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A large bowl of homemade chicken soup with a ladle resting inside, accompanied by lemon wedges and fresh herbs on a light wood countertop, prepared for chicken soup recipe.

Best Homemade Chicken Soup From Scratch

Rich collagen broth, tender shredded chicken, fresh vegetables, and perfectly cooked separate noodles cold water start, gentle simmer, foam skimming, and soy sauce depth booster make this genuinely the best homemade chicken soup from scratch for winter.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Broth & Soup Stage 1 hour 50 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Comfort Food, Dinner, Main Course, Soup, Winter
Cuisine: American
Calories: 312
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Broth Stage
  • 1 whole Chicken 3.5 to 4 lbs bone-in essential
  • 10 to 12 cups Cold Water cold start not hot
  • 1 large Yellow Onion halved char cut side for depth
  • 3 Carrots roughly chopped
  • 3 stalks Celery roughly chopped
  • 1 head Garlic halved crosswise
  • 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 4 sprigs Fresh Thyme or 1.5 tsp dried
  • 1 Parsley Stems handful
  • 1 tbsp Soy Sauce depth booster undetectable as soy
  • 1 small piece Parmesan Rind optional umami depth
Soup Stage
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 medium Yellow Onion diced
  • 3 medium Carrots cut into ½-inch rounds
  • 3 stalks Celery sliced ½-inch thick
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 tsp Fresh Thyme
  • 1.5 tsp Salt adjust to taste
  • ½ tsp Black Pepper
  • 3 cups Shredded Chicken from cooked whole chicken
  • 3 tbsp Fresh Parsley chopped add off heat only
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice finishing touch do not skip
Noodles (Cook Separately)
  • 8 Oz Wide Egg Noodles cooked separately in salted water

Equipment

  • 1 Large Stock Pot (8 quart) for broth stage
  • 1 Fine Mesh Strainer essential for clear broth
  • 1 Separate Medium Pot for cooking noodles
  • 1 Large Spoon or Ladle for skimming foam
  • 1 Cutting Board and Two Forks for shredding chicken

Method
 

Build the Broth
  1. Cold Water Start Place whole chicken in large pot. Cover with cold water 10 to 12 cups. Add charred onion, carrots, celery, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, parsley stems, soy sauce, and parmesan rind if using. Do not add salt yet.
    A whole chicken in a large pot filled with cold water, charred onions, carrots, celery, herbs, and aromatics, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  2. Skim the Foam Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. As water heats, grey foam rises. Skim every 2 to 3 minutes for the first 15 to 20 minutes until foam stops rising. This is not optional skimming produces a dramatically cleaner broth.
    A hand using a fine-mesh strainer to skim grey foam from a simmering pot of soup, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  3. Gentle Simmer Reduce heat to low. Maintain a lazy simmer small bubbles occasionally breaking the surface, never a rolling boil. Partially cover lid slightly ajar. Simmer 1.5 to 2 hours until chicken falls off the bone easily.
    A pot of soup simmering gently on low heat with the lid slightly ajar, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  4. Remove Chicken and Strain Remove chicken to cutting board. Pour broth through fine mesh strainer discard spent vegetables. Skim fat from surface. Taste broth deeply savory with good body.
    Pouring broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl to filter out spent vegetables, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  5. Shred Chicken Let chicken cool 15 minutes. Remove all meat from bones. Discard skin, bones, cartilage. Shred into bite-sized pieces about 3 cups.
    Using two forks to shred cooked chicken meat on a dark wooden cutting board, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
Build the Soup
  1. Sauté Fresh Vegetables In same cleaned pot over medium heat, cook diced onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil for 5 to 6 minutes until softened. Add garlic and thyme for 45 seconds.
    Diced onions, carrots, and celery sautéing in olive oil inside a large pot, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  2. Combine and Simmer Add strained broth back to pot with shredded chicken. Bring to gentle simmer. Cook 10 to 15 minutes until vegetables are tender with slight bite. Season with salt and pepper taste carefully before adding more.
    Strained broth and shredded chicken simmering with sautéed vegetables in a saucepan, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
Noodles and Finish
  1. Cook Noodles Separately Boil heavily salted water in separate pot. Cook egg noodles until just al dente. Drain. Toss with small drizzle of olive oil to prevent sticking. Never cook noodles in the soup they absorb broth, turn mushy, and make leftovers dense.
    Egg noodles boiling in a separate pot of salted water, prepared for chicken soup recipe.
  2. Finish and Serve Remove soup from heat. Add fresh lemon juice and fresh parsley off heat both go in last to preserve brightness and color. Ladle soup into bowls. Add noodle portion to each bowl. Serve immediately.
    A steaming white bowl filled with finished chicken soup, tender egg noodles, carrots, celery, and fresh herbs, prepared for chicken soup recipe.

Notes

Bland soup?
Three causes: boiling instead of simmering, not skimming foam, under-salting. Add soy sauce to broth stage, lemon at the end. Taste and season carefully in soup stage.
Leftover carcass method?
Break carcass into pieces. Cover with cold water. Same aromatics. Simmer 2 to 3 hours. Produces deepest broth almost free.
Noodles soggy?
Always cook separately. Never in the soup. Store noodles and broth separately. Assemble at serving time only.
Freeze?
Freeze broth and chicken without noodles for up to 3 months. Cook fresh noodles when reheating. Never freeze assembled soup with noodles.
Rotisserie shortcut?
Use 1 rotisserie chicken shred meat, simmer carcass with aromatics for 45 minutes. Skip Stage 1 foam skimming. Add store-bought broth for body. Good result in 30 minutes less time. Less collagen than from-scratch.