20 Easy Noodle Soup Recipes To Whip Up On Cold Nights (2024)

FAQs

Why does chicken noodle soup make you feel better when you have a cold? ›

Compared with hot water alone, studies show chicken soup is more effective at loosening mucus. The herbs and spices sometimes used in chicken soup, such as pepper and garlic, also loosen mucus. The broth, which contains water and electrolytes, helps with rehydration.

But if you're cooking your soup ahead of time to serve hours or days later, don't add the noodles until you're reheating the soup to serve it. Noodles left to simmer in soup for too long become slimy and overly soft, and they can break down and make your soup too starchy.

Bone broth serves as a great way to replenish the fluids that you're losing, while also providing your body with valuable electrolytes from the sodium in the broth. These electrolytes will also help you absorb the water more easily.

Unfortunately, this myth is quite persistent! Because oranges are rich in vitamin C, we believe – falsely – that eating them can help cure a cold. Let us be clear: after the onset of cold symptoms, eating oranges or drinking orange juice is not an effective treatment.

How do you keep noodles from getting soggy in soup? The trick is to only add the noodles when you are ready to serve the soup. If you make a large pot of soup, reserve the pasta, and add it to each portion as you reheat it, cooking it in the soup for the time recommended on the package.

Chicken soup has been a popular home remedy for the common cold since at least the 12th century. Eating chicken soup while you have a cold will not do you any harm, but it will not cure your cold. Drinking warm liquids, such as soup, may give you relief from your symptoms for a short time.

“Chicken is also high in tryptophan, which helps your body produce serotonin that can enhance your mood and give you the feeling of 'comfort' that helps make chicken noodle soup a true comfort food,” Allonen says.

In addition, chicken, when added to soup, releases an amino acid called cysteine. Cysteine thins out mucus in the nose and lungs and can help the body heal. This works in combination with soup's other benefits as well, such as helping hydrate the body.

Why does chicken noodle soup help a sore throat? ›

Plus, it's delicious. The broth in chicken soup soothes a sore throat and helps inhibit the movement of white blood cells called neutrophils, which help the immune system fight infection, the hot fluid promotes movement of nasal mucus and keeps you hydrated, and the salt helps your tissues retain fluids.