Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe has been handed down from my Grandmother Anne and is an all time family favorite. This recipe gets made only a couple times a year as it does take some time and labor but it’s worth every bit of it. This recipe is not filled with chicken or vegetables it’s literally chicken broth and hand made and hand cut noodles. That’s it! Sounds simple right? Well, it’s taken me a number of times to get this recipe just as I remember! The first time I made it I cut my noodles far too big so it is important to take the time to cut the noodles smaller than you think as they expand when they are being cooked.

Recently our Daughter Amanda was not feeling well and all she could think about was this chicken noodle soup and since she lives ten hours away and I can’t just run some over to her so I told her I would show her and her Husband Steve how to make it. Needless to say she is looking forward to our next visit.

It takes me two days to make this soup as I make the broth the night before in my crockpot. You can cheat and use store bought broth and add a little bit of “Better than Bouillon “. You could also use a turkey broth if you have that on hand.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CHICKEN BROTH

1 chicken carcass with most of the meat removed and cleaned off
1 onion quartered
3 carrots roughly chopped
3 celery roughly chopped
1 full garlic head, skin removed
2 bay leaves
1-2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Cold water
Chicken base to taste
6 chicken wings-optional. If my store has chicken wings I will add 6 uncooked wings right into the slow cooker with the other ingredients.

Cheese cloth to strain

DIRECTIONS FOR THE CHICKEN BROTH

Turn your slow cooker on low and add all of the ingredients except the chicken base. You are going to add enough cold water into the crockpot to fill it to the top. Cover and let cook on low for 18-24 hours. Shut the slow cooker off and let cool.
Once cooled enough to handle its time to strain the broth into a large pot. I place a strainer that I have lined with the cheese cloth and strain all of the liquid through the cloth into the pot. This is the time to add the chicken base. I add this in small amounts at a time stirring it in and tasting as I go as this will make your broth too salty if you are not careful.
I then divide the broth up into mason jars, store in the fridge and use as needed.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE NOODLES

NOTE-This makes one batch but we typically double it.

2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup of water more or less. Enough to pull the dough together.
Extra flour for rolling
1/2 stick of butter, melted

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE NOODLES

Add the flour, eggs and water into your stand mixer with a dough paddle attachment. Mix until combined. Remove dough from the mixer and divide it into 3 parts. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes with a clean towel covering the dough.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt when the water comes to a boil.

Lightly sprinkle your surface with flour to roll the dough. Using one dough ball at a time roll out the dough just as you would making a pie dough. You want this dough to be a little thinner than a pie crust.
When the dough is rolled out you now want to roll the dough up loosely so it’s one big roll. Cut the noodles on an angle from each side of the roll. Spread the noodles apart to prevent them from sticking together, I put them on a flour dusted baking sheet. Do this for each of the dough balls.

In batches boil the noodles for 10-12 minutes. The noodles will come to the top and you will notice they will change color just slightly. I use a spider scoop to Drain the noodles and add them into a container with melted butter and toss.

When you are ready for a bowl, add the noodles into a bowl and add your desired amount of broth. Add salt and pepper if desired and re heat in the microwave if needed.

Enjoy!