AI-generated illustration of chicken noodle soup with shredded chicken, fine carrot and celery pieces and chopped parsley in golden broth

Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup with Carrot, Celery and Parsley

Published 26 October 2026 · Updated 26 October 2026

Tender shreds of chicken, short egg noodles and soft carrot and celery make this a brothy, savoury soup for a light meal. Gentle poaching keeps the breast meat tender, while parsley and a little lemon sharpen the golden stock at the end.

Not kitchen tested by The Black Farmer.
Serves 4
Prep 15 min
Cook 49 min
Total 64 min

Timing: Plan approximately 64 minutes: 15 prep + 49 cooking/finishing, with no marination, cooling or required rest. Cooking/finishing is 8 + 8 + 20 + 3 + 2 + max(6 noodle simmer, 3 shredding followed by 3 chicken heat-through) + 2 off-heat finishing. In the only parallel group, noodles run from minute 0 to 6, shredding from 0 to 3, and chicken heat-through from 3 to 6; the latter tasks are sequential relative to one another, not simultaneous. The 12–20 minute poach uses its upper planning estimate. Each piece needs its own 30-second hold at 75°C; approximate 3-minute checks/holds/hygiene/removal budget is retained in full with no overlap deduction, and extended for more pieces or further cooking. Heat-up, poach and heat-through are estimates: actual endpoints override metadata, and extra chicken heating may soften noodles. The 2-minute off-heat finish is included under cook_minutes as the final cooking/serving block; there is no additional reheating after the noodle endpoint.

Ingredients

  • Free Range Chicken Breast Fillets — 400g

    Chicken breast fillets

    400g boneless breast fillets

    Use the whole 400g pack. Check for any skin and remove it if present; do not assume a fillet count. Cut unusually thick fillets horizontally so no piece exceeds about 2.5cm at its thickest point. Keep refrigerated until needed. Do not wash raw chicken.

    £13.80

Adds 1 items across 1 products — £13.80 total.

Pantry ingredients such as oil, salt and herbs are not included.

Other Ingredients You'll Need

  • Onion — 150g peeled weight (Cut into 5mm dice. Weigh the prepared onion rather than assuming one onion has this weight. This is a required unlinked shopping ingredient: the store candidate is sold Each, with no verified prepared weight; no 500g pack is implied by its handle.)
  • Carrots — 200g peeled and trimmed weight (Cut into 5mm dice. Weigh 200g after peeling and trimming.)
  • Celery — 100g trimmed stalks (Wash, trim and cut across into 5mm pieces; halve wide stalks lengthways first. This is a required unlinked shopping ingredient: the store candidate is sold Per pack, with no verified pack weight.)
  • Olive oil — 15ml (All for softening the vegetables; none reserved for serving.)
  • Chicken stock — 1.5 litres prepared liquid stock (Use a stock with a salt level you can control. If using cubes or concentrate, make up 1.5 litres to the manufacturer's dilution instructions before measuring; this is not 1.5 litres of concentrate. Reserve none.)
  • Dried egg noodles — 120g dry weight (Choose medium wheat-and-egg noodles with a 6-minute simmering instruction on the packet, not instant, rice or fresh noodles. Break into roughly 4–5cm lengths before cooking. Other packet times change the timing budget.)
  • Flat-leaf parsley — 10g leaves and tender stems (Wash and chop finely. All goes into the soup at the finish; no unallocated garnish.)
  • Lemon juice — 10ml freshly squeezed juice (All added at the finish; no extra wedges required.)
  • Fine salt — To taste, only if needed after tasting the stock (Taste at the finish before adding; salty prepared stock may need none.)
  • Ground black pepper — A small pinch, to taste (Add at the finish.)

Method

Prepare the ingredients safely

Allow 15 minutes to weigh and prepare the vegetables, parsley and lemon juice, measure the prepared stock and oil, and break the dry egg noodles into 4–5cm lengths. Prepare the vegetables before handling the raw chicken. Check the breast fillets: if any are thicker than about 2.5cm, cut them horizontally into thinner pieces on a separate raw-poultry board. Do not wash the chicken. Wash your hands and clean the raw-poultry knife, board and work surface thoroughly; keep a clean plate and forks ready for the cooked meat. This preparation and cleaning are included in the 15 minutes. Plan approximately 64 minutes overall: 15 minutes preparation and 49 minutes cooking and finishing, including the off-heat seasoning and serving allowance. Shredding and heating the chicken take place within the 6-minute noodle stage, not after it; there is no required cooling or rest. The safety and texture cues below take priority over these estimates.

Soften without browning

Put the 4-litre saucepan over a medium-low heat with all 15ml olive oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery straight away and cook for 8 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables smell sweet. Keep them pale rather than browned; reduce the heat if they start to catch. The carrots will finish softening in the stock.

Heat the stock

Pour in all 1.5 litres prepared chicken stock. Cover and increase the hob to medium-high, allowing about 8 minutes for it to reach a gentle simmer. Stir once to loosen the vegetables from the base, then reduce the heat: look for occasional small bubbles, not a rolling boil. Heat-up depends on the pan and hob, so wait for the simmer rather than treating the clock as the cue.

Gently poach the chicken

Lower the chicken pieces into the simmering stock, keeping them submerged without tightly stacking them, and partly cover the pan. Maintain the gentlest simmer over a low heat. Allow roughly 12–20 minutes for the stock to recover and the meat to cook; begin checking at 12 minutes with a clean thermometer inserted into the centre of each piece's thickest part. Use the safety-check procedure in the next step and remove individual pieces as they become ready. The timing plan budgets the full 20 minutes plus a separate approximate 3-minute checking, holding and removal allowance; no checking time is subtracted as an overlap. Larger pieces, more pieces or a cooler hob may need longer. Avoid a hard boil, which tightens breast meat.

Confirm each safety hold and remove

Each piece must reach 75°C in its centre and stay at or above 75°C for 30 seconds before removal. Check pieces sequentially: keep the probe tip in the thickest centre, without touching the pan, and confirm the full hold for that piece before lifting it onto the clean plate with clean utensils. Clean the probe after contact with undercooked meat and between pieces as needed. Budget approximately 3 minutes for checks, individual holds, probe hygiene and removal for a small batch; this is not a fixed allowance for an unknown piece count. Each additional piece needs its own 30-second hold plus time to position and clean the probe and lift the meat; allow longer for more pieces or slow readings. If a piece has not reached the endpoint, keep it gently poaching and recheck, extending cooking and total time. Remove safely cooked pieces as they become ready rather than overcooking thinner ones. Elapsed time or white-looking meat alone is not the endpoint.

Cook the noodles, shred and return the chicken within their cooking time

Once all chicken is safely cooked and removed, increase to medium heat and allow about 2 minutes for the broth to return to a gentle simmer. Add the short egg noodles and cook for their selected 6-minute packet simmer, stirring gently to separate them. During the first 3 minutes, shred the chicken on its clean plate with two forks into spoon-sized pieces. At the 3-minute point, return all the shredded chicken and plate juices to the broth; maintain a gentle simmer for the final 3 minutes of noodle cooking, stirring gently so the chicken heats evenly. At the end of this shared 6-minute stage, the chicken and broth must be steaming hot throughout and the noodles just tender; the carrot and celery should be soft when pressed with a spoon. Do not fully cook the noodles and then begin a separate chicken reheating stage. If the chicken is not yet steaming hot, continue heating until it is safe, accepting that the noodles may soften and absorb more broth; safety takes priority over texture. If the selected packet time differs, follow it and adjust the timing ledger, returning the shredded meat with enough cooking time left to heat through rather than adding an unrestricted reheat after the noodle endpoint.

Finish off the heat and serve immediately

As soon as the chicken is steaming hot throughout and the noodles just tender, turn off the heat. Allow 2 minutes to stir in all the parsley and all 10ml lemon juice, taste, add a pinch of ground black pepper and only as much optional salt as needed, then ladle into four bowls, dividing solids and broth evenly. This is an off-heat seasoning and serving allowance, not another chicken reheating stage. Serve immediately while the broth is fluid; noodles continue to soften and absorb liquid even off the heat. There is no required cooling or resting stage before serving.

Serving Suggestion

Serve as a light meal with thick slices of crusty bread, or plain buttered toast for dipping into the broth. Bread and butter are optional accompaniments, not included in the recipe quantities or linked basket.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I keep the chicken breast tender?

Use a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil, control very thick fillets as described and probe each piece. Remove each piece once it has reached 75°C for 30 seconds. Shred during the first 3 minutes of noodle cooking, then return the meat and juices for the final 3 minutes until steaming hot throughout. Do not leave whole breasts boiling throughout the noodle stage or add a separate reheat after fully cooking the noodles.

Why do the noodles soak up the broth?

Noodles keep absorbing liquid and softening even off the heat. The chicken heat-through is built into the final part of noodle cooking, not added after it; finish off the heat and ladle out immediately. If safety requires extra chicken heating, accept softer noodles rather than serving cool meat. Cooking noodles separately can preserve clearer broth, but it is not this timed one-pan method and needs its own water-heating, cooking and draining plan.

Can I use a different type of noodle or pasta?

The timing is based on dried wheat-and-egg noodles with a 6-minute packet simmer, broken short enough to eat with a spoon. Rice noodles, fresh noodles and pasta can need different cooking times and absorb different amounts of stock, so they are not direct swaps for this timing and quantity. Check the actual stock and noodle labels for allergens; this recipe is not presented as gluten-free or egg-free.

When do I know the chicken is safe to shred?

Check every piece sequentially with a clean food thermometer in its thickest centre. It must be at least 75°C there for 30 seconds before you lift it onto the clean plate. Budget additional time for more pieces, slow probe readings and cleaning. If it has not reached that endpoint, keep it gently poaching and recheck; neither the suggested minutes nor the colour of the meat replaces the temperature hold.

Will the chicken breast make the broth rich on its own?

Boneless breast contributes chicken flavour but does not produce the body of a long-simmered bone stock during this short poach. Use prepared stock you enjoy and keep the vegetables pale for a clean, savoury broth. Taste before adding salt, especially if the stock was made from cubes.