How do you make chicken noodle soup even better? Make it roasted chicken noodle soup!

Awesome chicken soup is all about that base (sorry), so we love any recipe where the first ingredient is a chicken carcass. Don’t have one in your freezer from a previous Sunday roast? Just pick up a whole roasted chicken or rotisserie chicken from your favourite grocery or deli this weekend, and shave off the meat — some to be used in this soup, and you freeze some to round out a chicken noodle soup you stir up in the future. It’s a great way to make a from-scratch soup this weekend, and stretch that convenient pre-made meat even further.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup with Fresh Herbs

By Josie Malevich​

This fresh take on a classic chicken noodle soup is finished with lots of fresh herbs and lemon. The simple chicken broth is made from the leftover bones of a homemade or deli-roast chicken and water simmered until rich and flavourful. Add your favourite chopped greens in the last few minutes of cooking. Try kale, dandelion greens, spinach or chard.

Ingredients

Roasted Chicken Broth:

• 1 roasted chicken carcass, broken up into smaller pieces
• 8 cups cold water

Chicken Noodle Soup:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 large or 3 small carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh fennel fronds
• ½ bulb fennel, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
• ½ tsp each salt and pepper, or to taste
• ¼ tsp hot pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 2 cups egg noodles
• 2 tsp lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill

Preparation

Roasted Chicken Broth:

Add chicken carcass to saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until flavourful, about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Strain stock through fine-mesh sieve; discard bones.

Chicken Noodle Soup:

Heat oil in saucepan or Dutch oven set over medium heat. Cook onion, carrots, celery, fennel, leeks, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes until start to soften, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in broth and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Stir in noodles and chicken; cook, covered, until noodles are just cooked through, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, green onion, parsley, dill and fennel fronds. Remove bay leaves before serving. Taste and adjust for seasoning as needed.