The Secret Ingredients Behind Anne Burrell's Chicken Noodle Soup

When a renowned chef like the late Anne Burrell ladled out chicken noodle soup, fans may have expected a cozy combination of chicken, veggies, and noodles — only with a slight modern twist in typical Burrell fashion. After all, traditional chicken noodle soup is time-tested and revered in American culture. But this chef, as always, tossed in a surprise we didn't know we needed. What gives her chicken noodle soup its signature flair is thanks to three unexpected players: cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon. These semi-secret ingredients bring a lot to the pot, including subtle warmth, brightness, and a lingering depth of earthy flavor.

While Burrell got a lot of love for different culinary creations, this recipe didn't initially emerge from a test kitchen or even her own home stovetop. She graciously gives credit where credit is due — in this case, a late-night bar in Greenwich Village. As the story goes, when evening came to a close, she was delighted to discover the staff doling out cups of chicken soup for everyone left, including herself. She fondly remembered the warm, nostalgic feeling of the soup in her tummy, with the steaming lemon and swirling cinnamon flavors, which eventually led her to create her own interpretation. 

Burrell shared her rendition of that chicken noodle soup on the Food Network website, garnering many reviews with mainly five-star ratings. Her recipe includes ground cinnamon and two lemon halves, but also adds freshly grated nutmeg to the defining flavor profile. 

While citrus and earthy spices steal the spotlight in Burrell's chicken noodle soup story, it comes together with traditional core ingredients. It starts with olive oil, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and thyme. Bone-in chicken legs and thighs enter the mix, along with bay leaves and water, creating a rich base. Pasta (either small shells or orzo) and white beans or chickpeas add body and bulk. The lemon juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg slip in toward the end, with a touch of cilantro adding an aromatic herbal finish.

When making your own chicken noodle soup, it's easy to incorporate Burrell's trio of lemon, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the recipe. Choose a basic soup recipe and warm it up (both literally and figuratively) with the three ingredients, plus any others that flow in the same direction. If the season is right, you might even want to consider bringing cozy fall flavors into your chicken noodle soup — you'd be surprised how easy it is to incorporate ingredients like pumpkin puree, sage, kale, or squash ribbons into Burrell's version of the classic soup.

Anne Burrell was an innovative chef with an appreciation for nostalgia foods, and the world is lucky she openly shared countless culinary secrets, including quirky but ingenious ones like adding celery root to mashed potatoes, pairing ginger ice cream with molasses cookies, and adding warmth to chicken noodle soup.