Chicken soup with homemade noodles is a Bulgarian classic, built on a simple broth and dough cut by hand. The noodles take just one egg, flour and salt — kneaded, rolled thin, then cut into strips. The whole dish is ready in an hour and a half and serves four.

1 hr 40 minprep 25 min · cook 1 hr 15 min
4 servingsLunch
Easydifficulty
250 kcalper serving

Ingredients

For the soup

  • 1 (about 1.2 kg)whole chicken
  • 2.5 Lwater
  • 1 tspsalt
  • 2carrots
  • 2 stalkscelery
  • 1onion
  • 2bay leaves
  • to tasteblack pepper
  • 1 bunchparsley

For the noodles

  • 1egg
  • 150 gflour
  • pinchsalt

How to make it

  1. Make the broth

    Put the chicken in a pot with 2.5 litres of cold water and a teaspoon of salt. Bring it to the boil on high heat, skim off the foam with a slotted spoon, then turn the heat down. Let it simmer for 45 minutes, until the meat starts to fall off the bone easily.

  2. Add the vegetables

    Peel the carrots and celery and cut them into small cubes, then quarter the onion. Add the vegetables and bay leaves to the broth and simmer for another 20 minutes, until the carrots turn soft.

  3. Knead the noodle dough

    Beat the egg in a bowl with a pinch of salt, add the flour and knead for 5 minutes until the dough turns smooth and elastic. Wrap it in a towel and leave it to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

    Resting relaxes the gluten, so the dough rolls out into a thin sheet more easily and won't tear at the edges.

  4. Roll out and cut the noodles

    Roll the dough out on a floured board to 1-2 mm thick. Dust it lightly with flour, roll it up tightly and cut it into strips 3-4 mm wide. Unroll the strips and let them dry for 10 minutes.

    Chicken soup with homemade noodles — Roll out and cut the noodles

  5. Debone the chicken

    Lift the chicken out of the broth with a slotted spoon and let it cool for 5 minutes. Pull the meat off the bones in large pieces, remove the skin and bones, and put the meat back in the pot.

  6. Cook the noodles

    For a clearer soup, strain the broth through a sieve and take out the bay leaves. Add the noodles to the simmering broth and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they float and turn soft.

  7. Season and serve

    Add black pepper and salt to taste, stir, and let it cook for one more minute. Ladle the soup into four bowls and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

    Chicken soup with homemade noodles — Season and serve

How to serve it

Serve the soup hot, with a slice of homemade bread and a piece of hard cheese on the side.

Good to know

Homemade noodles are a Bulgarian tradition — dough hand-cut into thin strips, made this way for centuries, long before factory pasta came along.

Per serving (approx.): 250 kcal · protein 20 g · fat 8 g · carbs 20 g