Chicken Noodle Soup with a Parmesan Rind
The classic, made better: a Parmesan rind melts into the broth for hours and gives it a deep, savory backbone that tastes like it simmered all day on the stove. The noodles go in at the end, so they never turn to mush.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 carrots, sliced into coins
- 3 celery ribs, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 cups (1.9 L) low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Parmesan rind (about 2 inches), optional but worth it
- 3/4 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 oz (115 g) wide egg noodles (about 3 cups)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill or parsley
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Method
- Put the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaves in the slow cooker. Lay the chicken on top.
- Pour in the broth, tuck in the Parmesan rind and add the salt and pepper. Cover and cook.
- Lift out the chicken, shred it with two forks and stir it back in. Remove the bay leaves and what is left of the rind.
- Last 30 min: turn the cooker to HIGH, stir in the noodles, cover and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until tender.
Freezer: Freeze before adding the noodles, up to 3 months. Cook fresh noodles in the reheated soup.
- Wake it up
- Stir in the dill and lemon juice just before serving. Taste and add salt a pinch at a time.
- Next day
- Simmer 2 cups of leftover soup with 1/2 cup cooked rice until thick, then top with grated Parmesan for a quick chicken-and-rice bowl.
- Half batch
- Halve everything and use a 3- to 4-quart cooker. Cooking time stays the same.
- Swap
- Gluten-free: use rice or gluten-free pasta in place of egg noodles.
- Serve with
- Cheddar-Chive Drop Biscuits
Estimated nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 291
- Protein
- 32.2 g
- Fiber
- 2.4 g
- Sodium
- 504 mg
- Carbs
- 24.2 g
- Fat
- 7.6 g
- Sat. fat
- 2.1 g
This recipe is one of 100 in Easy Slow Cooker Soups and Stews Cookbook, each with a color photo and nutrition facts per serving.
View on AmazonWhat makes this taste like it simmered all day?
One ingredient does most of the work: a Parmesan rind, about 2 inches, tucked into the broth to cook alongside the chicken and vegetables for the full 6 to 8 hours on LOW, or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH. It is listed as optional, but it is what gives this broth a deep, savory backbone that usually only comes from simmering a stock on the stove for most of a day. The rind softens as it cooks and is lifted out with the bay leaves before serving, so no one finds a chewy piece of cheese in their bowl. Underneath that, the base is simple: onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dried thyme and two bay leaves, all cooked low and slow with the chicken so the vegetables turn tender rather than mushy. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs go in whole and get shredded with two forks once they are cooked through, then stirred back into the pot so every bowl gets tender, well seasoned meat.
Which chicken should you use?
The recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds (680 g) of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, not chicken breast. Thighs hold up better over a long cook, 6 to 8 hours on LOW, and shred into soft, juicy pieces rather than drying out and turning stringy the way breast meat can after that many hours in a slow cooker. The chicken goes in whole, laid on top of the onion, carrots, celery and garlic at the start, then cooks submerged in 8 cups (1.9 L) of low-sodium chicken broth along with the thyme, bay leaves and the Parmesan rind. Once it is cooked through, lift it out, shred it with two forks, and stir it back into the pot. Using low-sodium broth matters here because the Parmesan rind and the 3/4 teaspoon of salt added at the start are both salty on their own, so a full-sodium broth on top of that can push the soup too far before you even taste it at the end.
When does each ingredient go in?
The slow cooker does the long part, and the last half hour does the finishing work that keeps the noodles from going soft:
- At the start: onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dried thyme and bay leaves in the slow cooker, with the chicken thighs laid on top, then the broth, Parmesan rind, salt and pepper poured in. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.
- Once the chicken is cooked: lift it out, shred it with two forks, stir it back in, and remove the bay leaves and whatever is left of the rind.
- Last 30 minutes: turn the cooker to HIGH, stir in the 4 oz (115 g) of wide egg noodles, cover, and cook 20 to 30 minutes until they are tender.
Adding the noodles this late is what keeps them from turning to mush, which is the usual complaint about chicken noodle soup that sits in a slow cooker all day.
How do you wake it up before serving?
Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill or parsley and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice just before serving, not while it cooks. Both lose their brightness over hours in a slow cooker, so adding them at the very end is what makes the soup taste freshly made rather than reheated. Taste the soup after that and add salt a pinch at a time rather than all at once: the Parmesan rind and the broth both carry some salt already, on top of the 3/4 teaspoon added at the start, so it is easy to oversalt if you season to taste only at the beginning. If you are serving this to a crowd and keeping the slow cooker on warm, add the dill or parsley and lemon juice to each bowl individually instead of to the whole pot, so the batch at the bottom does not sit in them for hours before the last bowl is served.
Can you freeze chicken noodle soup?
Yes, with one rule about timing: freeze the soup before the noodles go in, for up to 3 months. Egg noodles turn soft and swollen after freezing and reheating, so the better approach is to freeze the broth, vegetables and shredded chicken only, then cook a fresh batch of the 4 oz (115 g) of wide egg noodles directly in the pot once it is thawed and reheated. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight, reheat it on the stove until it is simmering, then add fresh noodles and cook until they are tender, the same 20 to 30 minutes as the original recipe. This also means a double batch of just the broth and chicken freezes well for a quick dinner later. Skip the dill or parsley and lemon juice until the day you actually serve it, since those are meant to go in fresh regardless of whether the soup came straight from the slow cooker or out of the freezer.
What can you make with the leftovers?
Turn leftover soup into a chicken-and-rice bowl instead of reheating it as soup again. Simmer 2 cups of the leftover soup with 1/2 cup of cooked rice until the mixture thickens, then top it with grated Parmesan. The same Parmesan flavor that comes from the rind while the soup cooks carries over into this second meal, so it tastes like a different dish rather than the same soup twice. This works well with the noodles already in the leftovers, or with a portion you set aside before adding the noodles if you would rather keep the two meals distinct. It is a good way to use up the last cup or two of a 6-serving batch, about 11 cups total, without it tasting like you are just eating the same bowl of soup for a third night.
Can you make a smaller batch, and what do you serve with it?
Yes. Halve every ingredient and cook it in a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker instead of a 6-quart one; the cooking time stays the same, 6 to 8 hours on LOW or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH. For a gluten-free version, swap the wide egg noodles for rice or a gluten-free pasta, added the same way in the last 30 minutes so it does not overcook. The book serves this soup with Cheddar-Chive Drop Biscuits, and any warm, simple bread works for dipping or for soaking up the last of the broth. Between the biscuits and a side salad, this is enough for a full dinner rather than a starter, especially from the full 6-serving, about 11-cup, batch.
This is one of 100 recipes in the Easy Slow Cooker Soups and Stews Cookbook, every one with a color photo, nutrition facts per serving and a freezer note.