Poor M is sick with the flu, but thankfully the fever and headaches haven’t made him nauseated. I asked what he’d like for dinner and of course, he requested chicken noodle soup. “Great” I thought…I always want to go the extra mile (as much as possible) when he requests something, and I really didn’t feel like making stock from scratch…it takes too long. This method I used seemed like a good substitute for it. I took a little help from the store with some stock in a box and doctored it up a bit to cook the chicken, which enriched the flavor and richness. This took more effort than I originally wanted to put into it (the rainy, cloudy weather makes me lazy) but it was so worth it because the whole family enjoyed eating it and the leftovers will taste even better. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup ingredients – a Mom Makes original recipe

• 1 – 4 pound whole chicken, rinsed well
• 1 carton of chicken stock
• 1 carton of vegetable stock
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks
• 2 celery ribs, cut into chunks
• 1/2 onion
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 5-7 sprigs thyme
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 1/2 TBSP of whole peppercorns
• 4 – 6 cups water

Soup ingredients –

• 3 cups egg noodles
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 1 – 2 cups frozen peas
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 10 – 12 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups of shredded chicken
• 2 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• dried parsley flakes (optional)

Directions for Stock –

1. In a 8 quart stock pot or larger, place all ingredients and cook for one hour. Be sure to skim fat and scum off the top while cooking. Once the chicken is cooked, carefully remove it from the stock pot and place on a foil lined half sheet pan to cool – at least 40 minutes.

2. Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard all vegetables and herbs. Skim the remaining fat off the top of the stock.

3. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle shred into uniform pieces.

Directions for Soup –

1. Heat a saute pan to medium and add butter and olive oil. Once the butter melts, add all your diced veggies to the pan. Saute for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, place a soup pot with the 10 – 12 cups of chicken stock to simmer and add the cooked vegetables and shredded chicken to the soup pot. Bring to boil, season to taste and add the egg noodles and peas. Cook until the egg noodles are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Taste again, season if needed – enjoy the soup with a crusty loaf of bread…yum!