Sicilian Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Whether you call it Sicilian Chicken Soup or Italian Chicken soup, it’s still the most flavorful chicken noodle soup you will ever eat! Simple, comforting, and soul-feeding.
Why You’ll Love This
I finally found a Sicilian Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that comes close to my Papa’s.
My grandfather came to the states from Sicily when he was 16 years old. He made the BEST chicken noodle soup I have ever eaten.
I have tried to duplicate Papa’s chicken noodle soup for years but could never get it just right. I would come close, but it always seemed like it was missing something.
This is almost (not quite) like my grandfather’s chicken soup recipe. He never added tomatoes or potatoes. This is definitely more like Carrabba’s Italian Grill Mama Mandola’s Sicilian chicken soup.
Some of our other favorite soup recipes are our thick chilli recipe, tomato basil soup, root vegetable soup, broccoli cheese soup, and shrimp and sausage gumbo.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken Stock – Whole chicken, carrots, celery, yellow onion, red bell pepper, potatoes, and fire-roasted tomatoes.
- Seasonings – Garlic, fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Short Cut Pasta – Ditalini pasta is typical in rustic Italian soups. But you can use elbow, tubettini, or orzo pasta.
How to Make Sicilian Chicken Noodle Soup
You start by making the stock. Yes, it’s a whole chicken and a little time-consuming to prepare. I made this on a day off when I knew I had plenty of time. I promise it’s worth the effort.
In a large stock pot or dutch oven place the whole chicken, onion, celery, carrots, bell pepper, potatoes, and diced tomatoes with their juices. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.
If it starts to foam on the top just skim the foam off and discard it.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Add parsley, garlic, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 2 hours or until the chicken is falling off the bones.
Pull the chicken out and let it cool long enough to be able to handle it easily.
Reduce the heat to low and continue simmering the soup.
When cool enough to handle debone and shred the chicken meat (discarding the skin and bones).
Use a potato masher a few times then place the shredded chicken meat back in the pot with the broth.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
We cook the noodles in a separate pot and just add them to our bowls when serving. The noodles will eventually absorb all the broth and then it will no longer be soup…you get stew instead.
Trust me this has happened in my kitchen. It’s still just as delicious but there is just not much broth remaining.
Serve this Sicilian chicken noodle soup with lots of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese and enjoy the best soup you’ve ever eaten!
Tips
- We typically use a whole chicken for this soup but you can use skin-on bone-in chicken thighs, chicken leg quarters, or chicken breasts. You will achieve a deeper flavor with the chicken dark meat.
- Cut the vegetables into 1/2-inch dice. This soup cooks for a while and you don’t want the veggies to cook away.
- If you like it spicier (like Carrabba’s Spicy Sicilian Chicken Soup) add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- Add the cooked pasta to each individual bowl.
FAQs
Yes! Make the soup stock, let it cool to room temperature, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. When ready to serve, reheat the soup, and boil the pasta separately.
Yes, but you will get a more flavorful soup cooking it on the stovetop. To make in the slow cooker place all the ingredients, 4 cups of water, and 4 cups of chicken stock (not the pasta) in the crock of the slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours, remove the chicken, debone and shred the chicken. Place the shredded chicken back in and cook another 2 hours. Proceed with the recipe as instructed. Don’t use the 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, salt to taste because you are using chicken stock which can be high in sodium.
Let the soup cool to room temperature, place it in an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 4 days. I highly recommend storing the noodles and soup separately. The pasta will soak up the soup, so you will need to add more chicken stock if stored assembled.
Freeze the cooled down soup in a freezer-safe airtight container for up to 3 months. Be aware that the potatoes will change in texture. Potatoes tend to become grainy and mushy after freezing.
More Italian Soup Recipes
Sicilian Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 4-5 lbs, giblets removed
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 celery ribs diced
- 3 large carrots diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 2 medium russet potatoes peeled and diced into ½ -inch dice
- 1 14.5 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- ½ cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp kosher salt more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- ½ lb. ditalini pasta
Instructions
- In a large stock pot or dutch oven place the whole chicken, onion, red peppers, celery, carrots, potatoes, fire roasted tomatoes with their juices. Add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.1 whole chicken, 1 yellow onion, 4 celery ribs, 3 large carrots, 1 red bell pepper, 2 medium russet potatoes, 1 14.5 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
- Bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add parsley, garlic, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and pepper to taste.½ cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover partially with a lid.
- Let it simmer for about 2 hours until the chicken is falling off the bone. Remove chicken and let it cool, for about 30 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
- Taste the stock and season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Reduce heat to low and let the soup continue to simmer.
- Remove all the meat from the chicken and shred the chicken into pieces. Discard the skin and bones.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a medium pot according to package directions until tender. Drain. Do not add uncooked pasta to the soup or it will soak up too much liquid and make the soup thick and more like a stew. Drain well and set aside in a serving bowl.½ lb. ditalini pasta
- Using a potato masher, mash the soup around a few times, letting some of the potatoes get a little smashed. About 3 to 4 mashes, not too much.
- Add the shredded chicken to the pot. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve garnished (heavily in our house) with grated parmesan or romano cheese.
What a great soup for a cold winter’s night!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! See you again tomorrow! Pinned!
Thank you Elaine!
I love a good homemade soup! Happy Holidays and thanks for sharing on Throwback Thursday and I’ll be pinning this to our TBT pinterest! Hope to see you next Thursday!!
Oh I have never made homemade chicken noodle soup it’s definitely now on my list to try! Thank you so much for linking up another fabulous recipe. #sharewithme
Looks yummy. I could of used some today. I was feeling under the weather. Pinned & shared. Thanks for joining the Inspiration Spotlight party.
What are you doing to me this morning!! You’re making me so hungry.. brownies and Sicilian Chicken Noodle Soup!! I’m so hungry.
Thanks for sharing with us at #MMBH, another pin from me 🙂
XOXO
Thank you!
Oh, wow! Thanks for sharing this. It looks fabulous.
Ooh this looks right up my street! I love making noddle broth but have never tried an Italian style one. I will definitely try and give this a go next time I get a free day. Thanks for sharing #brilliantblogposts x
I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by!
This looks absolutely delish! Have you tried skipping the noodles and adding tons of extra veggies?
No, I being from an Italian family would never consider skipping the noodles. 😉 But I bet it would be just as delicious!
This looks like the perfect recipe for a cold day, or when you’re feeling a bit off.
Thanks for sharing at the #FFBH! <3
I have never put tomato in my chicken noodle soup, but this looks absolutely amazing! I need to give it a try!
This looks delicious!
Yum! This looks delicious, and something my whole family will love! Pinning for later 🙂 #SmallVictories
Thank you Danita!