I love rainy days… I think it’s because we don’t get many here in Southern California. It’s a nice change and an excuse to cuddle up, watch movies and make my favorite homemade chicken noodle soup.
I have made this soup so many times over the years, and think I’ve finally perfected the recipe thanks to a couple game-changing hacks! I won’t make you scroll all the way to the bottom of the post if you’ve found this recipe via Pinterest, so here they are:
Game-Changing Hacks:
- This is the big one and most important: Simmer the entire rotisserie chicken (bones, skin and all) and juices in the broth and veggies for a few hours. You could probably get away with simmering for 1 hour, but the longer the better. I wouldn’t go past 4-5 hours, though. It’s kind of a chore to remove the chicken and debone it and remove the skin before putting the shredded chicken back in the pot, but the flavor you will get from doing this is soooo worth it! The broth is SO flavorful and robust, sort of like a bone broth, and brings out the delicious flavor of the herbs
- Another VERY important hack: Cook your noodles separately and keep them separate. No one likes soggy noodles, and this prevents that! This also prevents the noodles from soaking up all of the broth when you store leftovers in the fridge. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package, then drizzle with olive oil to prevent them from sticking together. Add them to the soup right before you serve. You can customize the amount of noodles you add this way, too.
- Use all organic ingredients and fresh herbs when you can. I swear it makes a huge difference and makes the soup much more flavorful and fresh tasting
- Use a veggie chopper to save time and make sure the veggies are all a uniform size. I use and love this one.
Ingredients
1 whole rotisserie chicken
2 tsp. butter
2 tsp. olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 white or yellow onion, diced
5-6 carrots, chopped
4-5 celery stalks, chopped
8 C. chicken broth, I prefer low sodium
1 package spaghetti, break noodles into thirds
about 1 tsp each of the following:
Thyme, oregano, sage and tarragon
Bay leaves (I use ~3)
Instructions
- Heat butter and olive oil in large pot over medium heat until butter is melted
- Add minced garlic and stir for about 1 minute until fragrant
- Add onion and cook about 1 minute then add carrots and celery. Cook until carrots and celery are slightly soft.
- Add chicken broth and herbs and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer
- Add entire rotisserie chicken to broth. Be sure to add the juices from the chicken tray for extra flavor!
- Simmer on low for a minimum of 1 hour, the longer the better!
- While soup simmers, cook the noodles according to the directions on the package
- Drain and drizzle with olive oil to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Store in a separate container. This will prevent noodles from getting soggy or soaking up broth of the soup
- Remove chicken from the soup and place on a tray to cool.
- Use a slotted spoon to make sure there aren’t any bones in the soup
- Remove bones, skin, etc from chicken and shred. Add shredded chicken back to soup
- To serve, add desired amount of noodles to bowl then cover with soup and stir
