A Dutch oven is the perfect vessel for making soups that serve a crowd: The wide bottom is great for creating a flavorful base right in the pot, and the generous capacity means you can make a large volume of soup at once. For our classic chicken noodle, we made a streamlined from-scratch broth using chicken thighs instead of a whole bird. Our tasters liked the richness that the thighs added to the broth but preferred white meat in their soup, so we also poached breasts in the broth to shred and stir in. Cooking the noodles right in the broth intensified their flavor. Note that the thighs are used just to flavor the broth; the meat can be used for chicken salad or pot pie. If you prefer dark meat in your soup, omit the chicken breasts and add the shredded thigh meat to the soup instead. Depending on the size of your Dutch oven, you may need to brown the chicken thighs in three batches.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 12 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped fine
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin
- 1 celery rib, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- 6 ounces wide egg noodles
- ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper
- For the broth Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook half of thighs, skin side down, in pot until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Turn thighs and cook until lightly browned on second side, about 2 minutes; transfer to large plate and discard skin. Repeat with remaining thighs; transfer to plate and discard skin.
- Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Add onion and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in water, bay leaves, and 1 tablespoon salt. Nestle thighs into pot, adding any accumulated juices, and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Nestle chicken breasts into pot, cover, and cook until breasts register 165 degrees, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer chicken to cutting board and let cool slightly. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Skim excess fat from surface of broth using wide, shallow spoon.
- Using 2 forks, shred chicken thighs into bite-size pieces; discard bones and reserve meat for another use. Using 2 forks, shred chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and reserve for soup. For the Soup
- Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth, bring to simmer, and cook until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in noodles and chicken and cook until noodles are just tender, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.