Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Top on my husband's list of comfort foods is chicken noodle soup! (Accompanied with a grilled cheese sandwich haha).  A few years ago, we used to always buy the canned "home style" version of chicken noodle soup from Progresso (they often had BOGO deals), but as I have mentioned in previous posts, we've changed our habits and stopped buying canned soups.  So as you would expect, this year I've made chicken noodle soup from scratch a lot, and it is so easy to make and tastes much better than the canned version!  Below is my basic recipe for classic chicken noodle soup.  The thing I love about this recipe is that you can really add any type of veggies you want to the soup or substitute the noodles for rice. Peas and corn have been a great addition in the past!

Makes about 4 servings.

Ingredients:

Choose organic ingredients where possible, and if you have fresh herbs, use those! I just use what I have on hand, which is usually dried.

• 8-1/2 cups water
• 1/2 pound chicken breast (if you have one with skin and bones, it gives the broth the most flavor!)
• 2 whole carrots, peeled
• 3 celery stalks (if you have the little leaves on top, they add good flavor to the broth so keep them!)
• 1 medium onion, peeled
• 1 clove garlic, mashed (or use minced if you don't have fresh garlic on hand)
• 1 cup uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme (separate into 1/2 and 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Broth

1. Slice 1/2 of a carrot stick, 1/2 of a celery stalk, and 1/2 medium onion.
2. Place 8-1/2 cups of fresh water in a large pot. Add the chicken breast, and the veggies you sliced in step 1. Add garlic, bay leaf, basil, 1/2 tsp thyme, parsley, and 1/2 tsp sea salt to the large pot of water.
3. Bring large pot of water to a boil then simmer for about 40 minutes (making sure the chicken cooks fully!). 
4. When broth is ready, carefully remove the chicken breast and place it in a bowl to cool.
5. Strain the broth into a large bowl and discard the veggies and bay leaf.
6. Return the broth to the large pot and skim off any fat on top.

Soup

1. While chicken is cooling, cook the noodles.
2. While pasta is cooking, dice remaining carrots, celery and onion and place in a medium sized pot.  Cover with some of the broth you made and simmer veggies until they are tender (about 15 minutes or so). 
3. When noodles are ready, drain water and place noodles in large pot of chicken broth.
4. When veggies are ready, pour cooked veggies and broth they were cooking in into the large pot of broth.
5. When the chicken is cool, shred the meat and add to the large pot.
6. Stir ingredients in large pot and add 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp oregano and sea salt and pepper to taste.
7. Heat up soup and serve!

~ Hannah