{"id":535,"date":"2015-01-03T08:45:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T08:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betondinner.com\/?p=535"},"modified":"2018-03-23T19:49:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:49:51","slug":"chicken-noodle-soup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betondinner.com\/chicken-noodle-soup\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken Noodle Soup (Stocking the Freezer #2)."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"creamy<\/a><\/p>\n

**Psst! I forgot a couple of things on my Christmas post – see the updated version here<\/a>!**<\/em><\/p>\n

Confession: I have yet to master the art of roasting a whole chicken. I feel pretty lame about it, since it’s one of my favorite meals! The last time I attempted it my chicken was undercooked, and kind of pink and slimy inside. Really gross and really sad. It’s hard to rescue dinner at that point, and I’ve been gun-shy ever since.<\/p>\n

But you guys. I can boil the heck out of a chicken, and that’s what this recipe is all about. It’s also about having some cooked, shredded chicken in your freezer – which is a great starting point for so many meals!<\/p>\n

You chop up a whole chicken, put its parts and pieces in a big pot with water and veggies and herbs, and cook it until it falls right off the bone and leaves you with delicious chicken stock and the makings of the most homey, comforting, and satisfying\u00a0chicken noodle soup.<\/p>\n

\"Prep<\/a>Prepped and ready to go! I leave the celery in those big chunks to make them easier to fish out of my three-year-old’s bowl, since she loves this soup as long as there’s no celery to taint it!<\/em><\/p>\n

Bring your pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook, covered, for 1-1.5 hours. Use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken pieces from the broth and set them aside to cool for a while.<\/p>\n

\"Broth<\/a><\/p>\n

Set a mesh strainer over a large bowl or measuring cup and carefully pour the stock through the strainer, reserving both the broth and the vegetables. I put the measuring cup in the sink in case of spills. You should have about 5 cups of beautiful chicken stock!<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a>You can skim off the fat if you want; I usually just skim enough to use in the roux later on. Up to you!<\/em><\/p>\n

Next, shred up the chicken. In my experience, this is SO much easier than picking a roasted (or in my case, Costco rotisserie) chicken – the meat comes off the bone so easily and it’s easy to get rid of the skin and…whatever you call the other bits you don’t wanna eat. My chicken yielded about 5 cups of meat, and I used half of it in the soup and put the other half in a freezer bag for future soup (or casseroles, or quick quesadillas, etc).<\/p>\n

\"Shredded<\/a><\/p>\n

I poured half of the stock back into the pot and put the other half into another freezer bag. There’s just something special about real homemade chicken stock and its gelatinous, mineral-ly, flavorful goodness (check out this article about the health benefits of bone broth<\/a>!) and so I like to have some of the good stuff when I make soup. Then I added 2 cups of water and a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon chicken base and brought it back to a boil to cook the noodles.<\/p>\n

I don’t usually measure the egg noodles, but I did for you. I used\u00a01.5 cups (solely because that was what was left in the bag, but it was a good amount for the finished soup! If you like a lot of noodles or need to stretch the soup to feed more people, feel free to add more). My noodles needed to cook for a total of 7-8 minutes, so I set a timer for 6 minutes and made a quick roux\u00a0(fat, flour, milk, and a little more broth) to add a hint of creaminess\u00a0to the soup. When the timer for the noodles went\u00a0off, the roux was ready to stir in! The roux is totally optional, but we love this hybrid brothy\/creamy version.<\/p>\n

Add back the veggies and chicken, and let it simmer\u00a0for a minute or two – and you have a pot of hearty, savory, not-too-creamy soup, with onions and celery that are meltingly tender, sweet carrot circles, and plenty of\u00a0the chicken and noodles that make it a real meal.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a><\/p>\n

I hope you enjoy slurping a bowl of this chicken noodle soup as much as we do! And pat yourself on the back for making your life easier on another night by stashing that chicken and stock in the freezer!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

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