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Chicken and noodles is the Midwestern supper that every mother made from scratch without thinking of it as work. A whole chicken went into the big pot after breakfast and simmered until it fell apart. While it did, a stiff yellow egg dough was rolled thin, cut into strips and hung up to dry. By suppertime the noodles went into the broth, the chicken went back in, and the pot came to the table.
Homemade noodles are thick, uneven and chewy, and because they are dusted with flour and dried rather than boiled fresh, they thicken the broth as they cook. That is what turns a clear chicken soup into chicken and noodles: a creamy, pale gravy clinging to every noodle, with no cream added. Then there is what goes under it. In Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and a good part of Kansas, it is served over mashed potatoes, starch on starch. Families from further east eat it in a bowl like soup. This recipe is written the first way.
Why this chicken and noodles works
- A whole chicken for the broth. Bones, skin and dark meat make a rich, golden broth that a package of breasts cannot.
- Eggs, flour, a little milk and salt. A stiff egg dough rolls thin without tearing and cooks up chewy and yellow.
- Two hours of drying on the chair. Dried noodles hold their shape in the broth, and the flour dust they carry in thickens it into the creamy gravy this dish is known for.
- Twenty minutes in the broth. Long enough for thick noodles to cook through and the broth to thicken, with the chicken added at the end so it does not dry out.
Ingredients
Serves 6 to 8 over mashed potatoes. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
For the chicken and broth
- 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds, 1.8kg)
- 1 large yellow onion, halved
- 2 celery ribs, cut in thirds
- 2 carrots, cut in thirds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fine salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 10 cups cold water (2.4 liters), or enough to cover
For the noodles
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (315g), plus more for rolling and dusting
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons whole milk (45ml), or a little of the cooled broth
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
To finish and serve
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28g)
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Mashed potatoes for 6 to 8, from about 3 pounds of potatoes (1.4kg)
The noodle dough should be stiffer than pie dough. Make the mashed potatoes while the noodles cook.
How to make chicken and noodles
The broth
- Put the chicken in a large pot (8 quarts) with the onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, 1 tablespoon salt and the pepper. Add cold water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then lower to a bare simmer, cover partly, and cook 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is falling from the bones.
- Lift the chicken out onto a platter to cool. Strain the broth, discard the vegetables, and return the broth to the pot. You should have about 8 cups (2 liters); add water if you have less. Skim off some of the fat, but leave a few spoonfuls.
- Pull the meat off the bones in bite-sized shreds, discarding the skin and bones. Cover and set aside.
The noodles
- While the chicken simmers, make the noodles. Mound the flour on a clean counter or in a wide bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack in the eggs, add the milk and salt, and stir with a fork, pulling in flour from the sides, until a shaggy dough forms.
- Knead by hand for about 5 minutes, adding flour if it sticks, until smooth, stiff and no longer tacky. Cover with the upturned bowl and let it rest 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough in two. On a well-floured counter, roll each half as thin as you can without tearing, about 1/16 inch. Dust the top with flour. Cut into strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide with a sharp knife, then across into 3 to 4 inch lengths. Uneven is right.
- Hang a clean, dry dish towel over the back of a kitchen chair and drape the noodles over it in a single layer. Leave them to dry for about 2 hours, until they are leathery on the outside but still bend without snapping. Do not sit in the chair.
Putting it together
- Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Drop in the noodles a handful at a time, flour dust and all, stirring gently so they do not clump. Lower to a steady simmer and cook uncovered about 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the noodles are tender and chewy and the broth has thickened to a creamy, pale gravy.
- Stir in the shredded chicken and the butter and simmer 5 minutes more. Taste and add salt and pepper; it will need more salt than you think.
- Spoon a mound of mashed potatoes into each bowl and ladle the chicken and noodles over it.
Tips that make the difference
- Roll thinner than you think. The noodles swell to nearly twice their thickness in the broth.
- Leave the flour on the noodles when they go into the pot. It is the thickener.
- If the broth gets too thick before the noodles are tender, add a cup of hot water. If it stays thin, simmer 5 minutes longer.
- Make the noodles the day before if the afternoon is short. Dried overnight, they keep in a paper bag for a week.
Variations
- In a bowl like soup. Add 2 extra cups of broth and skip the potatoes, for the families from further east.
- With vegetables. Add 1 cup each of diced carrot and celery to the broth 10 minutes before the noodles.
- Creamier. Stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream (120ml) with the chicken. Not traditional, but nobody sends it back.
- Frozen noodles. Dry them fully, freeze them in bags, and drop them frozen into the boiling broth; add 5 minutes.
Storage and make-ahead
Leftovers keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days. The noodles keep drinking the broth, so loosen it with a splash of water or milk as it reheats.
The broth and shredded chicken can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Bring the broth back to a boil and cook the noodles fresh. The finished dish does not freeze well; freeze the broth and the dried noodles separately instead.
Frequently asked questions
Why dry the noodles on a chair?
Because a towel over a chair back lets air reach both sides, and every kitchen has a chair. A rack works too; the point is that the noodles dry on the outside before they cook, so they keep their chew and thicken the broth.
Can I use store-bought frozen egg noodles?
Yes. Cook them the same 20 minutes in the broth. They carry less flour, so if the broth is thin, whisk 2 tablespoons flour into 1/4 cup cold water and stir it in for the last 5 minutes.
Why is my broth thin instead of creamy?
The noodles were not dried long enough, the flour was shaken off, there was too much broth, or the pot was covered. Dry them 2 hours, keep the flour on, and simmer uncovered.
Over mashed potatoes, really?
Really. Across the central Midwest it is the only way it is served, at every potluck and family reunion. Try it once before you argue.
Simmer the whole bird, roll the noodles thin, hang them on the chair, and cook them in the broth until it turns creamy. Then serve it over mashed potatoes and let the table argue.
Chicken and Homemade Noodles (Dried on the Back of a Chair)
Old-fashioned chicken and homemade noodles: a whole chicken simmered for the broth, egg noodles rolled thin, cut with a knife and dried two hours on a towel over a chair back, cooked in the broth with the shredded chicken and served over mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 1 large yellow onion, halved
- 2 celery ribs, cut in thirds
- 2 carrots, cut in thirds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fine salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 10 cups cold water (2.4 liters), or enough to cover
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (315g), plus more for rolling and dusting
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons whole milk (45ml), or a little of the cooled broth
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Mashed potatoes for 6 to 8, from about 3 pounds of potatoes
Instructions
- Put the chicken in a large pot (8 quarts) with the onion, celery, carrots, bay leaves, 1 tablespoon salt and the pepper. Add cold water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam, then lower to a bare simmer, cover partly, and cook 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is falling from the bones.
- Lift the chicken out onto a platter to cool. Strain the broth, discard the vegetables, and return the broth to the pot. You should have about 8 cups (2 liters); add water if you have less. Skim off some of the fat, but leave a few spoonfuls.
- Pull the meat off the bones in bite-sized shreds, discarding the skin and bones. Cover and set aside.
- While the chicken simmers, make the noodles. Mound the flour on a clean counter or in a wide bowl and make a well in the middle. Crack in the eggs, add the milk and salt, and stir with a fork, pulling in flour from the sides, until a shaggy dough forms.
- Knead by hand for about 5 minutes, adding flour if it sticks, until smooth, stiff and no longer tacky. Cover with the upturned bowl and let it rest 15 minutes.
- Divide the dough in two. On a well-floured counter, roll each half as thin as you can without tearing, about 1/16 inch. Dust the top with flour. Cut into strips 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide with a sharp knife, then across into 3 to 4 inch lengths. Uneven is right.
- Hang a clean, dry dish towel over the back of a kitchen chair and drape the noodles over it in a single layer. Leave them to dry for about 2 hours, until they are leathery on the outside but still bend without snapping. Do not sit in the chair.
- Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Drop in the noodles a handful at a time, flour dust and all, stirring gently so they do not clump. Lower to a steady simmer and cook uncovered about 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the noodles are tender and chewy and the broth has thickened to a creamy, pale gravy.
- Stir in the shredded chicken and the butter and simmer 5 minutes more. Taste and add salt and pepper; it will need more salt than you think.
- Spoon a mound of mashed potatoes into each bowl and ladle the chicken and noodles over it.
