This recipe for quick gluten free chicken noodle soup is made the easy way, and dressed up with easy homemade spaetzle noodle dumplings.
I almost always begin a recipe with something like: “Preheat your oven to 350°F.” Not this time. Today we're making the easiest rustic gluten free chicken noodle soup, with everything (including the noodles!) cooked in one big pot of comforting, aromatic soup goodness right on the stovetop. The chicken is poached in the pot first with the vegetables, which leaves it moist and tender.
If you've been reading this blog faithfully for quite a while, you'll recognize that bowl of noodles right there in the above photo as our gluten free spaetzle dumplings. My whole family adores those little bites of goodness, and they can be boiled right here in the soup, or more traditionally in boiling salted water, then added to each bowl just before serving.
Since this really is a cooking, not a baking recipe, feel free to mix up the aromatics. If your family doesn't love carrots but cheers for parsnips (okay not likely but still) or butternut squash, go ahead and make the switch. Don't like mushrooms? Leave them out entirely, or add some fresh spinach at the end, and let it wilt in the soup while the shredded chicken is heating through. And stay warm! Baby it's cold outside.
Quick Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
1 recipe raw gluten free spaetzle dumplings dough
2 tablespoons (28 g) extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken breasts (bone-in or boneless)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves)
1 bay leaf
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced
12 cups (96 fluid ounces) low-sodium chicken broth (or a mixture of chicken broth and water mixed with 1 recipe homemade vegetable bouillon)
6 ounces button or baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Flat leaf parsley, chopped (for serving)
Instructions
In a large bowl, prepare the spaetzle dumplings dough according to the recipe instructions, but without the nutmeg. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the soup (and up to 2 days). I often make a double recipe of the spaetzle dough ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator. One night, I use half of the dough for this recipe, another night to serve in place of pasta in another dish.
Cook the chicken with the aromatics. In the bottom of a large, heavy-bottom stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive chicken over medium heat. Add the breasts in a single layer and cook for 3 minutes without disturbing them. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper and thyme, and add the bay leaf, carrots, celery and onion. Pour in enough tap water to cover the chicken by 2 inches, and bring the water to a boil. Skim off and discard any white foam that forms at the top. Reduce the heat to medium-low to bring the liquid to a simmer, cover the pot and allow it to cook for about 8 minutes or until it is opaque throughout and registers 165°F on an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken. If you used bone-in chicken, it will take a bit longer to cook through. Remove just the chicken from the liquid, leaving behind the carrots, celery and onion. Place the chicken on a plate, remove from the bone if any, and shred the meat with two forks. Set the chicken aside.
Cook the dumplings and finish. Add the chicken broth and mushrooms. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil over medium-high heat. Remove the spaetzle dumpling dough from the refrigerator, uncover, and add the dough to the boiling liquid either through a spaetzle maker, large box grater or by the teaspoonful. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the dumplings are cooked through (about 5 minutes). Reduce to a simmer, add the shredded chicken and cook until the chicken is heated through. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve hot.
Abby says
I’m wondering how long the leftovers will keep before the dumplings get too mushy or disintegrate? That’s the problem I always have with gf chicken noodle soup! Thanks for the recipes! You’re my go-to source for all my gf needs!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Abby, Believe it or not, these homemade dumplings/noodles keep amazingly well. I’ve eaten leftover soup with dumplings in it 3 days after it was made, and it tasted like new once it was heated through. You can also make the dumplings separately by boiling them in salted water, then drain them, toss them with some olive oil and they’ll keep beautifully in the refrigerator separately for a few days, too.
Monica Balt says
This looks really delicious! Next week I’m planning a Chinese menu at home and I want to try this as a starter (omitting the noodles this time), followed by moo shu pork with your gluten-free scallion pancakes instead of mandarin pancakes. And by the way, thank you for recipes and keep up the good work! Today we had your custard pie for desert and we just couldn’t get enough. At last I have a gluten free pie crust recipe that I can be proud of!
Nicole Hunn says
Ooooh that sounds delicious, Monica! And I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the pie. Pride is so important, isn’t it? I hadn’t ever really thought of it like that before, but I think that’s what I’m trying to restore with all the recipes I write. Thank you for putting it that way! ?