okay so. this is maybe a little dramatic. but stop what you’re doing.
last Tuesday was one of those days where your phone dies at 9am and it just sort of sets the whole tone for everything after. forgot to take anything out of the freezer, already in my pajamas by like 4pm, genuinely stood in the kitchen considering cereal as a dinner option. real low point. and then my brain just went — wait. Amish chicken corn noodle soup. obviously. like that was always the answer.
my grandma used to make something like this when I was a kid and we’d visit summers. she’d have a pot going on the stove from noon and the whole house just smelled right. I never got her actual recipe because she was one of those infuriating cooks who couldn’t explain what she was doing — if you asked she’d wave her hand at the stove and say “oh you know, a little of this.” very helpful. thanks grandma.
so I’ve been building my own version for years. first time I made it alone I overcooked the noodles so badly they basically ceased to exist as noodles. just. mush situation. my husband ate the whole bowl and didn’t say anything which was honestly kind of him. I did not handle it with that level of grace.
there was also one grim batch where I added way too much celery and it tasted like a swamp. we don’t revisit that one.
but I figured it out. this is what I make now. here’s the whole thing.
let’s get into it 🍜
Contents
why this soup just works
what you’ll need
real talk — I never measure things precisely and mine always turns out fine. these amounts are approximately what I use. adjust based on how many people you’re feeding and how you’re feeling about it.
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cooked chicken, shredded | About 3 cups | rotisserie is honestly perfect, zero shame |
| Wide egg noodles | Maybe 3 cups dry | Amish-style if you can find them, regular if you can’t |
| Chicken broth | 8–10 cups | low sodium so you control the salt |
| Whole kernel corn | About 2 cups | frozen or canned both work, fresh in summer is incredible |
| Creamed corn | 1 can (14.75 oz) | don’t skip this — it’s kind of the whole secret |
| Celery, chopped | 3–4 stalks | use the leafy tops too if you’ve got them |
| Onion, diced | 1 medium yellow | nothing special |
| Carrots, sliced | 2–3 medium | thin coins cook faster |
| Butter | 2 tablespoons | real butter please |
| Garlic, minced | 3–4 cloves | I always add more than it says. always. |
| Salt, pepper, parsley | to taste | dried parsley is fine, fresh is better |
how to actually make it
I’m not doing a numbered list. that’s not how cooking happens in real life. here’s what I do.
Soften your vegetables. Get your biggest pot — genuinely your biggest one, you’ll think it’s too big and it won’t be — butter over medium heat, then in go the onion, carrots, and celery. Let them go for about 8 minutes, stirring here and there. Not trying to brown them, just soften. Add garlic the last minute or two. This is honestly a good time to scroll your phone because you’ve got a solid 8 minutes where nothing bad can happen yet.
Pour in the broth and get it going. All of it. Bring it to a boil, good pinch of salt, some pepper, then drop it to a simmer. Let it just sit there and get happy for about 15 minutes. The house starts smelling really good around this point. Someone will definitely wander into the kitchen for no reason other than the smell. Normal. Happens every time I make this.
Add both kinds of corn. Whole kernel first, then the creamed corn on top. Stir it all around. I know creamed corn in soup sounds a little weird — I was skeptical the first time I heard about it too, whatever, I was wrong. It thickens the broth up a little and makes everything silkier and more rounded. just add it. simmer another ten minutes while you track down some bowls.
In goes the chicken and the noodles, same time. Stir it together. Watch your noodle package but start tasting a couple minutes early — overcooked noodles in soup are genuinely depressing and I’ve been there more than once. Once they’re just barely tender, done. Taste it. Adjust salt. Add parsley. That’s it.
Eat it. Immediately. This soup does not wait. Ladle it into a big bowl, grab bread if you have it, sit down somewhere. Everything else you were supposed to do today will still be there in fifteen minutes.
tips & things I’ve figured out the hard way
- a small splash — like a quarter cup maybe — of heavy cream stirred in at the very end makes it feel almost indulgent without being heavy. really good for the especially rough days.
- leftover Thanksgiving turkey works so well in this it’s almost suspicious. I make a version every November and it’s genuinely one of my favorite things I cook all year. slightly different flavor, really great.
- the noodles absorb a ton of liquid as the soup sits in the fridge, so when you reheat leftovers and the broth is half gone — that’s just what happened, just add more broth. not a problem, just the nature of noodles.
- pinch of red pepper flakes at the end if you want a little background heat. doesn’t make it spicy, just kind of wakes everything up slightly. optional but I usually do it.
storing it (and my ongoing labeling failure)
keeps in the fridge four days, no problem. reheat on the stove or in the microwave, both are fine.
okay so. I have this problem where I put things in containers and then don’t label them and three days later I’m standing at the open fridge at like 8am staring at four identical containers trying to figure out which soup is which. my husband got me a label maker for Christmas. an actual label maker, little tape cartridges, the whole thing. sweet man. I’ve used it twice. one of those times was to label the label maker itself so I’d know where to find it.
ugh. label your containers. learn from me. write the date on them.
rough nutrition per serving
makes about 8 servings depending on bowl size. these are estimates, yours will vary based on your specific ingredients.
| Nutrient | Approx. Per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 290–340 kcal |
| Protein | 24g |
| Carbohydrates | 32g |
| Fat | 8g |
| Fiber | 2–3g |
| Sodium | 600–750mg |
questions I actually get asked
can I make this in the slow cooker?
yeah, for sure. throw everything in except the noodles — low for 6 or 7 hours, high for maybe 3 or 4 if you forgot to start it until noon (been there). if you’re using raw chicken just put it in whole, it’ll shred right in the pot when it’s cooked. add your cooked noodles at the very end. it’s honestly a really easy set-it-and-ignore-it version.
where do I find Amish egg noodles?
okay so — regular wide egg noodles are completely fine and what I use most of the time. if you’re near an Amish market or a grocery store that carries them, their noodles tend to be thicker and a little more substantial, which is really nice. but seriously, don’t stress yourself out about it. the soup is good regardless of where your noodles came from.
can I use raw chicken instead of already-cooked?
yes, absolutely. just put raw chicken breasts or thighs right into the simmering broth. cook them through — probably 20 minutes, maybe a bit more — then pull them out, shred them, put the meat back in, then add your noodles. thighs have more flavor, I will die on that hill. but breasts work fine too obviously.
is this actually a real Amish recipe?
it’s inspired by Amish cooking — simple stuff, nothing complicated, the kind of food made to feed a lot of people with whatever you’ve got on hand. the creamed corn thing I picked up somewhere years ago and kept because it works. mine isn’t some carefully documented historical thing, it’s just what I’ve landed on over time from making it over and over. so. take that for what it’s worth.
