Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you enjoyed an incredible holiday season – for us it was such a good way to end a year full of change and excitement. In 2021 we moved homes, my husband graduated dental school and started his career in a dental office, I quit my career job and started this endeavor called The Well Sourced Life, our kids not only learned to walk but also talk in this year – and boy, do they have a lot to say! We also discovered that we could look forward to welcoming baby #3 into our family in 2022! Despite many heavy and difficult things in the world right now, there have been so many mercies!
While we did have a wonderful holiday break, we did get sick (not to worry – we didn’t catch Rona) toward the end and over a period of 4-5 days it bounced around to all of my family members, somehow escaping me. But I’m thankful since someone needed to be able to take care of all of these sickies.
For us, and many other people there is one most common dish that we make when we’re sick – CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP. Everyone loves it, and it’s such a healthy comfort food! It’s also a great way to clean out your refrigerator with any leftover veggies that you need to use up before they spoil. You can add just about any variety of veggies to this soup and it adds brilliant flavor & nutrients to the broth!
CHICKEN THIGHS vs. CHICKEN BREAST?
In this recipe, I used skin-on chicken thighs and no oil. This is because chicken thighs already have a higher fat content. As the thighs cook, I rotate them every few minutes and the natural fat helps prevent any sticking to the pan. If you don’t have chicken thighs or just prefer to cook with leaner meats like the chicken breast, you can absolutely make that work! You just need to add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil when you’re searing the chicken breasts.
I will say that bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs do tend to add more flavor to the broth than chicken breast so if you are making this substitution you may also want to add a teeny bit more chicken bouillon to boost flavor. After the chicken is fully cooked, shredded and the broth is made you can just give it a little taste to see if it’s to your liking.
WHAT VEGGIES SHOULD I ADD?
Really, this is completely up to you! When I’m making this soup, I pretty much always add chopped carrots, onion, garlic, and some kind of leafy green. But I also have added zucchini, jalapeno, yellow squash, bell peppers, celery, kale, arugula, spinach, etc. All of these are great additions so feel free to get creative!
WHAT KIND OF NOODLES DO I NEED?
You can really use any kind of noodle. I use angel hair of spaghetti, but farfalle, or any other kind of pasta noodle will work just fine. The time needed for the noodles to cook may vary slightly based on the thickness of the noodle. Angel hair noodles are very thin, and need a few minutes of less boiling time than farfalle or spaghetti noodles. There should be a recommended boiling time for whichever kind of noodles you’ve chosen on the package.
| Prep Time | 10 MIN |
| Cook Time | 35 MIN |
| Total Time | 45 MIN |
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 chicken thighs **see note above if you would prefer to substitute chicken breast
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
- 8 cups water, divided
- 4-5 cups mixed chopped veggies (for this recipe, we used the list below)
- 3 leaves bok choy
- 3 large whole carrots
- 1 medium sized zucchini
- 1 medium sized yellow squash
- 2 green onions
- 1 ½ Tbsp chicken bouillon
- 1 Tsp Parsley
- 1 Tsp Black Pepper (or more to taste)
- Garlic Salt (to taste)
- Red pepper flakes (to taste)
- ½ Box (½ lb) angel hair pasta
- Parmesan cheese for topping ***optional
INSTRUCTIONS:
Place 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs in a large soup pot on medium heat. Cook until browned on all sides, turning every few minutes for 10 minutes. Add the onion while the chicken is browning. Once the onions begin to appear translucent (after 5 minutes), add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
Add 6 cups of water and continue to cook on medium heat for 3-5 more minutes. Remove the chicken thighs from the pan and set aside. Shred the chicken with 2 forks, removing the bone, the skin and most of the fat.
Roughly chop & add the mixed veggies (*see note above). Stir in the chicken bouillon, parsley, black pepper, garlic salt, and red pepper flakes. Allow to cook until the veggies are beginning to turn soft enough to pierce with a fork, about 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot.
Stir in the pasta noodles and cook for 6-7 more minutes.
Serve & enjoy as-is, with a light dusting of parmesan cheese on top, and/or with a thick slice of sourdough bread.
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