Chicken stock is the basis for the best chicken noodle soup.
Golden broth, fragrant with chicken, the flavor of vegetables and the satisfying slurp of noodles means you've brought the best chicken noodle soup to the table. This level of soup perfection does take time but, surprisingly, not a lot of effort. Your stove does most of the work.
Broth
Homemade is best to make good broth. Don't be stingy with the chicken bones. Save up bones in the freezer until you have several pounds. Add a whole chicken, cut in pieces, to the pot as well. Bake the chicken until the skin is golden brown. That adds flavor and color to the broth. The chicken does not and should not be cooked through at this point. Place everything in a large soup pot. Add in celery stalks, carrots broken in half, onions sliced in half, a bunch of parsley and two bay leaves. Cover the mixture with an inch of water and simmer it for two to three hours to extract all of the flavor from the chicken and vegetables. Strain the mixture. Throw away the spent vegetables and chicken bones. Pick out the chicken meat and use it later for casseroles. It won't have much flavor because you've cooked it so long. Refrigerate the broth in a clear glass bowl. When the broth cools, the chicken fat will congeal on the surface. Remove about two-thirds of the chicken fat. Do not remove all of the chicken fat because it adds flavor and body to the soup.
Chicken
During the last 20 minutes of cooking time for the broth, add boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the homemade broth. Skim off any foam. Remove one of the breasts from the broth and cut it open to see if it's done. It should be opaque with no pink. Cut the breast in 1/2-inch chunks. Keep it refrigerated until you use it in the soup.
Vegetables
The best chicken noodle soups begin by sauteing chopped onions and celery in chicken fat until they are translucent. That brings out the sweetness in the onion. Add vegetables to the homemade chicken broth. Peas, carrots and chopped parsley add more flavor and textures. Cook the soup long enough so that the vegetables are tender, which should be not more than 20 minutes. Do not simmer the soup for hours because you've already done that with the broth. Add the white meat chunks of chicken during the last five minutes of cooking.
Noodles
Flat, thin egg noodles absorb the flavor and cook quickly in the broth. Pastas could be used, but they have a longer cooking time. If you use pasta, cook it separately in salted water. Add the egg noodles to the soup about 10 minutes before you plan to serve it. The noodles will be firm, but not soggy, from sitting in the soup.
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