Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add your diced onion and cook it down until it gets soft and kinda translucent, around 3-4 minutes. You're not looking for color here — just soft and fragrant is perfect.

Toss in your minced garlic and stir constantly for about 30 seconds until you can really smell it. Don't let it burn or it gets bitter and kinda ruins the whole vibe. This is honestly the most important part of building flavor.

Now add your sliced carrots and celery stalks to the pot and stir everything together. Let these veggies soften up for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally. You'll notice the kitchen starts smelling pretty amazing right about now.

Pour in all 6 cups of chicken broth and bring it to a gentle boil. Once you see those bubbles breaking the surface, reduce the heat to medium-low so it simmers quietly. This whole process takes about 8-10 minutes.

Add 1 tsp dried thyme and 1 tsp dried parsley, plus your black pepper and salt to taste. Stir it all together and let it simmer for 10 minutes so those herbs really get into the broth. Taste and adjust your seasonings here — trust your palate on this.

Dump in 1 cup of egg noodles and 1 cup of shredded chicken and stir well. Let this cook for about 8-10 minutes until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Keep an eye on it after minute 8 because it can go from perfect to overcooked pretty fast.

Give the chicken noodle soup recipe a final taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed. Ladle it into bowls while it's still hot and steaming. Serve it immediately with crusty bread or those little oyster crackers everyone loves.