How to Make Classic Chicken Noodle Soup With One Pot

Chicken noodle soup is the perfect meal to take you out of grilling season and into the days of comforting, cold-weather food. If you've only had chicken soup from your parents' kitchen or out of a can, you might assume the recipe takes more time than it's worth. But a soul-warming dish doesn't have to be labor-intensive: Martha Stewart's take on the recipe can be achieved with just one pot and 20 minutes of active cooking time.

Stewart's recipe for one-pot classic chicken noodle soup, from her book One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals from Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More, keeps things simple. Start with a whole chicken cut into eight pieces, or about four pounds of separate chicken parts, and add it to a stock pot with four cups of chicken broth, five cups of water, and one teaspoon of salt. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low, skimming any foam off the surface as you go.

After giving the liquid a chance to simmer for five minutes, add your vegetables and aromatics: two sliced onions, four sliced carrots, 12 sprigs of parsley, two sliced celery stalks, and four crushed cloves of garlic. Partially cover the pot and let it simmer for 25 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it, along with the parsley, from the broth. Toss out the parsley and tear the chicken from the bones until you have about three cups of meat. Bring the broth back to a boil, then add two ounces of angel hair pasta and simmer for five minutes. Add the chicken meat back in and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe makes about eight servings, which works perfectly as a meal for a crowd or a make-ahead lunch for the week. If you're looking for more low-stress comfort food, check out this recipe for the world's best macaroni and cheese.

[h/t Martha Stewart]