Chicken Noodle Feel Better Soup
This Chicken Noodle Soup is the perfect brothy soup when you’re feeling under the weather. It’s packed full of good ingredients and it’s hot and soothing!
I love any version of Chicken Noodle Soup, but sometimes when I’m feeling “under the weather” I don’t want a cream-based soup. I want something thin and brothy. Something that I can sip on if I have a sore throat. Something that has tiny pieces of vegetables and tiny noodles that go down easy. I came up with this recipe one day after I had just recuperated from a bad bug. I decided I wasn’t going to be caught off guard the next time I got sick. I was going to have a supply of comforting soup on hand in my freezer, ready to thaw, heat, and serve!
Let’s talk about the ingredients I used in this soup…
I knew I wanted to add ingredients to this soup that would help relieve some of the symptoms of a cold or sore throat and ones that would help boost the immune system. I also diced the vegetables into small pieces, taking into consideration that most sick people don’t feel like chewing food. These vegetables are small and cooked until tender, thus easy for swallowing.
Here are some of the ingredients I used in this soup!
- Turmeric is packed full of antioxidants and fights inflammation. It helps to detoxify the body and boost the immune system.
- Carrots are loaded with beta carotene, which helps keep the immune system strong.
- Celery has many anti-inflammatory compounds that help ease the aches and pains of a cold or flu.
- Garlic contains allicin, that produces potent antioxidants when it decomposes.
- Thyme supports respiratory health and soothes coughs and sore throats. It’s an excellent source of calcium, fiber, iron, manganese, and vitamins A, B6 and C.
- Onions are high in minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients including vitamin C, B vitamins and potassium.
- Chicken helps to boost immune cells in the body, while the steam from the soup clears the nasal passages. Chicken contains lots of protein, B vitamins, and minerals such as Zinc or Magnesium. Note: I used chicken thighs with skins in this soup. The thighs have more flavor than any other part of the chicken. This includes the skin. The skin also contains protein and iron. I removed the skins once the chicken had finished cooking.
Feel free to reduce the amount of noodles in this soup, if you prefer more broth and fewer noodles.
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Chicken Noodle Feel Better Soup
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: soup
- Method: cook
- Cuisine: american
Description
This brothy Chicken Noodle Soup is loaded with good ingredients and fine egg noodles. It’s perfect for someone who’s sick and wants a hot comforting soup with easy-to-swallow ingredients.
Ingredients
- 10 to 11 chicken thighs, with skins
- 4 chicken bouillon cubes
- salt & pepper
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 1/4 cups carrots, thinly sliced (I like to use baby carrots)
- 1 1/4 cups celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 9 ounces fine egg noodles, (about 3/4 of a 12 ounce bag)
Instructions
- Add the chicken thighs to a large pot. Add plenty of water, the bouillon cubes, and some salt & pepper. I start with 2 teaspoons of salt and a generous shake of pepper. Don’t add more salt until the chicken has cooked and you taste the broth. Bouillon cubes contain alot of salt. Bring chicken to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium heat, cover with a lid and simmer for at about 1 hour and 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and falls off the bone when you use prongs to pick up a piece of the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a bowl to cool. I place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once the chicken has cooled, remove the skins, debone the chicken, and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Return the chicken to the pot.
- Meantime, while the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery. Saute’ until the onions are translucent and the carrots are fork tender. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to the soup pot along with the turmeric and thyme.
- Add additional broth to the pot if needed. Taste the broth and add additional salt & pepper to taste. Add the noodles to the pot and cook until the pasta is tender.
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days.
Notes
- This soup freezes beautifully.
- I recommend cutting the vegetables and chicken into very small pieces in this soup if you’re making it for someone who is sick.
- I use 3/4 of a bag of noodles when fixing this soup for someone sick. Sometimes I even use less. The more broth the better.
Keywords: soup, chicken noodle soup, get well soup, feel better soup,
After sautéing the veggies and adding them to the soup, I transferred it all to the soup. Was I supposed to not just pour it in, butter and all? I ask, because I’ve never tasted a Chicken Noodle Soup that tasted so buttery. I’m sure to most it’s delicious. I just didn’t like it. I’m guessing I should have strained the veggies and put them in.
Hi Laura,
No, you don’t strain the vegetables. If you prefer, you can use some vegetable or canola oil instead of butter, or you can use 1/4 cups of butter versus 1/2 cup.
Cindy
I suggest cooking the noodles before putting in the soup.especially if sick when one needs hydration. Noodles absorb a lot of the delicious broth.. Thank you for the suggestion of turmeric and thyme.
To make this a quicker soup could I use a rotisserie chicken and cut it up ? If I do that how much chicken broth do I need for the soup?
Hi Connie, I don’t measure the water or broth. I simply fill a large pot about 2/3rds full of water or broth…plenty enough to cover the chicken good. It will cook down some. If the broth cooks down too much, add some additional broth later on.