are out, strain the broth slowly. There will be about 2 litres. Cover and refrigerate the carrots. You can discard the rest of the solids, or pick over them to nibble on (‘Chef’s treat’).
- Season - grind up the white peppercorns with the heel of a rolling pin or in a mortar. Sieve to add to the soup. Add the salt and stir through. Cover the bowl. Leave to cool for a bit before transferring to the fridge for at least a day (up to five).2 ½ teaspoons salt¼ teaspoon white peppercorns
To Serve
- Skim - off the fat on the surface of the cooled broth (a small residual amount is fine) (note)
- Cook Noodles – boil the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain and rinse and transfer to a separate bowl. You can stir through a tablespoon of chicken schmaltz to to keep the strands separate.150 g dried egg noodles
- Gently Reheat – allow 2-3 ladle-fuls (about 200-300ml) per serving. Heat up the broth until steaming hot, without letting it come to a boil.
- Serve – put some noodles, roughly shredded chicken and some carrot pieces in each bowl. Top with the broth to heat through.
Notes
Schmaltz - save it for any time you want some delicious animal fat e.g. roast potatoes. Stir about a tablespoon of it through the egg noodles once they’re boiled to stop them clumping together. Make Ahead The broth will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days (it will taste better for it too). You can freeze it for up to 3 months in the freezer (allow some excess space; the broth will expand as it freezes). Keep the carrots and chicken stored separately. The noodles won’t freeze well. You can cook these in a few minutes before serving. Leftovers Don’t forget, the broth is a fantastic chicken stock that you can use whenever you need any type of stock. This will elevate those dishes that call for a lot of broth – think gravy, any other type of soup and stews, risotto. You can freeze it in handy portions given enough freezer space.
Comments