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I am under the weather, and I am longing for some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup. I have 6 bone-in chicken thighs in my freezer that I can use, as well as boneless chicken breast (But I read boneless breasts tend to dry out and become stringy after cooking). I am planning to make the chicken noodle soup in my crockpot overnight, so I don't have to worry about it since I'm not feeling to well.

My question is please: I find all kinds of recipes of the soup, but I can't seem to find any with bone-in chicken thighs. One recipe stated to just toss the veggies, chicken breast or chicken legs, seasonings, and chicken broth into the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Will that still work with bone in thighs? Also, if I use the chicken thighs, will I need to put in more broth than the recipe stated since they used chicken breasts?

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  • From a food safety standpoint, you should start the crock pot on high to get the raw chicken up to temperature quicker, then turn it back down to low for the cooking. Another alternative is to heat up the liquid seperately (eg, microwave), so it won't take as long to heat up.
    – Joe
    Mar 17, 2015 at 1:51
  • I have lost the source, hence only as comment: I read a study that actually the bones and ligaments contain the highest amount of flu-fighting components (in Asia, soup is sometimes made from chicken feet, not thighs), so bone-in thighs or whole chicken is the way to go. Keep the breasts for another use, they'd dry out anyway. Get well soon!
    – Stephie ♦
    Mar 17, 2015 at 7:56
  • @Stephie. I made it with the thighs, and it turned out delicious! I can feel myself getting better already. Thank you!
    – Sustenance Couture
    Mar 17, 2015 at 23:29

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To your specific questions, bone in thighs would work well and you would not have to add extra broth/stock to compensate for not using the breast. In fact, I would prefer the dark meat of the thigh in crock pot cooking as dark meat is very forgiving if over cooked or in long slow cooking applications. I would also wait until the end to cook the noodles so as to avoid overcooking them. If you add them to the crock pot at the end, I would add extra broth/stock at the beginning because the dried noodles will soak up some liquid, maybe an extra cup or so. You can also cook them on the side until just al dente and let them finish in your soup which would require almost no added broth/stock.

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  • Thank you for answering so quickly. I'm about to whip it up right now. I really appreciate your thorough response, and I can't wait to eat it tomorrow when it's finished cooking!
    – Sustenance Couture
    Mar 17, 2015 at 2:22
  • You are very welcome. I hope you feel better soon:)
    – Beach
    Mar 17, 2015 at 2:48

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