There is nothing quite like a steaming bowl of comforting soup when you want something warm, wholesome, and delicious. Homemade canned chicken noodle soup is a classic meal that brings back wonderful memories of home cooking and simple times. This recipe is all about creating a rich and flavorful base packed with tender chicken, colorful vegetables, and hearty noodles that you can preserve right in your own pantry. Canning your own soup means you always have a healthy, convenient option ready whenever hunger strikes or when you need a comforting dish without spent hours in the kitchen. Learning this skill allows you to take full control of your ingredients, ensuring that every jar is filled with real food, natural flavors, and zero artificial preservatives. It is a wonderful feeling to look at your pantry shelves lined with golden jars of complete meals that you prepared with your own hands.
People all over the world love this particular dish because it strikes the perfect balance between incredible comfort and absolute convenience. Store bought canned soups often contain excessive amounts of sodium, mystery additives, and soft soggy ingredients that lack real flavor. When you make this recipe at home, you get to experience vibrant taste, rich chicken broth, and perfectly textured vegetables that retain their wholesome goodness. The rich aroma that fills your kitchen while brewing this stock creates an inviting atmosphere that brings family members together. Families adore this recipe because it saves time on busy weeknights while still delivering the homemade warmth that everyone craves. It is also extremely budget friendly, allowing you to buy fresh ingredients in bulk, process them safely, and enjoy cost effective meals for many months into the future.
You will find that there are so many wonderful moments to make and enjoy this classic soup throughout the entire year. It is the ultimate comfort food for cold winter days when the weather outside is freezing and you want something to warm your body from the inside out. When someone in your home feels unwell or comes down with a seasonal cold, a hot jar of this nutritious soup provides instant comfort, hydration, and gentle nourishment. Active individuals and fitness lovers also appreciate this meal because it offers a clean source of lean protein, helpful hydration, and easy to digest carbohydrates that support muscle recovery after workout sessions. Beyond everyday health, it is ideal for meal prep enthusiasts, busy parents, camping trips, or emergency food supply cupboards. Having this nutritious meal ready to heat and serve saves your busy schedule without compromising your health goals.
Preparing your own home canned meals gives you a sense of pride and self reliance that is deeply satisfying. When you cook a large batch, you are investing in your personal health, your grocery budget, and your overall convenience for the weeks and months ahead. The process itself is therapeutic, as you chop fresh carrots, celery, and onions, smelling the fresh herbs, and watching the clear broth turn into a deep golden color. It is a wonderful traditional skill that connects us to simple cooking methods that have nourished families for generations. Once you experience the superior taste of your own canned soup, you will never want to go back to store bought versions ever again. This comprehensive guide will walk you through every single step in extremely clear detail so that even absolute beginners can complete this process safely and successfully.
Ingredients You Will Need
To ensure your soup tastes incredible and stays safe during pressure canning, gather the following simple, high quality ingredients in their precise amounts:
- 3 pounds of bone in, skin on chicken breasts or whole chicken pieces
- 12 cups of fresh water or low sodium chicken stock
- 3 cups of fresh carrots, washed and sliced into small rounds
- 3 cups of fresh celery, washed and sliced into thin pieces
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled and diced into small cubes
- 4 cloves of fresh garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons of salt, adjusted according to your personal taste
- 1 teaspoon of cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups of wide egg noodles, cooked separately and added only when serving
Step by Step Method
Step 1: Preparing the Chicken Broth Base
Place your large soup pot on your stove top over medium heat. Add the olive oil and let it warm up for about one minute. Add your diced yellow onions, sliced carrots, and sliced celery into the pot. Stir the vegetables slowly with a wooden spoon and cook them for about five to seven minutes until the onions become soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for one more minute until you can smell its rich fragrance. Next, place your raw chicken pieces directly into the pot with the vegetables. Pour in the twelve cups of fresh water or stock. Add the salt, black pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, and bay leaves. Bring the whole mixture to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, put a lid on your pot, and let everything simmer gently for forty five minutes until the chicken is completely tender and cooked through.
Step 2: Shredding the Meat and Sorting the Stock
Carefully remove the cooked chicken pieces from the pot using tongs and place them on a clean cutting board to cool down. Leave the simmering vegetable broth on low heat. Once the chicken is cool enough to touch, remove and discard the skin and bones. Use two forks or your clean hands to shred or cut the chicken meat into bite sized pieces. Return all the shredded chicken meat back into the pot with the broth and cooked vegetables. Stir everything thoroughly and let it simmer together for five minutes. Taste the broth carefully and add a tiny bit more salt or pepper if you feel it needs more flavor. Remember to remove and discard the whole bay leaves at this point.
Step 3: Preparing the Canning Jars and Pressure Canner
Wash your glass canning jars, metal lids, and screw bands in hot soapy water, then rinse them completely clean. Keep your glass jars warm in a pot of hot water or in a warm oven so they do not break when hot soup is poured inside them. Fill your pressure canner with about two to three inches of water according to the instructions provided by your pressure canner manufacturer, and set it on the stove top over low heat to warm up. Note that soup containing meat must always be processed in a pressure canner for safety, never in a simple water bath canner.
Step 4: Packing the Jars
Using a canning funnel, carefully ladle the hot soup, chicken, and vegetables into your warm glass jars. Ensure that the chicken and vegetables are evenly distributed among all the jars. Leave exactly one inch of space at the top of each jar, which is known as headspace. This extra space allows the soup to expand safely during the canning process. Important note: do not add the raw or cooked noodles into the jars at this stage because pasta breaks down during pressure canning and can interfere with proper heat distribution.
Step 5: Sealing the Jars
Take a clean, damp paper towel and carefully wipe the rims of each filled glass jar to remove any food bits, grease, or broth droplets. A completely clean rim is essential for creating an airtight seal. Place a flat canning lid on top of each jar, making sure the sealing compound sits directly on the glass rim. Screw the metal band down over the lid until it is fingertip tight. Do not overtighten the bands, as air needs to escape from the jars during the heating process.
Step 6: Processing in the Pressure Canner
Carefully place your filled jars into the warm pressure canner using a jar lifter tool. Lock the canner lid securely in place according to its manual instructions. Turn the stove heat up to medium high and allow steam to vent freely from the petcock or vent pipe for ten full minutes. After ten minutes of continuous venting, place the weighted gauge on top or close the vent valve. Allow the pressure inside the canner to rise to ten pounds of pressure, adjusting for your altitude if you live high above sea level. Process pint jars for seventy five minutes or quart jars for ninety minutes while maintaining steady pressure throughout the entire time.
Step 7: Cooling and Storing
When the processing time is complete, turn off the heat completely and let the pressure canner cool down naturally. Do not touch the weight or force the valve open, as sudden pressure changes can crack the glass jars. Once the pressure gauge reads zero and the safety lock drops, carefully remove the lid. Use your jar lifter to remove the hot jars and set them on a clean towel on your kitchen counter. Leave them undisturbed for twenty four hours. You will hear satisfying popping sounds as the jars cool down and seal. After twenty four hours, check each lid by pressing the center. If the lid does not flex up and down, it is fully sealed. Store your sealed jars in a cool, dark place like a pantry.
Step 8: Serving with Fresh Noodles
When you are ready to eat your delicious creation, open a jar of your canned soup and pour it into a saucepan. Bring the soup to a gentle boil over medium heat. In a separate small pot, cook your wide egg noodles in boiling water until they are tender, then drain them thoroughly. Add the cooked, hot noodles directly into your warm soup pot just before serving. Dish out into bowls and enjoy your warm, home cooked meal.
Why This Recipe Is Special
This homemade canned chicken noodle soup stands out because it offers unmatched taste, amazing health perks, and complete peace of mind. Commercial options available at the store often rely heavily on chemical preservatives, high levels of sodium, and synthetic flavor enhancers like monosodium glutamate. By making this recipe in your own kitchen, you control every single ingredient, ensuring that your family consumes pure, wholesome food made with real vegetables and lean protein.
From a health standpoint, this soup is packed with nutritional benefits that support your physical wellbeing. The chicken meat provides high quality lean protein that aids in muscle maintenance, body tissue repair, and overall strength. The combination of carrots, celery, garlic, and onions delivers essential vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin C, along with protective antioxidants that boost your immune system. Furthermore, warm chicken broth is well known for providing gentle hydration, soothing sore throats, and breaking up congestion when you are feeling sick.
The taste profile of this soup is vastly superior to mass produced canned foods. Because you brown the aromatic vegetables and simmer the chicken directly in the broth, the soup develops a deep, rich, authentic flavor that feels homemade in every bite. The vegetables retain their pleasant color and texture, while the chicken stays soft and tender. Having jars of this nutritious, mouthwatering meal sitting in your pantry means you never have to choose between convenience and healthy eating.
Extra Tips for Better Taste
- Use bone in chicken pieces during the initial broth making phase because chicken bones release valuable collagen and deep mineral richness into the soup.
- Roast your onions, carrots, and celery in the oven with a light drizzle of olive oil before adding them to the pot for a deeper, caramelized flavor base.
- Toss in a small pinch of red pepper flakes or a dash of fresh lemon juice right when you reheat the soup to brighten up the overall taste before serving.
- Always cook your noodles separately in water and add them only when reheating to serve, which prevents the pasta from absorbing all the liquid and turning mushy inside the jars.
- Add fresh herbs like chopped parsley, dill, or chives to your bowl right at the dinner table to give the dish a wonderful burst of fresh color and taste.
- If you prefer a thicker broth, stir a small cornstarch slurry into your saucepan while reheating the soup on the stove before serving.
Final Thoughts
Making your own homemade canned chicken noodle soup is a truly rewarding experience that brings pure comfort, fantastic health benefits, and remarkable convenience right to your kitchen table. With a small investment of time, you can fill your pantry shelves with delicious, ready to heat meals that nourish your loved ones whenever life gets busy. This straightforward process allows you to enjoy true quality ingredients without any hidden additives or excessive salt. Give this wonderful recipe a try on your next weekend cooking session, and enjoy the comforting satisfaction of having rich, home cooked meals always within arm reach.
Nutrition Details
Here is the estimated nutritional breakdown for one single serving of this delicious chicken noodle soup, calculated including the added egg noodles:
| Calories | 280 kcal |
| Total Fat | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 65 mg |
| Sodium | 580 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 26 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Protein | 25 g |
| Vitamin A | 120% DV |
| Vitamin C | 15% DV |
| Calcium | 6% DV |
| Iron | 12% DV |
Note: Recipe yield is approximately six quart jars or twelve single serving portions.
Disclaimer
Everyone’s body, health needs, and dietary requirements are completely unique, so individual nutritional results and health effects may vary from person to person. The nutritional values provided in this article are general estimations based on standard ingredient calculations and should be used only as an informal guide. Always ensure that you follow official home canning safety guidelines closely to prevent food spoilage or contamination. If you have specific medical conditions, food allergies, strict dietary limits, or health concerns, please consult with a qualified healthcare professional or a registered dietitian before making significant changes to your regular meal plans.