Well, the weather outside is still nast – WTF?! With a few nice February teaser days, I know I’m really hoping March can deliver. On the flipped, that does not mean everyone’s colds and sickness stop there! Nothing like wearing shorts and flips to an outdoor patio when it’s 55° out to get you sick! Weather changing from cold to warm and back to cold will wear even the best immune systems down.
This brings me out my family’s oldest secret weapon for fighting cold and illnesses. I call it Liquid Gold (no – it’s not Velveeta) – most just know it as Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Wah? You say…obvi Chicken Noodle Soup is good for you, how can yours be even more magical? IDK…it just is – I SWEAR!! This recipe has been passed down for like ever. It contains TONS of really hearty root veggies to get you back up and running in no time. I feel like that might be way it works so well. I’m telling, there are a few weirdo veggies in there, but don’t be scared! They work!!
The recipe does take a few hours to make, so try to plan ahead. It also yields a HUGE quantity. There will be a significant amount of leftovers. We typically eat it for several days afterwards and end up freezing to containers worth. You can halve the vegetable quantity and use a smaller stockpot for less broth if you don’t want to feed an army with the recipe. I’ve babbled too long – lets get started!
Liquid Gold – Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup:
You will need a LARGE stockpot – mine is a 16 quart pot. I think the smallest you can get away with is a 12 quart, maybe 10 if you have a small chicken and half the amount of vegetables. When I make the soup, I’m in it to win it so I buy a roaster chicken instead of a fryer. This guy was about 5.10 lbs – roasters are 5 lbs and over typically. Fryer chickens are usually 3 – 4 lbs. You can get a fryer if you are making a small batch, but you DO NOT want to skimp on the chicken. Then you will need 4 potatoes, 4 bulk carrots, at min 4 stalks of celery (you can do more), 2 parsnips, 1 whole white onion, 1 rutabaga, 1 bunch of fresh parsley, chicken buillion, wide egg noodles, kosher salt and pepper!
Chop the ends off the onion and peel it, but leave the onion whole and intact. Don’t chop up the onion. This is important!
Wash the chicken and make sure you remove anything that might be inside. Then place the whole chicken and onion in the pot, fill the pot about 2/3 to 3/4 full of water. Just make sure the entire chicken is completely covered with water with an inch or a couple of inches on top. I always error on the side of more water than less water. Toss in some kosher salt, and then bring the chicken and onion to a boil. My mom’s recipe says boil it for 30 mins; however, lately, I’ve been boiling it longer, about an hour before I add in my veggies. I find the broth gets naturally thicker, with more flavor. While the chicken is boiling, chop up your vegetables.
Wash potatoes, leave them unsealed and cut them into cubes.
Peel the carrots, rutabaga and parsnips – then dice them up into the sizes pictured above. See, I told you that there were weirdo veggies in there – rutabaga and parsnips! Trust me, they are worth it!
Dice up your celery and add to wherever you are placing your vegetables while the chicken boils. I just toss everything in a boil to set aside.
Lastly, chop up the parsley very fine and set aside in a different boil.
While you are chopping the vegetables, occasionally check on the chicken and skim the fat collecting on top. You will do this a couple times. Set your chopped vegetables aside with your other ingredients while you wait for the chicken to boil. If you are in a rush you can add the vegetables in after 30 mins of boiling, but like I said above, boiling the chicken solo, for longer, is better.
When the chicken has boiled 30 to 60 mins, dump all the veggies in, add four tablespoons of bullion (I use LB Jameson’s bullion because it’s what my mom uses – you can use any kinda your prefer), and lots of of pepper! Feel free to stir it all around. After doing this, cover the pot with the lid slightly tilted to let the steam out, reduce the to low to medium – let everything cook for another 60 mins.
After 60 mins, remove the chicken and the onion to a cutting board. Cut a few slits in the chicken and let cool for about 15 mins. You can chop up the onion and toss it back in. It’s kinda hard to chop up the onion, but do your best. Toss in your parsley at this point, too. I forgot to add it in before I began dismantling my chicken so you won’t see it in the pic below, but definitely put it in when you put the onion back in.
If the chicken has cooled, begin cutting it up and putting the meat back into the soup. At a certain point, I stop using a knife and just rip it apart with my hands. You can discard the skin if you want at this point. My husband likes it so I put it back in. Try not to toss any bones back in, but it’s almost inevitable you will get ONE bone back in. It happens to me almost every time. Stir everything around. I bring the heat up to right below medium around this time again just to warm everything up.
At this point, cook your egg noodles to the directions on the bag. Once the noodles are done. You are ready to serve!
Dish out the soup over the noodles. Pick a big bowl because you are going to want as much as possible. Hopefully, this warms you from the inside out and cures all for you!
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup:
Servings: A lot…it’s not scientific but I’d say around 12
Equipment:
- Large stockpot (mine is 16 quarts – I think you can go down to about 12 quarts)
- Cutting board
- Knife
- 2 bowls to set aside vegetables and parsley
- Tablespoon measuring spoon
- Skimmer
- Ladle
Ingredients:
- Whole roaster or fryer chicken – mine was 5.1 lbs for reference
- 4 yukon gold potatoes
- 4 bulk carrots
- At min 4 stalks of celery
- 2 parsnips
- 1 rutabaga
- 1 whole onion
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 4 tablespoons of bullion
- Package of egg noodles
- Kosher salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Chop off ends of onion and peel – do not cut up the onion any further
- Wash and remove anything inside the chicken
- Place chicken & onion in stockpot and fill pot with 2/3 to 3/4 full of water – see comments above about water level
- Bring the chicken and onion to a boil on high boil for 30 mins to 60 mins – also see comments above regarding the time
- While the chicken and onion are boiling – chop up your vegetables
- Leave skin on the potatoes – cut into cubes
- Peel carrots, parsnips and rutabaga – cut into bite size cubes
- Dice up celery
- Set these aside in a bowl
- Chop up the parsley really well – set aside in a different bowl
- Occasionally skim the fat collecting on top in the pot
- Once the chicken has boiled for 30 – 60 mins, toss in the vegetables, 4 generous table spoons of bullion and some shakes of pepper to taste and stir!
- Cover the pot, with a slight tilt of the lid to let the steam out. Let all the vegetables and chicken cook for 60 mins on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally
- After 60 mins, remove the chicken and onion. Cut up the onion, put it back in the pot along with the parsley. Cut a few slits into the chicken and let cool for 15 mins on the cutting board
- When the chicken has cooled, begin cutting up the chicken into edible (my mom’s word) pieces. Eventually, you will give up on the knife and just rip the chicken apart. Get all the meat off and back in the pot. I turn up slightly below medium to heat everything up again.
- Begin cooking the egg noodles to the package directions
- Once the noodles are done, grab some noodles, dish out tons of soup goodness and serve immediately!
This is an old old family recipe, and I promise, this will be magic for you! Anytime you have a cold, are feeling under the weather or just need some inner warmth – this recipe will have your back!!
Peace out,
Wet Hair, Don’t Care
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