It’s winter. It’s cold. What tastes better than a warm bowl of soup?

I am a big fan of soup. It’s warm and comforting, and it usually contains all of the elements for a complete meal in one pot. And what other than chicken noodle soup could be the quintessential soup? It’s what we want when we are cold, especially when we have a cold, right?

Last week, I shared how I make chicken to use in soups and casseroles, and this soup is a good example of a recipe for which I make the chicken. I just pull a bag of pre-cooked chicken out of my freezer, thaw it for a little while in a sink full of water, and a short time later, we are eating a warm bowl of soup. My favorite soup of all right now is probably the chicken and wild rice soup, but this chicken noodle soup is lighter and a good choice for those who cannot handle the dairy in creamy soups.

Chicken Noodle Soup

*Most of the time, I make half of this recipe below for the three kids and me.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 small to medium onion, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
• 1 cup carrots, chopped or sliced
• 4 (14.5 ounce) cans of chicken broth or 2 (32 ounce) boxes of chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can of vegetable broth (I don’t always remember to buy this, so if I don’t have it, I just add another can of chicken broth instead)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• a dash each of poultry seasoning, garlic pepper, and thyme
• 2 to 4 cups of uncooked *egg noodles (depending on how thick or brothy you like your soup)
• optional: 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1/2-3/4 pound of chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast (add more or less to your liking)

*For the egg noodles, I have always used regular wide egg noodles previously, but recently I have been using the homestyle straight egg noodles. The regular noodles seem to overpower the soup a little bit. The homestyle ones are a little less bulky. I would recommend breaking them into smaller pieces because they are a little long and unwieldy to eat in a soup as is. You could also use spaghetti noodles that have been broken into pieces if you want more broth and chicken and less noodle.

Instructions:

1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion, garlic, celery, and carrots and saute just until tender.
2. Add broth and seasonings/spices to the vegetables in the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions in a separate pot. (Tip: You could cook the noodles in the same pot with the broth, but most cooks feel like the noodles tend to get soggy and over-cooked that way. I always cook them separately.) When cooked, drain noodles and add to the pot of vegetables.
4. If you would like to give your soup just a touch of creaminess, stir in a can of cream of chicken soup at this point.
5. Add the shredded or chopped chicken.
6. Let the soup simmer for a few more minutes to heat the cream soup and the chicken.
7. Serve in bowls with crackers or your favorite bread if desired.
8. Leftovers reheat and freeze well. Source: Reviewers of this soup at Allrecipes