Simple Chicken Soup from Scratch on a Weeknight

Most weeknight chicken soups are chicken-flavoured water with a few sad vegetables floating in it. The difference comes down to two things: browning the chicken before simmering, and not rushing the broth. You don't need hours - you need 20 minutes of simmering with the right aromatics. The result is a soup that tastes like it took most of the afternoon.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs (about 900g) OR 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (from rotisserie or leftovers)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 medium carrots, sliced into coins
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken stock
• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 150g egg noodles or 1 cup white rice
• Salt and black pepper
• Fresh parsley to finish

Instructions (from raw chicken)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown skin-side down for 4-5 minutes until golden. Flip and brown 2 minutes on the other side. Remove to a plate - it doesn't need to be cooked through yet.
2. In the same pot, sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Add carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook 2 more minutes.
3. Return the chicken to the pot. Add stock, water, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken. Shred the meat off the bones using two forks. Discard bones and skin.
5. Return shredded chicken to the pot. Add noodles or rice and cook for a further 8-10 minutes until tender. Remove bay leaves. Adjust seasoning.
6. Serve in deep bowls with parsley and crusty bread.

Using Leftover or Rotisserie Chicken

Skip steps 1 and 4. Sauté the vegetables, add stock and water with the aromatics, simmer for 15 minutes, then add the shredded cooked chicken and noodles. The broth won't be quite as deep - compensate by using a good quality stock rather than water. Total time drops to about 30 minutes.

Nutrition (per serving with noodles, estimated)

• Calories: ~380 kcal
• Protein: 30g
• Carbs: 28g
• Fat: 14g

Meal Prep Tips

Chicken soup keeps in the fridge for 4 days and freezes well for up to 3 months - freeze before adding the noodles, then cook fresh noodles when reheating. The soup thickens in the fridge as the starch from the noodles absorbs liquid; add a splash of stock when reheating. This is the ideal recipe to pair with a batch of one-pan chicken and vegetables earlier in the week - use the Monday leftovers to make Thursday's soup. For the full rotation, the Quick Weeknight Dinners guide maps this out with batch-prep notes.

If you're planning multiple dinners around a batch of chicken this week, the Consillar Weekly Meal Prep planner makes it easy to map ingredient overlaps across several nights at once.