Quick Chicken Noodle Soup with Bacon

Nothing beats the flavor, and comfort level, of homemade chicken noodle soup! Whether you make your own stock or use store-bought, this recipe is a true winner with oodles of noodles...and BACON!

*Disclaimer - This recipe was originally published in 2012. I'm working hard to update all my older recipes with recipe cards, new photos, and additional recipe information. But, getting to all of them will take time. Please bear with me. In the meantime let me assure you that this recipe is still a winner and one I'm sure you'll be well pleased with when you make it at home.

A few weeks shared my recipe for basic chicken stock. At the very bottom of that post was the teaser of this recipe for today's recipe of homemade chicken noodle soup.

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Let it be known, that you do not need to make your own chicken stock to make this soup. 

There are some amazing stocks and broths in the supermarket so if you'd like to substitute your favorite brand, be my guest! (I won't tell a soul).

Also, when I cook I like to make enough to feed a small army.  If you'd like to make this soup in smaller batches, just cut back on the ingredients. 

However, this soup freezes beautifully so why not make it all?  Serve some now, and freeze some for later!

HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP with bacon

4 quarts of chicken stock (homemade or store-bought)
½ pound of bacon, cut into pieces and cooked to your desired crispness, and drained
1 pound (or more) cooked chicken meat (rotisserie chickens work great for this), chopped or shredded
1- 1 pound package of dried egg noodles (frozen egg noodles work great too)
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4-5 carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 ribs of celery, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper

-In a large skillet, melt the butter. Then add, and lightly saute the carrots, onion, and celery for about 5 minutes over medium heat.
-Add in the cooked bacon and the chicken meat and continue to cook an additional few moments until a bit more fat is rendered from the bacon.
-Transfer this mixture to a large stockpot and add the chicken broth.
-Add in the bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
-Turn heat to medium and allow the soup to come to a low simmer.
-Continue to simmer for approximately 20 minutes so all the flavors can meld.
-Carefully drop in the egg noodles and continue to cook until the noodles are done.

*Note - The longer the noodles sit in the broth, the plumper they will become.  I like a nice plump soup noodle, so I let them simmer longer so the broth is reduced by quite a bit.  If you like your soup with more broth, don't let your noodles sit as long in the broth before serving.

-Remove the bay leaves and serve with warm, crusty sourdough bread. 🙂

 Mmmm. Mmmmm. Gooood!!!