The perfect soup for the cold and flu season.
January is National Soup month, so this year’s contribution is a hearty and very healthy Green Chile Chicken Noodle Soup with Roasted Garlic. This soup takes the classic chicken noodle soup, spices it up with a bit of green chile, then creates another layer of flavor andstuff that’s good for you with the addition of two heads of roasted garlic. All of this goodness is poured over cooked noodles – homemade or your favorite store bought.
The recipe below makes a large batch of Green Chile Chicken Noodle Soup, enough to feed a family of six or to provide 3 meals for a family of 2. It does freeze well as long as you don’t include the noodles. When you go through the recipe, you might think that this soup is very labor intensive due to ingredients such as cooked chicken, chicken stock, roasted garlic and roasted green chile. However, with careful planning and/or shopping, you can make/accumulate the ingredients throughout the week through other meals or prepare at the same time you’re making the soup. Please check out the Kitchen Notes below for more information.
Green Chile Chicken Noodle Soup with Roasted Garlic
The cure for the winter blues or the common cold.
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 large carrot, halved lengthwise, sliced
- 2 heads of roasted garlic*, peeled
- 8 – 9 cups chicken stock/water*, set aside 2 cups
- 1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
- ½ tsp. coarse ground black pepper
- salt to taste
- 3 – 4 cups chopped or torn chicken*, cooked or uncooked
- 1 cup mild to medium roasted green chile*, chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
- 8 ounces noodles*, cooked al dente
- In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Sauté onion, celery and carrots for 4 minutes.
Add 6 cups of chicken stock and/or water, oregano, pepper, chicken, and chile to the pot.
In a blender, add 2 cups stock and the roasted garlic cloves. Blend. Or, using an immersion blender, add to a bowl or pitcher and blend.
Add to the soup.
- Bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes. Add more water if needed.
- Stir in the cilantro. Cook 3 minutes.
- Taste for salt. Add salt if needed.
- If you have time, let the soup rest for at least an hour or overnight in the refrigerator to give the flavors time to meld. Reheat while you cook the noodles. If serving immediately, cook the noodles while the soup is cooking.
- Cook the noodles to al dente. DO NOT add them to the soup pot*.
To serve, place about ½ cup noodles to a soup bowl and top with soup. Garnish with more cilantro or green scallions tops, if desired.
If you have leftover soup, store the soup and the noodles separately. This keeps the noodles from getting soggy and falling apart.
As with any soup, it is always better the next day. So if you have time, make the day before you serve it.
Following are some ideas for spreading out the tasks involved for making this soup.
- Roast a chicken one night, then save the leftover meat for the soup and the bones for the stock.
- Before roasting the chicken, place a couple bulbs of garlic on the roasting rack and roast with the chicken. Or purchase some roasted garlic, or make a separate batch of roasted garlic or roasted garlic/infused oil.
- Use the bones and carcass from the roast chicken to make the chicken stock.
- You could bypass the cooked chicken and stock altogether and do it all at once when you get ready to make the soup. Place 3 – 4 pieces of chicken (skinless breast, thigh, leg, wing) in 6-8 cups of water and cook the chicken. Remove once cooked, let cool, and remove the meat from the bones for the soup. Now you have your stock and your cooked chicken.
- Unless it’s late summer or fall, you probably can’t find any fresh green chile to roast, but, if you are like me, you already have some in the freezer. You might also be able to purchase frozen or canned chile from your local grocer or one of these New Mexico chile suppliers.
- For the noodles, I make my own (more on that below), but you can purchase your favorite fresh or dried noodles or pasta to use in this soup. We like a sturdy noodle that can stand up to the heartiness of this soup.
All About the Noodles
Keeping the noodles separate – One thing I learned years ago from a friend, was to never add rice, noodles or pasta to a soup. These ingredients continue to absorb the liquid and become soggy and mushy. To serve, just place the noodles in the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup over them. For the leftovers, store the noodles and soup in separate containers. If you know that you are going to eat all of the soup in one sitting, then yes, you can add the noodles to the soup just before serving or actually cook them in the soup.
I’m not much of a gadget person, but my brother-in-law is, so I usually let him introduce me to the latest gadgets. About a year ago, he introduced me to this Philips pasta maker by making some pasta. It only took 15 minutes, then another 5 minutes to cook it. After tasting the pasta, I was sold and ready to buy. However, I did wait for it to go on sale during Amazon Prime Day because it is a little pricey, but well worth the sales price. I haven’t bought pasta or noodles since July and probably won’t ever again. Disclaimer: My review of this product is my opinion. I was not asked to review it. I just wanted to share this great gadget with you.
For this green chile chicken noodle soup, I made the Durum noodles in the recipe book (200 grams semolina flour, 50 grams AP flour, and 90 ml water) and used the linguine attachment. As the noodles were extruding (extruder shown right), I cut them off at about a 4-5″ length. This recipe produces a robust noodle which holds up quite well to the heartiness of this soup.
I hope you enjoy this Green Chile Chicken Noodle Soup for all of its goodness and flavor, heartiness and healthiness. If you have a cold, this will surely knock it out after a couple of bowls.
For more soups to enjoy year round, please check out this Tantalizing Collection of Soups and Stews.
Healthy for this troubled quarantine season! Must do !
MJ, only 2 heads of garlic… LOL lightweight! Garlic is the new social distancing tool! It works 2 ways to prevent the cold and flu. Not only does garlic boost your immunity, it keep everyone at least 6 feet apart- maybe even further… (smiling) This soup sounds just perfect for this cool weather. Delicious! Stay well and take care
Oh yes – 2 heads of garlic!!! 🙂 Of course I love a good just garlic soup. YUM! Have you ever tried chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. That’s another social distancing tool and oh so good. Thanks Bobbi!
This sounds like an awesome soup for these blustery days and cold nights that we’re currently experiencing where I live. I love your efficient tips, like roasting garlic bulbs with the chicken.
Thanks Jeff. I find that chicken can be bland so whatever one an do to make the chicken more flavorful, is important. It’s starting to get cold here, so soup is on the menu.
This looks great – love the combo of green chili with Chicken Noodle soup.
Thanks Sula! It is a great combo and perfect for this time of year. I mean, what’s better than a spicy chicken noodle soup in the middle of winter. 🙂 thanks for stopping by.
Lovley soup although I would need to leave out the fresh garlic – maybe a little garlic infused oil would be ok… Cheers
Thanks Carole! Oh yes, the garlic infused oil would work just fine.
I do not need a pasta maker, I do not need a pasta maker, I do not need a pasta maker…..RATS, I wanna pasta maker now Ü
And I put roasted green chiles in and on everything, but I never thought to add them to homemade chicken noodle soup. You Rock, MJ ♥
Oh yes you DO need a pasta maker…:) Thanks so much for your comment Tracy! You know that green chile and chicken is a natural combo so if works great in this soup.
MJ, I love your Tex-Mex twist on this soup! And your tip to put the pasta in the bowl first is genius!! Who wants soggy noodles???
Thanks Liz! The tip with the noodles even makes the leftover taste fresh! 🙂
WOW! I love soup and this looks like something that would comfort me during cold months like what we’re having these days.
Thanks so much Peachy! Yes, it is definitely comfort food for cold days.
Your soup with the homemade noodles sounds fantastic.
Thanks Karen!
What a great bowl of noodle! Love the chicken soup and green chile combo! I consider myself a noodle snob and can honesty have noodle dish everyday. I actually looked into the same noodle maker but just couldn’t find the space for it in my kitchen (live of being in NYC sigh) but it’s great to know you like the product.
Thanks Yi! If they didn’t stick to me like glue, I’d eat noodles or pasta every day as well. 🙂 Sorry you didn’t have space for this pasta maker. You would definitely love it.
Chicken soup is my favorite soup and I cannot have enough versions of it. I got a pasta making machine a couple of years ago as a Christmas present, but I have only used it once until now. Such a shame!
I’m with you Adina! Now that I’m making my own noodles, I’m making this soup more often. YAY! Thanks! Give that pasta maker another chance. It think it will stop collecting dust if you do. 🙂
I love the soup MJ and I also loved the pasta machine! I will definitely look it up in amazon! Pinned!
Thanks so much Katerina! Thanks for sharing!
I have a pasta machine that’s over 10 years old. I haven’t used it a lot but it’s there yelling at me every time I walk by the shelves it’s stored on. My daughter bought a pasta maker a few months ago and she raves about getting home from work and whipping up dinner in just a few minutes.
I love what’s in your soup!
Maybe it’s time to bring out that pasta machine. 🙂 Thanks Maureen!
How serendipitous – it’s also national rain month here (I want to move to California – lol). Look at your fancy noodle gizmo! 20 minutes isn’t a big time investment for delicious and fresh tasting pasta; how neat. Thank you for introducing us to it and this delicious chicken soup – I’m a big fan of roasted garlic (although I’ll have to try your method at some point – I roast mine in the skin) either way, I bet the flavour plays beautifully here.
Thanks so much Kelly. It is a worthy gadget!. BTW – I do roast the garlic in the skin. For this specific pot of soup, I just set a couple of intact heads of garlic on the rack with the chicken and roast them together. There are many ways to roast garlic and I was taking a shortcut. 🙂
You know that you can keep sending your California rains our way. We need them.
The pasta maker looks really good. I love the look of your soup – it looks really nourishing and full of flavour. It would be excellent comfort food on a cold winter’s night xx
Thanks Charlie! Yeh…we’re in love with that pasta make. 🙂
Did you say garlic?! Fell for this soup instantly <3
I know….:) One can never get enough garlic! Thanks!
I love how you’ve changed up traditional chicken noodle soup and taken it to the next level of yumminess!
Thanks so much Amy!
That looks very hardy and flavorful soup! Love the roasted garlic and bring on the cilantro. I have to look into that pasta machine. I made some this wkd and I love it but man with a cheaper pasta machine it is so much trouble.
Thanks so much Evelyne!Yep, I found the cheaper machine a real pain. This one is SO EASY and fast.
Delicious warming soup and what a cool little gadget!
Thanks Debra!
This looks perfect for chilly evenings! Thanks for sharing! <3 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Thanks so much Gingi!
love that you added roasted garlic and peppers to this soup, looks delicious. Also very impressive that you make your own noodles. Take care.
Thanks Cheri! I do consider this pasta maker as cheating, but that’s o.k. I love the pasta it makes. 🙂
We DO have some green chilies in the freezer (Hatch, natch), so we’re good to go. 🙂 This looks terrific — and at this time of the year we have soup at least twice a week for dinner, often more than that, so we definitely need new ideas! We had a pasta extruder years ago — at least 20 — and didn’t like it that much because it was really fiddly, and had so many parts it was hard to clean. This one looks much better! May have to check it out.
Isn’t it wonderful knowing that you have roasted green chile in the freezer. 🙂 This recipe makes enough to have soup 2 – 3 times in a week. We stretched it out to 2 dinners and a lunch. Love it when a meal does that. 🙂 You reason for get rid of your pasta maker was why I got rid of my food processor. 🙂 This gadget has a few parts, but they are so easy to clean and are dishwasher safe which makes it even better. 🙂
The aroma of the roasted garlic and green chile is coming over my way! A perfect dinner for those cold, dreary winter nights!
Glad to excite your olfactory senses. 🙂 Thanks Deb!
Cold weather and delicious soup that this = heaven! 🙂 I’m sure the roasted garlic’s aroma is insanely wonderful! Happy New Year to you and Bobby. 🙂
Thanks Ray! Oh yes, you know that roasting garlic and eating it are the best! 🙂
Oh My Goodness . . . that looks and sounds so good! My mouth is watering for some green chile chicken soup now! I agree that fresh home made pasta is the best. Your pasta maker makes the noodles so easy, I still use the pasta maker that you roll and crank so it’s more of an effort to make pasta as often as I would like.
Thanks so much Janet! I used the roll and crank method once many years ago and have never made it again until now. It was great, but just too much work. 🙂 The Philips pasta maker has changed all that! YAY!
Green chile, roasted garlic and chicken…this noodle soup is going to be very good for those freezing cold days.
You are so very right Angie! Thanks!
If only I had some green chile left in the freezer, I’d make this soup straight away! I have already made one of your green chile soups twice I think and the first time I was soooo shocked by the fantastic flavours roasted chile gives to a soup! I think this wonderful soup would be perfect with thick Japanese udon noodles!
Thanks Sissi! Wish I could send you some of my frozen chile. I put up A LOT last fall, but you can bet I won’t have any problems going through it by next chile season. 🙂 Actually, these noodles that I make are a lot like udon noodles, so yes, they would work great!
MJ, I love the direction you’ve taken with this traditional soup! And the pasta maker sounds super easy — fresh pasta always takes a dish to another level of delicious. For us, soup month is every month as it stretches the budget and it a convenient make-ahead meal for the freezer. And yes, keeping the pasta separate is important to the texture and consistency of the soup — great post!
Thanks so much Judy! Cold weather just screams SOUP doesn’t it? 🙂 And yes, it does helps to stretch the budget as well as use up some of those “little bits of stuff” in the refrigerator.
I will try this, substituting tofu and Better Than Boullion No Chicken Base for chicken and stock, and report back. I’ve had great luck doing this with posole.
Oh Goody! I look forward to hearing how it turns out. I use BTB all of the time, but have not tried replacing chicken with tofu in a New Mexico dish. Should be interesting.
What a gorgeous, flavourful soup, MJ. It’s perfect for this time of year, to keep the cold away. I love the tip about the noodles too. I did not know that! If you have time, I’d love for you to share this recipe with us at Hearth and Soul. Have a lovely week ahead!
Thanks so much April! The pasta/rice hint was a life saving for me as well. I hate it when pasta breaks apart in a soup. I would love to share it with Hearth and Soul! Thanks!
Thank you for bringing your recipe to Hearth and Soul, MJ. I’m sharing it on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page later today!
You are most welcome! Thanks so much for sharing!