Healthy Chicken Rice Noodle Soup

During the winter months we need warmth, comfort and to keep our immune systems strong. This healthy chicken rice noodle soup does it all for you, delicious with long and slow cooked broth as base, roasted vegetables and chicken, noodles and lightly blanched veggies added in the last minute, topped with freshly chopped spring onions and sauerkraut for a burst of colour, crunch and freshness on top. Every bite will be blowing your mind, guaranteed!

Backstory

I have always been fascinated and drawn in by stories that talks about cold winter nights, gathering the family together and slurping steaming hot chicken soup to warm up cold bodies, or to give one comfort in bed that is fighting a cold. That is exactly the feeling I get when I eat this Chicken Noodle Soup. Chicken soup has been around for centuries, and for very good reason, it is easy, cheap and packed with healthy nutrients that give our bodies the much needed comfort and building blocks to recover from stress or illness, or just to share and build memories with family and friends.

What is so special about this Chicken Noodle Soup?

What I absolutely love about this soup is that it has so many different elements. From a rich broth that was made from cooking organic chicken bones for at least 6 to 12 hours, to roasted veggies with garlic and rosemary, roasted whole chicken, picked from the bone and cut into bite-size pieces, delicious rice noodles literally covered with boiling water for 1 minute, then added to the broth, to fresh cabbage and mushrooms, roughly copped and cooked in the broth for 1 minute just before plating up, and last but certainly not least is the fresh toppings that consist of chopped spring onion and sauerkraut. A flavour explosion in every bite with saltiness from the broth, smoothness from the chicken and roasted vegetables, some bite to the rice noodles and crunch from the barely cooked cabbage and mushrooms and a wonderful tang from the onions and sauerkraut.

Elements of this Healthy Chicken Rice Noodle Soup

• Slow cooked broth with organic chicken bones
• Roasted whole chicken, deboned and cut into bite-size pieces
• Roasted vegetables with rosemary and garlic
• Rice noodles blanched for one minute in boiling water
• Fresh, roughly chopped cabbage and mushrooms blanched in broth for 1 minute
• Fresh, thinly cut spring onion
• Sauerkraut

Steps to make this Healthy Chicken Rice Noodle Soup

Step 1

To get your hands on chicken bones might be easier than you think. Simply keep chicken bones from left-overs in the freezer until you have enough to fill a pot. Or you can ask your butchery for chicken bones (preferably organic), and if you are adventurous a few chicken feet. (Lots of collagen in there that will boost your soup even more with healthy nutrients). For more info on why chicken feet are healthy, please read more here.

Then simply add to a pot, cover with water, add a little vinegar to help extract the nutrients from the bones, and bring to a slow boil for several hours, at least 6. Remember to keep checking and refilling the water to cover the bones.

For even more flavour you can add an onion, carrot and celery stalk. This will all cook down completely and become mush, but don’t worry, after boiling you can throw everything through the sieve or cheese cloth. Give the cooked bones and veggies to the dogs (they LOVE it!) or just throw it in the compost. Now that water that you are left with is liquid gold, so much flavour and nutrients packed it there, just waiting to be used as you please.

Step 2

Next take your whole (organic) defrosted chicken, rub it with olive oil and spices and place breast down in a preheated oven for 60 – 90 minutes, depending on how large the chicken is. You want the internal temperature to be 165 °F (73.9 °C). Once it is cooked through and cooled a little you can debone and cut into bite-size pieces.

Step 3

Once your chicken is in the oven, you can prepare your vegetables to roast and put in with the chicken. It will take about 30-45min. Cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, add a few sprigs of rosemary and cover with olive oil and salt. Put into the oven and scrape it around after about 20 minutes to make sure it gets a nice toast on all sides.

Step 4

So far everything could be prepared in advance, now the final preparations starts. Put your rice noodles in a pot or heat proof bowl and cover it with boiling water, keep checking it, after about 1 minute it should be soft and pliable, take it out and put into cold water to stop it form cooking any further.

Step 5

Bring your broth to a boil, add salt to your liking. While you wait, cut the cabbage and mushrooms into chunks. When the broth is boiling you can add the chicken, roasted vegetables and rice noodles. Taste and add salt if needed. Lastly add the cabbage and mushrooms, let it boil for about 1 minute and then you are ready to plate.

Step 6

Wash and cut a few spring onions in small slices. Plate the finished soup making sure to get some of all of the components. Garnish with spring onions and sauerkraut and serve.