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chunky chicken noodle soup

Robyn1757 avatar
Recipe by
Robyn Bruce
@Robyn1757
Linglestown, PA

I love this soup! It's good and hearty and chunky, not to mention so flavorful. I make it year round, but it's s-o-o-o good on a cold Fall or winter day. It's easy to do, just a little time consuming because of cooking time, but you can let the pot simmer while you're doing other things. You don't really have to keep an eye on it as long as it's turned down to a good simmer. Great for a pot luck or large family meal. Great for work lunches, too. (I sometimes throw an extra chicken leg quarter in the pot to pull apart to give to my pugs... they love the smell of the pot while it's cooking.)

yield serving(s)
prep time 15 Min
cook time 2 Hr
method Stove Top

Ingredients For chunky chicken noodle soup

  • 3-4
    large chicken leg quarters
  • 2 lg
    onions, chopped
  • 3
    celery stalks, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
  • 6
    large peeled carrots, sliced into large diagonal chunks (about 1/3 inch is good)
  • 2 tsp
    garlic powder
  • 4 Tbsp
    dried parsley flakes
  • salt to taste
  • 1 can
    chicken broth (regular sized)
  • 1 box
    san giorgio rotini (1 lb.) (you're going to use 3/4 of the box.)
  • water, enough to fill pot

How To Make chunky chicken noodle soup

  • 1
    In a really large soup/stock pot, put the chicken leg quarters, chopped onion and sliced celery. Add can of chicken broth and fill pot to the top with water. Add garlic powder, salt to taste, parsley flakes. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for about an hour and a half with the lid on top, slightly ajar. (This allows the steam to go out, but helps to hold in that good chicken flavor. Also, I leave the skin on the chicken during cooking for a good rich flavor, but you can remove the skin before cooking if you want to.) (My pot is very large and I put enough water in the soup to make approximately 1-1/2 gallons of soup. The leftovers are so great for work lunches!)
  • 2
    After an hour and a half, remove chicken to a platter to cool. At this point, add the carrots and 3/4 of the box of Rotini to the pot of broth and simmer until the carrots are cooked through and the Rotini is done. (About 20 minutes or so.) (I like the San Giorgio Rotini because it plumps up beautifully. You don't need the entire box because as the Rotini is cooking, it sucks up the broth. If you use the entire pound of Rotini, you won't have much broth left in the end.)
  • 3
    While the carrots and Rotini are cooking, remove the chicken from the bones and pull it apart into pieces. Doesn't have to be any certain way. Just kind of "bite sized." Discard all bones and skin.
  • 4
    Once the carrots and Rotini are completely cooked in that good, rich broth, add the bite sized pieces of chicken back to the pot. Give it a good stir, and serve.
  • 5
    Serving suggestion: This soup is so good served with a good thick sliced crusty buttered bread, or with Keebler club crackers on the side.
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