Turkish Chicken and Vermicelli Soup Recipe: Easy & Homemade

Turkish chicken and vermicelli soup is a light, lemony chicken broth carrying diced chicken breast and short pieces of toasted vermicelli noodles. You build it in one pot: soften grated onion in clarified butter, stir in the chicken and noodles, pour in chicken stock, simmer, then finish with lemon juice.

This is one of the simplest soups in the Turkish kitchen, and a good place to start if you want to cook more Turkish soups at home. For more recipes, see the Turkish recipes hub, or read about where to eat the best soup in Istanbul if you would rather order a bowl out.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted clarified butter
• 2 tablespoons finely grated onion
• 230 gr boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
• 1 cup vermicelli, broken into 1- to 1 ½ -inch pieces
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• Salt
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

In a heavy medium-size pot, melt the butter over medium heat and cook the onion for 1 minute, stirring, until it’s softened but not brown. Add the chicken and vermicelli, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the stock and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and serve.

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