Chicken Soup From Scratch
Updated September 16, 2025
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
Advertisement
Ingredients
FOR THE BROTH
1 chicken, 3 to 3 ½ pounds, with skin, cut up
3 stalks celery, with leaves, cut into chunks
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 yellow onions, peeled and halved
1 parsnip or parsley root (optional)
About 1 dozen large sprigs parsley
About 1 dozen black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
TO FINISH THE SOUP
3 tablespoons reserved chicken fat, more if needed
3 leeks, trimmed, halved lengthwise, rinsed and sliced crosswise into thin half-moons
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
Kosher salt and ground black or white pepper
Egg noodles (fresh or dried), such as packaged wide noodles, spaetzle, fettuccine or pappardelle cut into short lengths (see note)
Finely chopped herbs, such as parsley, scallions, dill or a combination
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)
1 gram carbs; 4 milligrams cholesterol; 16 calories; 1 gram fat; 31 milligrams sodium; 1 gram protein
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
- Step 1
Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
- Step 2
Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is “smiling”: barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
- Step 3
When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
- Step 4
Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
- Step 5
When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
- Step 6
Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
- Step 7
Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
- Step 8
Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
- Step 9
Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.
Instead of noodles, almost any starchy garnish can be used here: matzo balls; partly cooked dry pasta, rice or other grains; or cooked white beans. Add them when you would add the noodles and simmer until heated through.
Private Notes
Comments
If you want meat that has been poached but not cooked to death, remove the chicken from the broth after 30 minutes. When it is cool enough to handle, take the white meat off the bones, and throw the bones, skin and remaining meat back into the broth to finish simmering. Add the saved white meat, chopped, at step 8.
I'm surprised this calls for peeled onions to make the broth. Do not peel or stem the yellow onions! Cut them in half and throw the whole thing into the pot, paper skins and all. You will not believe the beautiful, deep gold color this will impart to your broth.
This, in my ooinion, is a very complex recipe! My mom, just recently passed at 97, taught me this:
Saute chopped veggies (onions, carrots & celery) in 2tbsp olive oil or butter) for 5 minutes
Add 6 cups water.
Put leftover chicken & bones in a strainer and submerge in pot. Simmer 1/2 hr.
Remove chicken from pot.
Add 2 cups noodles. Simmer 8 minutes.
Removr chrcken from bones and add back to pot.
Add salt (about 2 tsp) and pepper to taste.
Yum!
I like this, it's fast and delicious!
This is the easiest chicken soup recipe, and so so delicious and authentic my Jewish grandma style. - I often use all chicken thighs, and agree with others that including all the meat (not just breast) is a sane approach if you won’t be using it for another dish. In that case, I’ll increase the water a bit. - Stewing the broth down after removing chicken is key to depth of flavor. - If you are using leeks, use the greens in place of one of the onions in the broth and save the waste. - Onions work great if you can’t afford leeks. - I never refrigerate, but simply skim fat off the top for sautéing veggies and move on with the recipe. - I LOVE adding apple cider vinegar, a dash of olive oil, sprinkle of sea salt and fresh black pepper to the carrots and celery from the broth. It’s worth saving them to munch while waiting for the soup to finish. - My family prefers barley to noodles, so I add that when sweating/stewing the alliums (sometimes I’ll pre-cook for 10-15 minutes to give it a head start. Short grain brown rice is also delish. - We also like thyme, so I add that with the carrots. - Dill is key, but a mix of dill and parsley, and even tarragon, is delish. I am convalescing on the couch waiting for this to cook - a dish that can be made even when you’re sick and there isn’t someone else cooking!
I made this today and brought a batch to my friend who is convalescing and she absolutely loved it. Then I came home and brought some over to my next door neighbor. She said it is the best chicken soup she’s ever had! I have to agree, it really is very delicious.
I have made this a few times and use chicken carcasses I have frozen and meat and carcass from a rotisserie chicken. I don’t know why the recipe tells you to eschew the dark meat. Ridiculous, both white and dark are delicious. As far as not having enough fat from the broth made, today’s chickens are mush leaner, unless you are using an older stewing chicken. Very good recipe. I see no reason to add bouillon to fortify the flavor.