As soon as the sniffles hit, make this Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for a Cold! The hydrating broth and filling turmeric chicken are the perfect things to help you heal.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Perfect Home Remedy for Cold and Flu Season – When you feel under the weather, there is nothing like a steaming bowl of comforting, homemade chicken noodle soup. Save this recipe to have handy for the next time you start feeling like you are coming down with something!
- Helps Hydrate – This easy chicken noodle soup will be so soothing to whatever ailment you are dealing with; plus, it will keep you full and help you stay hydrated. It really is the best dish to help fight a cold or flu.
- Simple Yet Healing Ingredients – I also included ingredients in this homemade chicken noodle soup such as ginger and turmeric to help boost your immune system naturally. Ginger and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties that can aid in combating cold symptoms.
- Freezer Friendly – This soup is a perfect freezer meal. Keep the noodles and soup base separate when freezing. Reheating and then stir in freshly cooked noodles.
Kitchen tools
- Stockpot or Dutch Oven
- Strainer
- Sharp knife for chopping vegetables
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Microplane for zesting
What is the best soup to eat when you have a cold?
The best soup for a cold is something that is packed with electrolytes while being easily digestible. This easy chicken noodle soup has a healthy and immune-boosting broth that is soothing to your stomach.
If you are vegetarian, you can opt for something packed with veggies like a this classic vegetable soup. You can boost the cold fighting power by adding some lemon, turmeric and ginger to the vegetable broth.
Any kind of broth will help soothe a sore throat the same way a warm cup of tea does. I like to sip on bone broth with lemon and extra salt because it is more hydrating than tea.
Ingredients
- Celery, carrots and yellow onion – every good soup starts by sauteeing celery, carrots and onion in oil until they are soft and fragrant. Allowing these to simmer before adding the broth helps layer the flavors of the soup.
- Garlic, fresh ginger and lemon – not only do these three ingredients add lots of flavor to the soup, they are fantastic for colds. They always make me feel much better when I have the sniffles.
- Chicken breasts – I usually use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you can use bone in, skin on breast to add a bit of collagen and extra flavor to the soup broth when simmering.
- Salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder, and ground turmeric – use this seasoning blend to season the chicken before searing it.
- Olive oil – you can use this or butter to sear the chicken breasts and saute the veggies before adding the broth to the soup.
- Chicken broth or chicken bone broth – a flavorful broth is key to a good soup. If your broth is lacking in flavor, add a spoonful of better than bouillon to really jazz it up.
- Noodles – whether you choose to cook the noodles on the side or in the broth, a soft egg noodle is always a comforting addition to soup when you are sick.
Ingredient Substitutions
I love egg noodles in this easy chicken noodle soup recipe but other noodles will work as well. Penne and bowtie are other pasta types that would be good substitutes.
This classic chicken noodle soup recipe can easily be made gluten-free. Just substitute egg noodles with gluten-free pasta.
You can also switch up the chicken based on what you have on hand. Chicken thighs are another good option for this soup. You can also use bone in chicken instead of boneless.
Cut down on total prep time by using a pre made rotisserie chicken. If you do this, add the dried seasoning to the broth to make sure you infuse all of the flavor into the soup.
I personally love the taste of fresh parsley in my chicken soup recipes, but there are many other herbs that add lots of flavor to this soup. Use fresh thyme, rosemary or even dried bay leaves while simmering to infuse more flavor into the broth.
How to make Chicken noodle soup
Step 1: Prepare veggies and season chicken
To start, dice celery, carrots, and onion and grate ginger and garlic, and set everything to the side (Image 1). Then, zest lemon and squeeze the juice out of the zested lemon.
To prepare the chicken, season the chicken breasts on all sides with salt, parsley, garlic powder, pepper, and turmeric (Image 2).
Step 2: Sear chicken and saute veggies
Next, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large heavy bottom pot like a stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Then, sear the chicken breasts in hot oil for about 4 minutes on each side or until they are browned, and then remove (Image 3).
Then, reduce heat to medium-low and pour in the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and ginger. Add more oil if needed and saute veggies for about 5 minutes in oil scraping up any browned bits from the chicken (Image 4).
Step 3: Simmer soup and cook noodles
Next, place the chicken breasts back in the pot along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, chicken broth, and water. Then, bring soup to a boil and cover, and reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes but up to 1 hour (Image 5),
While the soup simmers, cook egg noodles in a separate pot to avoid the noodles soaking up too much soup broth. Drain noodles and set aside.
Step 4: Shred chicken and serve
After simmering the soup, remove the chicken from the pot. Now it is time to shred it with two forks and then return it to the pot (Image 6).
To serve, pour the hot soup into bowls over the egg noodles. Garnish with salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs!
Expert Tip
Keep the soup base and noodles separate when you store them. This will stop the noodles from getting water logged and absorbing too much of the soup.
Warm the soup and then mix in the noodles after it is already heated up. This will leave you with the perfect ratio of noodles and broth.
Storage
Allow your homemade chicken noodle soup to cool completely and then place it in an airtight container. You can store it in the fridge and enjoy it for up to four days.
Can I make this ahead of time?
If you want to make this ahead of time, you can cook it without the noodles and then freeze it for up to a few months.
Then, whenever you feel a cold coming on, you have a batch ready to go!
Check Out These Other Healthy And Comforting Soup Recipes!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for a Cold
Ingredients
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 large carrots
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 inch nub fresh ginger
- 1 lemon
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp of oil
- 1 qt chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- 4 cups of water
- 8 oz egg noodles or noodles of choice
Instructions
- Dice celery, carrots and onion and set to the side. Grate ginger and garlic and set to the side. Zest lemon and then squeeze juice out of zested lemon.
- Season chicken breasts on all sides with the salt, parsley, garlic powder, pepper and turmeric.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large heavy bottom pot like a stock pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Sear chicken breasts in hot oil for about 4 minutes on each side or ntil they are browned. Remove chicken breast from the pot.
- Reduce heat to medium low and pour in the celery, carrots, onion, garlic and ginger. Add more oil if needed. Saute veggies in oil scraping up any browned bits from the chicken. Saute until soft and fragrant about 5 minutes.
- Place chicken breasts back in the pot along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, chicken broth and water. Bring soup to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for at least 30 minutes but up to 1 hour.
- Cook egg noodles in a separate pot to avoid the noodles soaking up too much soup broth. Drain noodles and set aside.
- After simmering soup, remove chicken from the pot, shred with two forks and return to the pot.
- Serve hot soup in bowls over the egg noodles. Garnish with salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs!
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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