Easy Chicken Noodle Soup: the ultimate home remedy

Grandma was right, chicken noodle soup can truly seem like a cure-all for ailments of all kinds. For colds and flu, the warm broth can loosen the sinuses, soothe the throat and reduce inflammation in the body. For food poisoning or stomach bugs, chicken noodle soup is an easy to digest, nutrient-rich food which can help heal the lining of your stomach, replenish lost vitamins and minerals, and rehydrate the body.

But what your food is made of entirely defines what you get out of it. Instead of buying canned soup - often highly processed and full of additives - making your own chicken soup with simple, quality ingredients is well worth the time and energy, helping you or your loved ones get restored to health in no time.

The Base: Chicken Stock

The first step to a quality chicken noodle soup is the broth or stock. To save time, you could use stock cubes or packaged chicken broth, but it can actually be more cost effective to make your own stock at home.

Basic Chicken Stock Recipe:

Put a chicken bones, a whole chicken or chicken pieces in a pot with vegetables like carrots, onions and celery and cover with water.
Add garlic cloves, ginger, black peppercorns, and herbs like rosemary and bay leaves for flavor and more anti-inflammatory properties.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1½ - 4 hours (the longer you cook it, the more flavorful and nutrient-rich your broth will be).
Let cool and then strain to remove vegetables and chicken bones. If you used a whole chicken or chicken pieces, remove the meat from the bones to eat with the soup.

HOT TIP: Make your stock with vegetable scraps like onion skins, celery tops and carrot peels to save money and reduce food waste!

If you don't want to cook a whole chicken yourself, you can use the leftover bones from a previous dinner or even from a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to make a simple chicken stock:

Once you have your stock, you can use it as the base for any kind of chicken soup. Make a classic chicken noodle soup by adding cooked chicken pieces, vegetables like carrots, potatoes or celery, and – most importantly – your favorite pasta or noodles!

This recipe by Brees Knees uses a whole chicken to make the most flavorful and nutrient-dense soup all in one go:

Chicken Noodle Soup from chicken breast

Making a stock from bones is a great way to get tons of nutrients like iron, collagen and vitamins from the marrow. If you don't have chicken bones or can't afford a whole chicken, you can also make a chicken noodle soup from chicken breast which also reduces the simmering time to an hour.

Minda makes this classic chicken noodle soup with egg noodles that are cooked right in the broth to soak up all those wonderful nutrients:

Of course, you can use any other part of the chicken to make your soup such as chicken thighs or chicken wings (though these tend to have less meat on them).

Chicken Soups from around the world

This home remedy is no American secret but well loved in countries around the world, each with their own unique variation. By adding or swapping a few ingredients, you can experience an entirely new dish using the same base.

See how other cultures have imagined this classic comfort food: