Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup

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Do I Have To Use Chicken Fat To Make A Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup-Copy Cat Panera Bread

You might be wondering about the addition of chicken fat to our copycat Panera chicken noodle soup recipe. Shouldn’t that make it unhealthy? Chicken fat adds a rich flavor to soups, and using olive oil would make the soup slightly less flavorful.

It turns out that olive oil isn’t all that healthier than chicken fat, either. One tablespoon of chicken fat contains 115 calories, 12.7 grams of fat, and 3.8 grams of saturated fat. The same quantity of olive oil contains 119 calories, 13.5 grams of fat, and 1.9 grams of saturated fat. So the chicken fat has slightly more saturated fat, but fewer calories.

If you’re concerned, go ahead and use olive oil. It’s certainly not worth an extra trip to the store if you don’t have any. But when we did a side-by-side comparison, we discovered using a small amount of chicken fat really did amp up the flavor of the vegetables we cooked in it. You may find they’re so tasty that you’ll decide to start cooking with chicken fat more frequently!

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How to make the best chicken noodle soup recipe: Tasty, and the easiest chicken soup!!! We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. This soup can be prepared in less than a half hour, and is great comfort food, especially during cold season. Country living editors select each product featured. This easy homemade chicken noodle soup is the ultimate comfort meal. Here are 10 easy soups to warm you up this win. Fresh ginger root gives extra zest to this otherwise standard chicken noodle recipe. Find out how to make it now! Nothing says comfort like a bowl of homemade chicken. Egg noodles, carrots, celery, and chicken are simmered in broth seasoned with basil and oregano. When you dont have time to make your soup totally from scratch, this is a very easy, very good substitute. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Having a good chicken noodle soup recipe can provide comfort on those cold, damp days or days when. Soups are an easy, affordable, nutritious staple to add to your repertoire of dinner ideas.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup Garnish & Glaze from www.garnishandglaze.com

Gather The Ingredients For Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Our first step in making copycat recipes is always to go to the source. So we checked out the ingredients list on both the Panera at Home and Panera Bread’s website. The major difference between the two revolved around a single ingredient. The soup you get at Panera doesn’t contain butter, making it dairy-free. We wanted to stay true to the restaurant’s version, so we left out the butter and began gathering our ingredients accordingly.

The vegetable component of the soup includes onions, celery, and carrots. They’re cooked, along with the chicken, in chicken broth thickened with cornstarch and seasoned with garlic and spices . We also added a bay leaf to the mix for good measure. The chicken is specified as white meat chicken, so we grabbed a few chicken breasts and cut them into bite-sized chunks. The final ingredients were egg noodles, chopped parsley for garnish, and chicken fat . If you don’t have chicken fat on-hand, don’t worry you can use olive oil to make this soup instead.

From there, we got to work creating the specific ingredient quantities and step-by-step instructions, which can be found at the bottom of this article.

Also Check: Campbells Rice And Broccoli Casserole

Add A Little Cornstarch To Thicken The Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Remember how we mentioned that noodles absorb liquid, becoming soft over time? Well, they also release starches into the soup, thickening it up and giving it body. Panera’s chicken noodle soup isn’t thick like a chowder, but it’s not quite as thin as broth. Without the simmering noodles, we have to introduce an alternative ingredient to create that thickness: cornstarch.

Similar to how the starches expand in noodles as they cook, cornstarch also absorbs water until its starches thicken and gel. The small amount of cornstarch we use in this recipe won’t create a gravy-like consistency, but it does go a long way to give the soup the added texture it needs.

Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl before whisking the slurry into the soup. Simmer for about three minutes, until the soup becomes clear again and is slightly thickened. If you’re ready to serve, add the noodles and simmer for an additional minute, until they’re heated through. Otherwise, cool down the soup and add the noodles when you’re ready to reheat. Garnish the finished soup with the chopped parsley and enjoy!

Can You Use Shredded Chicken To Make Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Copycat Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup

Panera’s chicken noodle soup features chunks of tender chicken breast, so we did the same when making our copycat recipe. We used chicken breasts, but you could use chicken tenders for a similar result. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add them to the broth. After about 10 minutes, the chicken should be cooked through and tender.

Of course, if you’re not worried about authenticity, feel free to use any leftover chicken you have on hand. Rotisserie chicken will absolutely work here, as will any chopped or shredded chicken. Since this chicken is already cooked, it only needs to be heated through. You can wait to add it at the very end .

Now that the chicken is cooked, taste and season the soup with a little salt and pepper. At this point, the soup is almost finished: We only have one step left.

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Cook The Vegetables For This Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

The next step in making a successful copycat Panera chicken noodle soup recipe is to soften the vegetables. We’ll start with diced onions, sliced carrots, and sliced celery. Grab a large saucepan and heat the chicken fat over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are tender. This should take about ten minutes or less, depending on the intensity of your stovetop.

From there, we’ll add the spices that need toasting garlic, sugar, thyme, and celery seeds and cook for an additional minute. You’ll want to stir constantly at this stage to keep those small bits of garlic from burning. When you can smell the aromatic garlic, it’s time to add the chicken broth, along with the chopped chicken, bay leaf, turmeric, and onion powder. Bring the mixture to a boil very briefly before reducing the heat to a simmer.

Is Our Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Healthy

In general, Panera chicken noodle soup is pretty healthy: Each bowl-sized portion contains only 170 calories, 4 grams of fat, 21 grams of carbohydrates, and 13 grams of protein. Our copycat Panera chicken noodle soup has a similar nutritional profile, but we were able to get the sodium content down quite a bit. Each serving of Panera’s soup contains 1,490 milligrams of sodium . Using low-sodium chicken broth and seasoning the soup to taste, we reduced our sodium to 274 milligrams.

Of course, portion size is always key here. According to users on Reddit, Panera’s soup bowls contain 12 ounces of soup, or 1-1/2 cups. With that in mind, we developed the recipe below to make six Panera-sized portions. If you ladle more soup into your bowl, it’s important to remember that the nutritional content will change.

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Choosing The Right Spices For This Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Chicken noodle soup is a simple dish, so it’s important to choose the right spices. Too many spices, and you’ll overpower the delicate broth. Not enough, and the soup will taste bland. Panera’s website only lists a handful of spices, so we knew which spices to include in this copycat Panera chicken noodle soup recipe. That said, they didn’t specify any quantities nor when to add the spices. We decided to add the spices in two separate stages. The garlic, sugar, thyme, and celery seeds went in after cooking the vegetables. Then, we added the bay leaf, turmeric, and onion powder alongside the chicken and chicken broth.

The first addition allowed the green spices and seeds to toast and bloom, bringing out their essential oils. This allowed the flavor of the thyme and the celery to really shine through at the end. The sugar was also given an opportunity to dissolve and caramelize, amplifying the small amount of sugar to create a greater effect. The second set of spices the bay leaf, turmeric, and onion powder didn’t need to be toasted. They’re already plenty flavorful on their own, so adding them alongside the broth made their effect on the soup more mellow.

Does Panera Make Their Own Soup

PANERA Bread / Chicken Noodle Soup BREAD BOWL

That Soup Isnt Made In-House It may taste homemade, but that Panera soup wasnt actually prepared by the workers at your local shop. The soups are made at a factory/plant/etc., flash-frozen, shipped to us, and we thaw it out in whats called a thermalizer, essentially a soup-thawer, says one former employee.

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How Do You Make Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Youll definitely agree with me, when I tell you that my version of Panera Breads chicken noodle soup turned out even tastier than the original. I like my soups to be nice and chunky, with a bold, flavorful broth. I only used 4 cups of chicken broth and really packed in the chicken and veggies. Feel free to use another cup or two of chicken broth or even water, if you prefer more liquid to your soup. Chicken noodle soup is one of the easiest soups to whip up in a flash , the ingredients are inexpensive and it feeds a crowd.

When Im really in a hurry, sometimes I even buy pre-chopped vegetables along with the rotisserie chicken. Its the fastest way to make this chicken noodle soup recipe, and it always turns out SO good.

How Close Did We Get To The Original Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Our copycat Panera chicken noodle soup had all the same elements of the restaurant’s soup, so we absolutely consider this one a win. The chicken was tender and flavorful, and the vegetables were cooked to the perfect level. They had very little bite left, and they were almost soft enough to melt as you ate them. We loved that cooking the noodles separately kept them from getting mushy, too. Finally, the spices were spot-on, and the broth’s color was stunning .

All in all, we would absolutely make this recipe again! The 1-1/2 cup portion size was a little small for our liking for a dinner portion, so we recommend serving it with a side salad and some garlic bread to make it more filling. If you want to end up with leftovers, try doubling the recipe. It’s worth noting that cornstarch doesn’t freeze well, though, so you may want to skip it if you plan to freeze the soup for later.

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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

When its cold out or youre feeling under the weather, theres nothing better than a piping hot bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup! Loaded with good-for-you ingredients and full of flavor and comfort, this easy chicken noodle soup is a Panera Bread copycat recipe that you are going to love! Instructions included for making this chicken noodle soup recipe on the stovetop, in the slow cooker or in the Instant Pot.

This post was originally published on 12/31/2015. It was republished on 3/14/20 with new content.

This tasty soup recipe is on constant rotation at my house year round my kids love it and request it all the time! It uses simple ingredients, takes just minutes to prep, and is on the dinner table in just over 30 minutes. This hearty and comforting meal is loaded with shredded chicken, vegetables and pasta, all simmered to perfection. An easy dinner option your whole family will enjoy!

We Tried All 6 Of Panera Breads Soups To See Which Was Best And The Winner Might Surprise You

CopyCat Panera Bread Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
  • We tried six different soups from Panera Bread, including the famous broccoli cheddar and bistro French onion, and ranked them according to taste.
  • Dip-ability was also taken into account, i.e. how well the soup coats and compliments the accompanying bread.
  • After careful deliberation, a winner was chosen and it may surprise certain Panera loyalists.

Ah, Panera Bread. Is there anything better than walking inside its doors to the smell of fresh foccacia, that giant menu overhead, and those hungry online customers pushing their way to the pick-up counter?

Panera was a staple of my college diet, a beacon of lunch hope that promised fresh sandwiches, coffee, and you guessed it soups. Especially around this time of year, Paneras soups hit the spot: a good broccoli cheddar on a snowy day can cheer up even the bluest of winter blues.

But out of all of Paneras soups, which one reigns supreme? I trekked to the Panera Bread in Union Square, New York, to find out. They had six soups on their menu . I ordered and tasted them all, and the outcome may surprise certain Panera enthusiasts.

As I made my way to Panera, I started to get a bit nervous about ordering so many soups. Would they think I was a weird soup lady, on a mission to drain the store of any and all savoury liquid? Maybe

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What Noodles For Chicken Noodle Soup

I really appreciate a good chicken noodle soup recipe with classic ingredients. Panera Bread makes a super tasty all-natural chicken noodle soup and after enjoying a cup, recently, I decided to come home and recreate the deliciousness. I kept my version gluten-free by using quinoa rotini pasta from Trader Joes and honestly no one in my family could tell a difference. I really favor the texture of the rotini noodles as opposed to using long noodles or even egg noodles, but any favorite pasta noodle will work just fine in this recipe.

First Up: The Famous Broccoli Cheddar

Now would be an appropriate time to mention my bias: I love Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup. I’m not alone, either, and the internet is riddled with copycat recipes .

This time around was no different. The soup delivered its signature cheesy goodness, and generous pieces of broccoli and carrots made for scrumptious texture and taste. Panera’s broccoli cheddar is like a broccoli casserole but only the good part, the part we all love, without the unnecessary bread on top.

Which brings me to the free baguette, the soup’s perfect partner. When dipped, it sopped up an appropriate amount of liquid and tasted harmonious. Broccoli cheddar is definitely the soup to beat at Panera.

Recommended Reading: Sloppy Joes With French Onion Soup

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Chicken noodle soup in 30 minutes! Egg noodles, carrots, celery, and chicken are simmered in broth seasoned with basil and oregano. How to make the best chicken noodle soup recipe: Tasty, and the easiest chicken soup!!! When you dont have time to make your soup totally from scratch, this is a very easy, very good substitute. If you buy from a link, we may earn. Country living editors select each product featured. Warm up with this easy classic chicken noodle soup from katie lee. This soup can be prepared in less than a half hour, and is great comfort food, especially during cold season. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Sign up and get early access to steals & deals sections show more follow today more brands warm up with this easy classic chicken noodle soup from katie lee. Having a good chicken noodle soup recipe can provide comfort on those cold, damp days or days when. We use casserole mix in this speedy soup recipe which adds a range of veg without leaving lots of leftovers. Preparation time only 30 minutes.

Vegan Lentil Quinoa Broth Bowl

Copypat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

Calories: 280 Fat: 7g Carbs: 47g Protein: 12g

Alright, you caught me. This isn’t technically on Panera’s “soup” menu, but in my mind, broth + quinoa + veggies = soup…and a delicious one at that. This vegan lentil quinoa broth bowl is perfect for the health-conscious who still need their share of brothy goodness. Quinoa and an umami broth that’s a savory mixture of soy, miso, and spices, make for the perfect combo.

Recommended Reading: Lipton Onion Soup Mix Gluten Free

The Secret To Making Copycat Panera Chicken Noodle Soup

If there was a secret to making the perfect copycat Panera chicken noodle soup, it’s all in the treatment of the noodles. We’ve all had chicken noodle soup that’s filled with soggy, mushy noodles. It’s not that great, right? That’s because pasta noodles absorb water. They may thicken the soup as they cook, but the noodles themselves will get softer and softer as they go .

There’s an easy alternative: Cook the noodles in a separate pot of salted, boiling water and add them the soup just before you’re ready to eat. You will need to add a little cornstarch to the soup to get the same thick result, but this method keeps the soup gluten-free while also making the noodles more palatable. If you’re cooking enough soup for leftovers, we recommend keeping those noodles in a separate container to prevent them from absorbing all the liquid overnight.

Grab a large saucepan and fill it with salted water. Cook the noodles according to the package directions and drain them when they’re finished. You can toss the noodles with a little olive oil after they’re drained to keep them from sticking .

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