Chicken noodle broth recipe

This chicken noodle broth is absolute perfection: nutritious, warming, soul-soothing and tasty.

It has just the right amount of healthy added vegetables as well as chunks of shredded chicken and slurpy rice noodles. Rather than using a stock cube to create the base broth, you make it yourself by simmering the chicken and vegetables together. It's best to use chicken legs for this - the thigh and drumstick together, with the bones still in, to get the best flavour. It takes a bit of time, but the results are worth it. This soup serves 4, but you can store it in the fridge for a couple of days. The noodles will get softer after storing, but they still taste delicious. This is one of our favourite healthy chicken recipes.

Ingredients

• 2 free-range chicken legs
• 2 onions, peeled
• 2 large carrots, peeled
• 2-3 sticks celery, trimmed
• 1 bay leaf
• A few sprigs of thyme and parsley
• 2 medium leeks, trimmed and diced
• 125g (4oz) rice noodles
• Parsley leaves, to garnish
• Bread, to serve

Method

1. Put the legs in a large pan with one of the onions, one of the carrots and one stick of celery, roughly chopped. Add the bay leaf and thyme sprigs, cover with water and bring just to the boil. Cover and simmer for 45 mins.
2. Lift the chicken legs out of the pan and set them aside to cool. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables and herbs. Pour the stock - it should be about 1 litre (1¾ pints) - back into the pan.
3. Dice the remaining onion, carrot and celery. Add to the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins, add the leek, and when the stock comes back to the boil, break the noodles into the pan and cook for 8 mins until they’re tender.
4. Meanwhile, remove the skin and bones from the chicken legs and shred the meat. Divide it between 4 warm bowls, then spoon the soup over and garnish with parsley. Serve with bread.

Top tips for making chicken noodle soup

For more flavour, add a chicken or vegetable stock cube to the soup.

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