Description
This Healing Chicken Soup is loaded with immune-boosting ingredients like turmeric, garlic, lemon, and fresh herbs. Made with rotisserie chicken for convenience, this nourishing soup comes together in just 30 minutes and tastes like you’ve been simmering it all day. The golden broth is warming, comforting, and genuinely good for you.
Ingredients
For the Soup Base:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 stalks celery, halved and sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
Healing Seasonings:
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme)
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne (optional)
- 1 bay leaf
The Body:
- 8 cups chicken broth or bone broth
- 2–3 cups dry egg noodles
- 1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
- 2–3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- Additional salt & pepper, to taste
Substitutions & Notes:
- Leftover Thanksgiving turkey works great here
- I’ve used every pasta shape imaginable – shells, bow ties, broken up lasagna noodles once when I was desperate
- Fresh herbs are nice but dried is completely fine
- Real lemon is better than the squeeze bottle but I’ve definitely used the squeeze bottle
Instructions
Get your big pot on the stove, medium heat, pour in the olive oil. Wait until it’s shimmery hot then dump in your carrots, celery, and onion. Let them cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. You want them soft and the onions kind of see-through. This step matters so don’t skip it because you’re impatient.
Toss in the garlic, turmeric, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and cayenne if you’re doing it. Keep stirring for a minute or two. Your kitchen will smell amazing and everything turns this bright yellow color. Don’t freak out about the yellow, that’s the turmeric doing its job.
Pour in all the broth, drop in your bay leaf, squeeze in that lemon juice. Crank the heat up and get it boiling. I always taste it at this stage even though there’s nothing in it yet just to see if the salt level is okay.
When it’s bubbling away, dump in the noodles and all that shredded chicken. Let it come back up to a boil, then put the lid on, turn everything down to low, let it bubble gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Give it a stir once or twice so the noodles don’t stick to the bottom in a clump.
Turn the heat off completely. Grab a spoon and taste it. Need more salt? Black pepper? Do it now. Find that bay leaf and throw it in the trash. Stir in the parsley. Done.
Scoop it into bowls while it’s still steaming hot. I always put lemon wedges on the table because I like adding even more lemon to mine. This soup is honestly better the second day after everything’s been sitting together in the fridge overnight.
Notes
- Bone broth is worth the extra money if you’ve got it but regular broth is fine too
- Stop cooking the noodles when they’re almost done because they keep cooking in the hot broth after you turn off the heat
- Save the carcass from your rotisserie chicken, throw it in a pot with water, let it simmer for an hour, boom you just made free chicken broth for next time
- Fresh turmeric root will stain your fingers, your cutting board, your countertop, everything. Just use the powder
- Different brands of broth have wildly different amounts of salt so you really do have to taste and adjust
- Want it creamy? Pour in some heavy cream at the end. Not authentic but tastes good so who care
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American