Ina Garten’s Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe Is an Easy Comfort Food Classic
Ina Garten’s chicken noodle soup is an easy comfort food classic you’ll want to have in your repertoire. The Barefoot Contessa star has a simple hack for the best flavor in her delicious soup recipe.
Ina Garten makes a flavorful homemade chicken stock
Garten demonstrated how to make her chicken noodle soup recipe on an episode of Barefoot Contessa. “Can’t make good chicken noodle soup without good homemade chicken stock,” she said as she heated stock she had on hand in her freezer.
Garten often admits that store-bought stock is fine, but prefers homemade for her soup recipes.
To make the stock, Garten puts three 5-pound roasting chickens in a 16- to 20-quart stockpot with onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, salt, whole peppercorns, and water. After the stock comes to a boil, she simmers it uncovered for 4 hours, then strains it in a colander. Garten chills it overnight, removes any surface fat the next day, and stores it in containers in the freezer.
Ina Garten has an easy chicken noodle soup recipe
Garten shared a foolproof tip for the best tasting chicken for her soup recipe. She roasts the chicken for the chicken noodle soup so it has a lot of flavor and moisture.
After placing bone-in skin-on chicken breasts on a baking sheet, she rubbed the skin with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Garten roasted the chicken in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 35 to 40 minutes, allowed it to cool slightly, then discarded the skin, removed the meat, and diced it into pieces.
“That’s it,” she said. “It’s amazing how the olive oil and the skin and the seasoning really gets into the chicken — so much more flavorful than boiling it, which I think takes all the flavor out of the chicken. It’s so moist this way.”
The Barefoot Contessa star added the chicken stock to a large pot with celery, carrots, and egg noodles, and simmered it uncovered for 10 minutes. She added the chicken and parsley and heated the soup. “Actually it’s nice because the starch in the noodles is going to get into the soup — gives it a little body, which is great,” she explained.
Garten tasted the soup at the end to see if additional seasoning was necessary. “Depending on how salty or peppery the stock is, I’m going to add some more seasoning,” she explained. “But first I have to taste it.”
She noted how one small ingredient can make a huge impact. “The strange thing about chicken soup is, it can taste like dirty dishwater or it can taste like really delicious chicken soup,” Garten noted. “And salt is the only ingredient that’s different.”
The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.
The ‘Barefoot Contessa’ star’s soup recipe earns glowing reviews
Garten’s chicken noodle soup recipe is well-loved, based on the Food Network site’s reviews.
“I’m amazed how such a simple recipe can taste sooo goood! Ina you never disappoint,” one fan commented.
Another person shared, “This is fabulous. Roasting the chicken is a great step. Normally I buy boneless chicken breasts and throw them in and they always end up being a little chewy and tough.”
One person shared, “Going to the ‘trouble’ of making the stock and baking the chicken is SO worth the effort. I also cooked my noodles separately.”
For anyone looking for a shortcut, one reviewer shared this tip: “I made life easy and used Kettle & Fire chicken broth. Roasted one chicken breast bone in as suggested. Salted liberally at the end to taste. Finished with Italian parsley and dill and it was bomb.”
