I received an email from a reader asking me to share my chicken noodle soup. It might be in the middle of summer here in Sydney but the weather is swinging from heat waves to winter-like from day to day, so it was certainly no hardship to move from the barbecued Miso Marinated Side of Salmon I shared last Friday to this soup! OK, maybe “winter-like” is a slight exaggeration. But when it’s 40C/104F one day then 24C/75F the next, it sure feels like it! 😉 I actually have 3 chicken vegetable noodle soups in my repertoire. My “ultimate” version is made using a whole chicken to make a full blown homemade chicken stock base for the soup. SO good. Takes 2 hours. 🙂 (Update: here it is, including a recipe video!) My quickie version is the one I make the least which is made using pre-cooked shredded chicken and big flavour boosts for the soup broth. Then there’s this one which I make using bone in chicken pieces, simmered until the meat is tender enough to shred to make a killer broth. Flavour wise, it is a small compromise from my “ultimate” version given it takes less than half the time. I have a few secret tips up my sleeve for this!
So here are the things I do that I think makes this easy Chicken Noodle Soup extra tasty even though it’s a relatively speedy midweek version:
- Brown bone in-skin on chicken thigh fillets to create extra flavour base for the soup stock. You will be amazed what a difference this makes compared to just plonking pre-cooked chicken into chicken broth/stock. I discard the skin and excess fat BUT the most important thing is the extra flavour this adds when you mix the golden brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot into the soup. Also, cooking the chicken in the broth adds loads of extra flavour too!
- Sauté dried herbs with the onion. This is an awesome tip for extra flavour! While it sautés, you can smell the fragrance that it releases that is so much better than throwing in herbs into the broth! Feel free to load it up with more veggies if you want! I’ve kept it quite traditional with celery and carrots, but sometimes I throw in other diced veggies too! – Nagi x
Soup Dippers
Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread • Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread • Soft No Knead Dinner Rolls
