[3] How about chicken noodle soup Asian-style, with ramen noodles and sliced chicken? You can use traditional American vegetables—celery, carrots, onions—and stock; or accent the stock with ginger, soy sauce, plus bok choy and napa cabbage. Here’s the recipe (photo © Recipe Tin Eats).

[3] Got glass mugs or Irish coffee glasses? Use them! Here’s the recipe (photo © A Family Feast).

[4] Here’s a twist: chicken-tomato soup with vegetables, topped with Chinese fried noodles (photo © Munchery).

If you haven’t made homemade soup, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is—especially a broth-based soup. Just add the ingredients to a pot of water or stock, bring to a boil and simmer. That’s it in a nutshell (with details depending on individual recipes).

We couldn’t decide which soup to make, so we turned to the numbers: America’s #1 favorite is chicken noodle soup.

Our grandmother made this classic comfort soup from scratch with fine egg noodles (photo #4). Our mom preferred wide egg noodles.

But why not have fun with it and use one of the many fun shapes: bowties, corkscrews, shells, wagon wheels, etc.?
 
 
ADD AT LEAST ONE GARNISH

Some garnishes—like cheese and sour cream—don’t work well with broth-type soups. But here’s what does—and you can add as many of them as you wish:

 
 
RECIPE: CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

We make our chicken soup from scratch (here’s a recipe), but you can do it faster with a box of chicken stock and pre-cooked chicken breasts.

We use lots of fresh dill and parsley in our stock, but some people prefer thyme.

Ingredients

 
Garnishes

Pick one or two; or set out several and let each person customize his/her own bowl of soup.

 
Here are garnishes for other types of soups.
 
Preparation

1. DICE the carrots and celery, slice the onions, mince the herbs and cook them all in the stock until the vegetables are al dente. If you’re using raw chicken breasts, add them as well. You can make the recipe up to this point in advance and refrigerate; first, remove the chicken breasts and tightly wrap them separately. When ready to serve…

2. COOK the noodles according to package instructions. While it cooks, dice, slice, or shred/pull the cooked chicken. Taste and add salt and pepper to the stock as desired.

3. PLACE the drained, cooked pasta and the chicken in serving bowls. Ladle the stock and vegetables over them. Garnish as desired.
 
 
BEYOND CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Check out our Soup Glossary for the different types of soups to make.