How to Make Chicken Noodle Soup from Scratch

Pull about a pound and a half of bone-in, skin-on chicken out of the package. A mix of breasts and thighs gives you the best of both worlds: white meat to eat in the soup and dark thigh meat that builds deep flavor in the broth.

Pat each piece dry with paper towels. Wet skin won't brown. Then sprinkle about a quarter teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper on both sides of every piece. That's it for the chicken prep.

Set a big Dutch oven or heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil and wait until it shimmers. Lay the chicken pieces in skin-side down and let them sit. Don't move them around. You want them to brown hard for eight to ten minutes per side, so the skin turns deep golden and starts sticking to the bottom of the pot.

This is not a step to skimp on. The browned bits stuck to the pot, the fond, is the foundation of the whole broth. Without it, you'll end up with watery soup that tastes like store-bought.

While the chicken browns, work on the vegetables. You need one medium yellow onion, one rib of celery, and one carrot. Aim for rustic bite-sized pieces, the kind that fit on a soup spoon. Don't mince anything.

For the onion: slice off the top, leave the root intact, and chop down into a rough dice. The root end holds the layers together while you cut. For the celery, slice it into half-inch pieces. Peel the carrot, then cut the thinner end in half lengthwise and the thicker end into quarters so all the pieces end up roughly the same size.

Once the chicken is deeply browned on both sides, leave it in the pot and add everything else right on top. Tip in the chopped onion, celery, and carrot. Add one bay leaf, two sprigs of fresh thyme, and another quarter teaspoon of salt. Pour in eight cups of store-bought chicken broth.

Use a wooden spoon to scrape up that golden fond from the bottom of the pot as the broth heats. Every brown bit you free up dissolves into the broth and adds depth. The whole pot will smell incredible within a minute.

Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover it, drop the heat, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. The chicken cooks through, the vegetables soften, and the broth picks up every bit of flavor in the pot.

After 15 minutes, take the chicken's temperature with an instant-read thermometer. Breast meat is done at 160F. Thighs need to hit at least 175F. If the thighs go a little over, that's fine. Dark meat stays juicy past well done. Fish out the chicken with tongs and set it on a cutting board to cool. Pull out the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs while you're at it.

Bring the soup base back to a boil. Grab five ounces of dry spaghetti and break it into one-inch pieces over the pot. Snapping pasta is satisfying. Aim for pieces that fit on a spoon, since long noodles slide off and make the soup awkward to eat.

Add the spaghetti to the boiling broth and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Cooking the pasta directly in the soup saves a pot and a strainer, and the starch from the spaghetti thickens the broth slightly as it cooks. You end up with a broth that has body without needing flour or cream.

While the pasta boils, turn back to the chicken on the cutting board. Pull off the skin and the bones and discard them. Grab two forks and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces by pulling the forks apart in opposite directions.

Two forks beats your fingers for two reasons: the chicken is still hot, and forks pull the meat apart along its natural grain, giving you nice ragged pieces that hold sauce. Aim for shreds about the size of your thumb. Set the shredded chicken aside in a bowl while the pasta finishes.

Taste a noodle to check if the pasta is done. You want it al dente, with a little bite, not mushy. Tip the shredded chicken back into the pot and let it warm through for a minute or two.

Stir in two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley. A tablespoon of fresh dill is a lovely finish if you have it. Taste for salt and pepper. Most pots need a final crack of pepper and a small pinch of salt at this stage. Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread on the side.