I was sitting around at lunch with my colleagues Michael Morain and Patt Johnson and they seemed a little nonplussed by how to make chicken soup. How can that be? I asked. Its the easiest thing in the world, I said. Just do this and this and then this and voila! But how about this and whaddabout that, they inquired. Its sort of a mystery, they said.
It was clear to me then that perfectly normal (or mostly normal, anyway), intelligent, worldly people are mystified, maybe even intimidated, by chicken soup — despite all those “Souls” that have been addressed by an unending book series of increasingly weird “chicken soup” subjects (“Chicken Soup for the Scrapbookers Soul?”).
So my contribution — which probably wont pay as much — is Chicken Soup (For Any Soul At All).
Anyway, Im not sure how I came to be a chicken soup expert. Theres no cute family story to go along with my soup recipe. My mom wasnt a chicken soup virtuoso.
I guess I just decided. Im bossy like that. However, there are a certain number of (unpaid) spokespersons who will verify that my chicken noodle soup is above average.
So back to the bossy thing: I have a few chicken soup rules. After you read these rules, youll get a good laugh out of the irony of my No. 1 piece of chicken noodle soup advice: Dont overthink it.
1. Dont use gross broth or, heaven forfend, boullion cubes. I have tasted my way through lots of broth, organic and otherwise, and I always return to Swansons Natural Goodness low(er)-sodium stuff. Obviously, homemade stock would be even better. But Im guessing if you need lessons and rules about how to make chicken soup, youre not really the stock-making sort. Also, making stock takes some forethought, so it youre short on that, join the club (I invented the club).
2. Dont use the horrible boneless, frozen chicken boobs — or any chicken boobs for that matter, (unless youre starting with a whole chicken). Thighs. Just thighs. Theyll stay moist and chickeny.
3. Dont use dried herbs and dont use only one type of herb. There are always good fresh herbs available at the grocery store; Mariposa Farms (from Grinnell) has a mixed-herb pack thats perfect.
4. Dont use regular, dried pasta. The thick, chewy Reames noodles (made in Clive) from the freezer section add body to the broth and absorb all the flavors. If youre inclined to make your own noodles, I salute you. Also, I keep the noodles in a separate container because the second you dump them in the soup, they start drinking it like theyve been lost in the desert for two weeks and by the next day youll have a fork-ready meal. Which is cool if thats what you want. If not, add the noodles to the bowls right before serving.
5. Dont be a weenie about the wine. Wine is key. To so many, many things in life. Just pour it right from the bottle into the pot until it feels like enough (although its imperative that you save some to drink — duh). And dont you worry about Junior getting all drunked up on dinner; the booze will be long cooked out of the soup before he gets to it. And I assume the rest of the bottle will have been polished off by the cook (if youre following the instructions correctly…).
6. Dont add salt. I didnt leave it out by accident. Even the low-sodium broth is plenty salty, and too much salt dulls the fresh herb flavors.
7. Dont add weird, nontraditional vegetables. Tradition is a good thing. Embrace it with the classic triumvirate of carrots, celery and onion — the Little Black Dress of the food world.
8. Dont, for the love of Pete, put kale in it. If you put kale in it, I will hunt you down and make you ingest soda pop and iceberg lettuce until you come to your senses.
9. Dont skimp. You should always, always make more chicken noodle soup than you think youll need. Make just a little bit more than you think your biggest pot will hold. It is the perfect sharing food. Your coworkers will love you (right, Grant?), your neighbors will marvel at your culinary skills and youll have some warm fuzzies from doing good in the world. Besides, if you follow Rule No. 4 and keep the noodles separate, it freezes well.
10 Feel free to ignore any of the rules (except No. 8; Im as serious as a heart attack about that one) but dont blame me if your batch is a bust.
While I do have some Very Important Rules, knock yourself out with the ingredient amounts. Got a whole chicken in the freezer? Use it instead of thighs. Not enough liquid? Add more. You like big chunks of the vegetables? Cut em your way. Too much or not enough, go ahead and do your thing. One caveat: Be careful with the herbs — too much can be too much, especially of any one herb (as my colleague Michael Morain learned after using an entire package of thyme in his).
INGREDIENTS 8 cups Swansons Natural Goodness reduced-sodium chicken broth 2 cups dry white wine 2 cups water Mixed herb sprigs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), tied together with kitchen string Handful of fresh chopped basil leaves 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed 1 16-ounce package Reames egg noodles (the fat, doughy kind in the frozen food aisle) 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped or smushed through a press 1 large yellow onion, chopped 3-4 stalks of celery, including leaves, chopped 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Freshly ground pepper
1. Combine the broth, wine, water, herb bouquet and chopped basil in a large soup pot. Add the chicken and cook on medium heat till chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Do not boil and do not overcook the chicken. If it is slightly underdone when you pull it out, its fine — the chicken can continue to cook when its added back to the soup later.
2. Remove the thighs from the broth, cool and pull the meat off the bones, discarding any of icky fat globules or veiny stuff; set aside. If all the herb leaves have fallen off their stems, remove the herb bouquet. If not, leave in to cook longer with the vegetables.
3. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package directions, drain and rinse very well with cold water, stirring while rinsing to get a lot of the starchy stuff off. Set aside.
4. Add the garlic, onion, celery and carrots to the broth and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Add the chicken and stir in chopped parsley. To serve, put a handful of noodles in each bowl and ladle soup over; top with a grind of black pepper.
It’s impossible to over cook chicken by using it in a soup. The chicken will eventually break down into thin threads of meat which will be great in a chicken noodle or chicken and sweetcorn soup.
4. Dont use regular, dried pasta. The thick, chewy Reames noodles (made in Clive) from the freezer section add body to the broth and absorb all the flavors. If youre inclined to make your own noodles, I salute you. Also, I keep the noodles in a separate container because the second you dump them in the soup, they start drinking it like theyve been lost in the desert for two weeks and by the next day youll have a fork-ready meal. Which is cool if thats what you want. If not, add the noodles to the bowls right before serving.
INGREDIENTS 8 cups Swansons Natural Goodness reduced-sodium chicken broth 2 cups dry white wine 2 cups water Mixed herb sprigs (thyme, oregano, rosemary), tied together with kitchen string Handful of fresh chopped basil leaves 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed 1 16-ounce package Reames egg noodles (the fat, doughy kind in the frozen food aisle) 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped or smushed through a press 1 large yellow onion, chopped 3-4 stalks of celery, including leaves, chopped 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley Freshly ground pepper
10 Feel free to ignore any of the rules (except No. 8; Im as serious as a heart attack about that one) but dont blame me if your batch is a bust.
1. Combine the broth, wine, water, herb bouquet and chopped basil in a large soup pot. Add the chicken and cook on medium heat till chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Do not boil and do not overcook the chicken. If it is slightly underdone when you pull it out, its fine — the chicken can continue to cook when its added back to the soup later.
6. Dont add salt. I didnt leave it out by accident. Even the low-sodium broth is plenty salty, and too much salt dulls the fresh herb flavors.
But the solution when simmering a whole chicken for soup is to carve up the chicken before it’s completely cooked through. In Molly Bazs Classic Chicken Noodle Soup recipe, she grabs the whole chicken out of the pot once the breasts register 155° F on an instant-read thermometer. (Technically, chicken is finished cooking at 165° F but the breast meat, once shredded, is going to get returned to the pot for an additional few minutes at the end.) The whole chicken gets broken down, the breasts are set safely to the side (phew!), and the legs get returned to the pot along with the cartilage-rich wings that provide the soup with body. When the legs are finished, all of the meat gets shredded and added back to the stock.
There are a lot of desirable textures when it comes to food—chewy, crispy, tender, bouncy—but, unless you’re talking about jerky, its rare that the end goal is “tough” and/or “dry.” Unfortunately, chicken breasts are often both of these things, even when shredded in a bowl of beloved Chicken Noodle Soup. You know the scene: Youre making your merry way through a bowl of soup when you come across a piece of meat that takes forever to chew (its immediately followed by mushy carrot that requires zero teeth at all—thats the #2 chicken soup mistake).
Why is the meat in chicken noodle soup often the opposite of tender and juicy? Well, the problem with cooking any whole chicken is that the breasts and the legs are inherently incompatible (who invented this thing?!). By the time the legs, which consist of strong muscle fibers that take a long time to break down, are fall-apart tender, the delicate chicken breasts have gone too far, toughening up and drying out.
Sure, this takes a little handiwork with your tongs and carving knife, but it ensures that neither the breast nor the legs are compromised. Your chicken soup will thank you.
Chicken thighs 101: How to sear, stew, roast and de-bone
FAQ
Can you overcook chicken when making soup?
Can you boil chicken too long in soup?
Can you overcook chicken thighs in stew?
What happens if you overcook chicken thighs?
Can you use chicken thighs in soup?
Follow this tip: If you’re not using a whole chicken, use chicken thighs (preferably bone-in), or a combination of thigh and breast meat. Chicken thighs have tender, juicy meat that’s full of flavor and adds more richness to the soup than breast meat alone. 2. Adding all the vegetables at the same time.
Can oat milk be used to thicken soup?
Oat milk is a plant-based drink, and it’s a great one. Because it is rich in insoluble fibers that help stimulate natural bowel movements. Considering being used in preparations such as soup, vitamins, creams.
Can You overcook chicken in a soup?
Yet, what can easily ruin your chicken soup is the texture of the chicken itself. It is completely possible to overcook chicken in a soup. It can be done even when there is a lot of water in the pot. When you overcook chicken in a soup, it will have a tough texture and taste extremely dry. The chicken also ends up taking a shade of yellow.
Do I need to pre cook chicken thighs before making soup?
It is not necessary to pre-cook the chicken thighs before adding them to the soup. They will cook fully in the broth as the soup simmers, which helps infuse the flavors of the chicken into the soup. Should I remove the excess fat from the chicken thighs before using them in the soup?