Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken noodle soup has a reputation as the soup you make when someone is unwell — and that reputation is entirely deserved.

A clear, golden, deeply flavoured chicken broth with tender shredded chicken and soft egg noodles has a restorative quality that is difficult to explain but impossible to deny. It is one of the most comforting things you can eat.

Mary Berry’s chicken noodle soup recipe makes a proper broth from scratch — a whole chicken simmered with vegetables and aromatics for over an hour to produce a stock of genuine depth and richness.

This is not the soup you make with a stock cube and leftover chicken. It is the one that fills the kitchen with a smell so wonderful that everyone comes to the kitchen to ask what is cooking.

It takes time — the broth needs two hours — but almost none of that time is active. And what you end up with is something that tastes genuinely restorative, deeply satisfying, and completely unlike anything made from a tin.

Why Making the Broth From Scratch Matters

A chicken noodle soup is only as good as its broth. The broth is everything — the flavour, the colour, the character of the entire dish.

A broth made from scratch by simmering a whole chicken with onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaves for two hours produces a liquid of extraordinary depth and richness — naturally golden, slightly gelatinous from the collagen in the bones, and intensely flavoured. The chicken that comes out of the broth is perfectly tender and used directly in the soup.

A broth made from a stock cube is thin, slightly artificial, and salty. The soup made from it is adequate rather than exceptional.

Make the broth. It takes two hours of almost zero effort and produces something in a completely different category.

Ingredients for Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup

For the Chicken Broth

• 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.5kg)
• 2 large carrots, halved
• 2 celery sticks, halved
• 1 large onion, halved (skin on — it colours the broth golden)
• 1 whole head of garlic, halved horizontally
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 4 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley stalks
• 2 litres cold water
• 2 tsp fine salt

For the Soup

• The strained broth (approximately 1.5 litres)
• The cooked chicken, shredded (from the broth chicken)
• 200g medium egg noodles
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
• 1 leek, washed and finely sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to finish
• Juice of ½ lemon

How to Make Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup — Step by Step

Step 1 — Make the Broth

Place the whole chicken in a very large saucepan. Add the halved carrots, celery, onion (skin on), halved garlic head, peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, and parsley stalks. Pour over the cold water and add the salt.

Bring slowly to the boil, skimming off any grey foam that rises to the surface — this keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting. Once boiling, reduce to the gentlest possible simmer — the surface should barely tremble. Cover partially and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours until the chicken is completely cooked through and very tender.

Step 2 — Strain and Shred

Remove the chicken carefully from the broth and set aside to cool slightly.

Pour the broth through a fine sieve into a large clean bowl or saucepan, discarding all the vegetables and aromatics — they have given everything they have to the broth.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, strip all the meat from the bones. Discard the skin and bones. Shred the meat into generous pieces.

Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning — it should taste clearly and deeply of chicken.

Step 3 — Cook the Fresh Vegetables

Return the strained broth to the heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the sliced carrots, celery, and leek. Cook for eight to ten minutes until tender but still with a slight bite.

Step 4 — Cook the Noodles

Add the egg noodles to the simmering broth. Cook according to the packet instructions — usually three to four minutes for medium egg noodles — until just tender.

Step 5 — Add the Chicken and Finish

Add the shredded chicken to the soup. Warm through for two minutes. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Taste and season generously with salt and pepper.

Scatter with fresh flat-leaf parsley. Serve immediately in deep, warm bowls.

My Top Tips For Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup

Leave the onion skin on when making the broth. The onion skin colours the broth a beautiful golden colour that is the visual hallmark of a well-made chicken noodle soup. Peeled onion gives a paler, less appetising broth.

Skim the foam. In the first 10 to 15 minutes of simmering, grey foam rises to the surface. Remove it with a spoon or ladle. This keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy and slightly bitter.

Barely simmer the broth. The broth should barely tremble rather than bubble. A rolling boil makes the broth cloudy and slightly greasy. A bare simmer produces a clear, clean, deeply flavoured broth.

Add fresh vegetables to the finished broth. The broth vegetables are discarded because they have given all their flavour to the liquid. Fresh carrots, celery, and leek added to the finished broth give texture and freshness that the broth vegetables cannot.

Cook the noodles in the broth — not separately. Cooking the noodles directly in the broth means they absorb some of the broth’s flavour as they cook. Cooking them separately and adding them drains that flavour away and gives you noodles that taste of water rather than broth.

Add lemon juice at the end. A squeeze of lemon juice added just before serving brightens all the flavours and gives the soup a freshness that makes it taste alive rather than flat.

Serving Suggestions

In deep bowls with crusty bread alongside — simple, complete, restorative. With a side of crackers for something lighter. As the first course of a simple dinner, served in small cups. Made for someone who is under the weather and needs feeding well.

How to Store Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup

In the fridge: Store soup and noodles separately for up to 3 days — noodles stored in the soup become soft and bloated. Reheat the soup and add fresh noodles when serving.

Broth only (without noodles and chicken): Stores in the fridge for up to 5 days or freezes for up to 6 months. A frozen batch of homemade chicken broth is one of the most useful things to have in a freezer.

Mary Berry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Mary Berry's chicken noodle soup is a deeply restorative, golden broth with tender chicken and soft noodles — made entirely from scratch.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 50 minutes mins

Servings: 5 Portions

Course: Soup

Cuisine: British

Calories: 310

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• Chicken Broth:
• 1 whole chicken about 1.5kg
• 2 large carrots halved
• 2 celery sticks halved
• 1 large onion halved (skin on)
• 1 whole garlic head halved
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves 4 thyme sprigs, parsley stalks
• 2 litres cold water
• 2 tsp fine salt
• Soup:
• Strained broth approximately 1.5 litres
• Shredded chicken from the broth
• 200 g medium egg noodles
• 2 carrots finely sliced
• 2 celery sticks finely sliced
• 1 leek finely sliced
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley to finish
• Salt and pepper

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Method

 

1. Place whole chicken in a large pan with all broth vegetables and aromatics. Cover with cold water. Add salt. Bring slowly to the boil, skimming foam. Reduce to a bare simmer. Cover partially. Cook 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
2. Remove chicken. Strain broth through a fine sieve. Discard vegetables. Strip and shred chicken meat. Discard skin and bones.
3. Return broth to heat. Bring to a gentle simmer. Add sliced carrots, celery, and leek. Cook 8–10 minutes until tender.
4. Add noodles. Cook 3–4 minutes until just tender.
5. Add shredded chicken. Warm 2 minutes. Squeeze over lemon juice. Season generously. Scatter parsley. Serve immediately.

Notes

Leave onion skin on — it colours the broth golden.

Skim foam in the first 15 minutes for a clear, clean broth.

Barely simmer — a rolling boil makes the broth cloudy.

Add fresh vegetables to the finished broth — not the broth vegetables.

Cook noodles directly in the broth — not separately.

Add lemon juice at the end — it brightens all the flavours.

Freeze broth and chicken separately from noodles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use chicken pieces instead of a whole chicken?

Yes — use 1kg of chicken thighs and drumsticks on the bone. Simmer for 1 hour rather than 1 hour 30 minutes. The broth will be slightly less rich than with a whole chicken but still very good.

Can I use shop-bought stock?

Yes — good quality fresh chicken stock from a chiller cabinet is a reasonable shortcut. Avoid stock cubes — they give a flat, salty result. If using shop-bought stock, skip the broth-making steps and start from Step 3.

Can I use rice instead of noodles?

Yes — add 100g of long-grain or basmati rice to the simmering broth in place of the noodles. Cook for 15 to 18 minutes until tender. Rice makes a slightly more substantial soup.

Why is my broth cloudy?

It simmered too vigorously. A gentle bare simmer produces a clear broth. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat into the liquid and makes it cloudy. The flavour is the same but the appearance is less elegant.

Can I freeze the finished soup?

Freeze the broth and chicken only — without the noodles. Noodles do not freeze well. Add fresh noodles when reheating.