If you’re craving Panera Chicken Noodle Soup, try this not-so-copycat version to help warm you up on a chilly weekend.
While Panera’s Chicken Noodle Soup is scrumptious — this homestyle version takes it up a notch by adding in some additional spices, a Parmiagiano rind (of course) and tons of fresh herbs.
Better Than Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
This soup isn’t hard to make in the least, but it does require that you grab some fresh produce and get to simmering.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Chicken breast: Panera’s Chicken Noodle Soup using strictly white meat, so that’s what we’ll use today.
Chicken stock: As always, I combine chicken bouillon powder and water to create my stock — why? Convenience, baby!
Extra Wide Egg Noodles: A classic addition, I use extra wide egg noodles.
Fresh herbs: For this soup I used parsley, dill, basil, thyme and rosemary.
Soffritto: This is your mix of celery, carrot and onion. Italians call this base soffritto, while French call it mirepoix.
Garlic: You’ll finely chop a decent amount of garlic for flavor.
Spices: We’ll be using turmeric, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.
Parmiagiano-Reggiano rind: To give depth of flavor.
Lemon juice: A nice squeeze at the end helps to brighten the entire dish.
Other Soups for Soup Season
In a soup mood? Try my other recipes:
Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)
How to Make This Chicken Noodle Soup
Step 1: Prep your ingredients.
The first thing you’ll be doing, as always, is prepping everything so you don’t drive yourself batshit crazy later :). Chop your carrots and celery into bite sized pieces, dice your onion and mince your garlic.
This is also a good time to get your chicken stock ready, take out all of your herbs and take the chicken out of the packaging.
Step 2: Cook your soffritto.
Now add a bit of olive oil to your soup pot along with the soffritto (celery, carrots and onion). Cook until the onions begin to soften, around 6 minutes. Next, add the garlic and cook for one minute. Then add your spices and let those bloom for just about a minute.
Step 3: Cook your soup.
Now add the chicken, stock, Parmiagiano rind and all the herbs. Give everything a big stir and bring it all to a boil. Once boiling, cover and turn the heat down to a simmer. Let it dance away for about 2 hours.
Step 4: Shred your chicken.
Now remove the chicken from the soup and shred it. While the chicken’s out, I like to go in and fish out the Parmiagiano rind and a bunch of the herbs. I’ll leave some herbs in, but any stems I always grab when I can. Once done cleaning it out, add the chicken back to the pot and bring the water back up to a boil.
Step 5: Add the egg noodles.
Now add your egg noodles to the boiling water. Bring it down to a simmer and cook for 1 minute less than the package says. When done, squeeze one lemon into the soup and stir.
Better Than Panera Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 10 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups extra wide egg noodles
- 3 carrots chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- ½ yellow onion diced
- 5–6 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Parmiagiano-Reggiano rind
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- salt to taste
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig fresh dill
- 5-6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 5 fresh basil leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Add a bit of oil to a soup pot. Add the carrots, celery and onions and cook on medium-high until the onions soften, about 6 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the spices and let bloom for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken, chicken stock, fresh herbs and Parmiagiano rind. Bring pot to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2 hours or until the chicken is easily shredded with a fork.
- Remove the chicken and shred. Add the chicken back to the pot and bring it to a boil.
- Once boiling, add the 2 cups of egg noodles. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 1 minute less than the package says. (This is because it will still be cooking since it's staying in the soup and not being taken out).
- Once done, add the lemon juice.
If you try this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment and/or a rating! My favorite part about sharing my recipes and kitchen tips is being able to chat with you. If you ever share a recipe to Instagram, don’t forget to tag me so that I can see it! Happy eating <3
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