Chicken Noodle Soup
Honest to goodness this is THE best chicken noodle I have ever had. The recipe is my Mom’s that she has been making all my life. NOTHING can beat this flavorful and comforting version of the oldest classic in the book. What makes this recipe is that it doesn’t cut corners - the extra steps are completely worth it. Because it uses a whole chicken I used to feel like it’s too hard for me but if you’ve never done it it’s actually very doable.
*Note: I adapted this recipe for the Instant Pot but you can easily make it without one- which is how it has been made for years- in a pot.. Just follow all the steps in the same order but simmer the whole chicken on the stove in a large pot instead of cooking in the Instant Pot. See Recipe Notes.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Total Time: 2 hrs
Servings: 6-8
INGREDIENTS
LIST ONE
1 whole unfrozen chicken (about 3-5 lbs)
2 quarts of water
1 T salt
1 bay leaf
½ tsp allspice
1 finely chopped onion
3 diced celery sticks
1 large diced carrot
LIST TWO
1 finely chopped onion
3 diced celery sticks
3 large diced carrots
Grandma’s Frozen egg noodles (Can be bought in the frozen section of your grocer. I don’t recommend substituting this if you can help it. These noodles really make the soup!)
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp celery seed
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp sage
1 can cream of chicken
INSTRUCTIONS
*To make without an Instant Pot see RECIPE NOTES at the bottom of the instructions.
Place your trivet in the Instant Pot. Unwrap and do not rinse your whole chicken. You do not need to remove the innards at this point. Place your chicken on top of the trivet. *Note: I used a 4 lb chicken which fit easily in my 8 quart Instant Pot.
Add all of the ingredients from LIST ONE above. Notice you will add two rounds of vegetables. The first round is to flavor the broth and the 2nd round is so that you will have large hearty vegetables in your soup. *Note: If you have a food processor I would recommend using that for your vegetables to make chopping a cinch- doing it in two rounds in the order called for in the recipe.
Put on the lid of your Instant Pot, making sure your sealing ring is in place and that the valve is turned to Sealed.
Using the MANUAL setting, or HIGH PRESSURE setting, cook your chicken for 6 minutes per pound. This ends up being 24 minutes for a 4 lb chicken. Once the cooking time is complete, allow pressure to naturally release for at least 20 minutes.
Lift the chicken from the pot using your trivet and place it on a large cutting board or working surface. The chicken will be fall off the bone tender and you will be able to use two forks to simply pull the chicken from the bones. Chop large pieces to the size you want. Once you’ve removed the chicken set it aside in a bowl to be added back later.
Remove the bay leaf from the broth left from the chicken and throw the bay leaf away. Add all ingredients to the broth from LIST TWO except for the Cream of Chicken soup.
Replace the lid to your Instant Pot and using the MANUAL setting cook these ingredients for 3 minutes on high pressure. Once cooking time is complete turn the quick release valve to manually release the pressure.
For the final step add your chicken back in and a can of cream of chicken (I use Healthy Select: It tastes the same but doesn’t have all of the crazy stuff in it).
And there you have your own pot of the most heavenly chicken noodle you will ever eat! I hope this recipe becomes your go to for a cold day!
RECIPE NOTES
*To make over the stove follow the recipe but boil over the stove at step 4 and 7 for about 45 minutes (step 4) and then 15 minutes (step 7).
To this day if I’m inside on a cold, miserable winter day a memory brushes my cheek of coming home from school to find my Mom kneading wheat bread with a pot of this chicken noodle simmering on her stove. I can still hear her voice call out “Hi Sar! How was school?” Then she’d come sit on the stairs and listen to me rattle off the ins and outs of the day. Those will always be some of my warmest and most comforting memories.
Now that I have kids of my own I often think about how I am going to keep my kids close to me as the seasons of our lives change. I think about how my Mom made food such a fun way to celebrate life and a way to gather us together. Starting when we were young with daily family dinner and now that we’re all out of the house she gets us together all the time for Sunday dinner, holidays, and other celebrations. It’s so fun.
I think that’s why I love cooking. It’s just one way (and not the only way) to serve those I love, gather with them, and to make them happy. That’s worth all the dishes in the world! Happy cooking!
