Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

There’s nothing more comforting than a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. It’s cozy, nourishing, and easy to stretch across several meals. This chicken soup is simple, customizable, and delicious whether you’re eating it fresh, freezing portions for later, or canning the base for shelf-stable storage!

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken Bone Broth, Chicken Bone Broth Soup, Chicken Soup

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 45

Total Time 55

Servings Servings

Calories 354kcal

Ingredients

If Making Broth

1 whole chicken (3-5lbs)
1.5 gallons filetered water

If Not Making Broth

6 cups cooked chicken
14 cups chicken broth

For Chicken Noodle Soup:

2 medium yellow onions diced
2 cups celery diced
2 cups carrots diced
16 oz dried pasta

If Canning

Instructions

To Make Broth (optional):

Bake the chicken in the oven until the internal temperature reaches at least 165°. Be sure to test multiple areas to make sure the reading is accurate!
Once the chicken is fully cooked, strip as much meat off the bones as you can. Don't worry about keeping the meat "pretty" because you will just cut it up for the soup anyway.
Store the meat in the fridge until the bone broth is finished.
In a large stock pot, combine at least 1.5 gallons of filtered water and all the chicken bones. You don't have to break these up in any way, just add the whole carcass to the water.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium and maintain a low roll for 6-8 hours. As the bone broth boils, scrape off any foam you see develop on the top. This can cause the bone broth to be bitter and taste "dirty".
Strain finished bone broth to remove bones. Pour the bone broth back into the large pot.

To Make Chicken Noodle Soup

Make sure your cooked chicken is shredded or chopped. Dice your carrots, celery, and onions. If you haven’t already made bone broth, you can use pre-made, homemade, or frozen bone broth (just make sure it’s fully thawed before using).
Pour in your bone broth and bring the mixture to a low boil. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15–20 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
Add the shredded chicken and simmer while you cook the noodles.
Cook your noodles in a separate pot or water until they are the desired texture (about 10–12 minutes, depending on type). Drain the pasta and set aside.
Season the soup with salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.
Remove from heat and ladle the soup into bowls, add pasta last and serve hot. Enjoy with fresh homemade baguettes or on its own!

To Can the Chicken Soup Base

Now that you have your bones out of the broth, place the bone broth in the fridge. You'll need to let it cool until the fat rises to the top.
If you can it with all the fat still in the bone broth the fat might creep up the sides and break the seal. And no one wants that!
Once the fat has solidified on the top, scoop it out and either save it for a different dish, or throw it away. Place bone broth back on the stove and return to slow boil.
Chop carrots, celery, and onions. Mix the veggies in a bowl or measuring cup. Chop chicken into small pieces and keep separate from the veggies.
Clean and heat jars in a warm water bath, or in the dishwasher. Fill while warm.
Add 1 cup of veggies and 1 cup of chicken to each jar until all is gone.
Pour the hot broth over the meat and veggies until the jar is full. Leave a 1-inch headspace.
Adjust new 2-piece lids to finger-tightness on each jar and place them in a pressure canner.
Process at 10lbs pressure for 90 minutes.
Once jars have finished processing, and they are ready to remove from the canner, allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.

Notes

If you’d like to pressure can this recipe for shelf-stable storage, it works beautifully with a few tweaks:

Leave out the noodles. These should not be canned at all.
Can the broth, meat, and vegetables as the base, then add noodles when reheating after opening.

Nutrition