Chicken noodle soup is a regular on our menu, but I never make it. It’s my mother-in-law’s specialty, and she always invites us over or makes extra for us to bring home. It’s the best when it’s cold outside or when one of us is sick. The stuff is magical! I guess that’s why this Cuban Style Chicken Noodle Soup recipe caught my eye. It sounds like a mixture of chicken noodle soup and tomato soup with a Cuban flair. I’m not even going to try and compare it to MIL’s chicken soup, but I have a feeling it’s going to be almost as good, and that’s saying a lot. Let’s find out if I’m right!
Chicken noodle soup flavored with tomato and fresh lemon juice. Taste just like Abuela used to make!
The Ingredients
Right, so shopping for this recipe was pretty easy, but I did have some difficulties. the first thing I did was check my pantry (always!), and I had a few things on hand. Well, mostly the spices: oregano, salt, and sazon Goya. There are a fee varieties of sazon Goya, and the one I use the most is Sazon Goya Con Culantro y Achiote (Sazón with Coriander & Annatto). It’s always in my pantry!
When I was making my shopping list for the rest of the items, I realized the type of potato isn’t specified. I chose a russet or baking potato since they are pretty large. With everything else added to my list, I went grocery shopping.
I found all the ingredients I needed except one: the bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. All the store had that day was boneless skinless chicken thighs, so I grabbed a couple of packages and crossed my fingers that they would work.
The Process
The total time listed for this recipe was 1 hour, with 5 minutes of prep work and 55 minutes of cooking. I went a little over that, and this is how my time was spent:
- 10 minutes to prep
- 7 minutes to bring the soup to a boil
- 45 minutes to simmer
- 5 minutes to shred the chicken
- 10 more minutes to cook
- 1 hour 17 minutes total
I started out my prep work by peeling and chopping the vegetables. Then I dug out my largest pot and got cooking. My 5-quart Dutch oven is my go-to pot, but it wasn’t big enough for this job. I had to use my 9.5-quart Dutch oven. It’s huge and it had plenty of room. A 6-quart might have worked too, but I don’t have one to test the theory.
The bulk of the cooking is gently boiling the vegetables and chicken in a mixture of tomato sauce, chicken broth, water, and the sazon Goya. All that simmering creates a delicious broth! And while it was simmering away, I finished up the prep work.
After that, use a pair of tongs to remove the chicken from the pot. I like to let it cool before shredding, but I didn’t have to in this case. The chicken was so tender that it was falling apart as I lifted it out of the pot. Shredding was also very quick and easy without the skin and bones to deal with.
Next, I returned the chicken to the pot and added the lemon juice, oregano, and broken spaghetti noodles. Another 10 minutes, and my Cuban Style Chicken Noodle Soup was ready to serve.
