Simple Pantry Chicken Soup
Every kitchen needs a good chicken soup. This one is one of those recipes that you can use exactly, make your own, or pass along to a friend. Better yet, make it for that friend. Who doesn’t like a thick, gooey bowl of age-old chicken soup?
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Why will you Love this Soup?
This soup is yet another example of a basic recipe that has multiple versions. You make this once, you can make it again and again. Pretty soon, you don’t need to look at a recipe!
It is easy, healthy, budget-friendly, fresh, and gelatinous. Yes. What a word. Gelatinous.
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What are the Main Ingredients?
All good soups start with carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. In lots of olive oil.
What makes this soup exceptional is the use of chicken drumsticks, rather than a whole chicken or chicken thighs.
Why do I use Chicken Drumsticks for this soup?
Chicken drumsticks are not only the cheapest cut of chicken, but you can get many of them at a time in your local supermarket. It is all dark meat on the bone, which is the most flavorful. Because drumsticks are smaller cuts compared to other parts of the chicken, they cook faster and the meat slips off the bone making it super easy to shred. All of the bones provide the bone broth consistency that we all look for in a good chicken soup.
This chicken soup also uses lots of herbs, specifically oregano, bay leaves, and thyme. You can use both fresh and dried, though I prefer dried oregano over fresh and fresh thyme over dried. Whatever suits your fancy! Towards the end, I throw in a roughly chopped bundle of parsley.
For seasoning, besides the typical salt and pepper, I recommend using a garlic and herb seasoning for the chicken and then a chicken boullion for the water (if you aren’t using prepared chicken broth). I add a few chopped tomatoes before I set it to boiling.
For the starchy component, I add in wide egg noodles. You can substitute with potato, rice, or pastina.
Which Feast Days can you make this Chicken Soup for?
What makes this Simple Pantry Chicken Soup a favorite is that it is absolutely versatile. You make it for any Marion feast, though I like this soup on a weekend – which falls in nicely with First Fridays, First Saturdays, or our weekly Saturday dedications to our Blessed Virgin Mary.
Additionally, this chicken soup is so austere in nature yet full on flavor, you can easily use it whenever you feel inclined to celebrate any of the monks or sisters of charitable works. A few seasonal pairings can be:
- March 2: Feast of Saint Angela of the Cross (the “Mother of the Poor”)
- April 16: Feast of Benedict Joseph Labre (Patron Saint of the Homeless)
- August 11: Saint Claire of Assisi (Founder of the Poor Claires)
- September 5: Feast of Saint Teresa of Calcutta (in honor of serving the “poorest of the poor”)
- September 27: Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul (co-founded the Daughters of Charity)
Products I Recommend for this Recipe
The real, every day products I really use to make real food!
Cuisinart Chef’s Classic 11-Piece Stainless Steel Pots and Pans Set – the set of pots I received at my wedding (many) years ago and they are still going strong!
McCook® Knife Sets,German Stainless Steel Knife Block Sets with Built-in Sharpener – the most similar to the current Ailuki brand I have
John Boos R-Board Series Rectangular Wooden Maple Cutting Board 24”x18” – 1.5” Thick – solid, long lasting, and full of knife marks
Have you made this Simple Pantry Chicken Soup? Let us know below!
Simple Pantry Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken drumsticks
- 1 tbsp garlic and herb seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 medium tomatoes on the vine
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small bunch parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp chicken boullion
- 6-8 cups water
- 1 lb wide egg noodles
- grated cheese for serving, optional
Instructions
- Season chicken drumsticks with the garlic and herb seasoning. You can also use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a mis of your favorite herbs. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pot. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Lightly salt and stir frequently to sweat down.
- Once the vegetables are tender, add the chicken to the pot. Fill with water until barely covering the chicken.
- Add in chicken boullion, oregano, thyme, and bay leaves.
- Chop and add in the tomatoes and parsley. Stir everything together.
- Cover and bring to a boil. Then, turn heat to medium low and let simmer for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the chicken easily falls off the bone, set up a large plate near the pot.
- One by one, take out the chicken drumsticks and remove the bones. Shred the chicken and add the meat back into the pot.
- Once all the chicken is deboned and the shreded chicken is put back into the pot, bring back to a boil.
- Add in the egg noodles and cook until tender.
- Serve warm and with grated cheese.
