The key to making killer chicken noodle soup is homemade stock. And in case you aren’t aware – it takes a little time to make 
homemade stock, but it is super easy! There are a few different methods for making chicken stock from scratch. You can use a whole raw chicken, bones from a chicken that has already been eaten, or raw chicken parts that people don’t normally eat (like the back, feet, etc.). I’ve tried just about all of these methods and my favorite stock is hands down made with the bones from the leftover “The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot” recipe. It gives you the darkest, richest stock full of so much flavor that I could just eat/drink it plain.
So since you need chicken for this recipe anyway, I highly recommend that you make the whole chicken in the crock pot recipe and eat about half the chicken with one meal the first night. Then make the stock with the leftover bones overnight, and you will be all set to make the soup the next day/evening with your freshly made stock and leftover chicken meat. If you can’t eat all the soup at once then just freeze the leftovers. Trust me – you do not need to be an expert chef to make this plan work, and I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed with the outcome! And hopefully it will convince you to never buy chicken noodle soup out of a can again. :)
Ingredients
- 9 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups whole-grain noodles
- 10 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 5 stalks celery, washed and chopped
- 2 cups chicken, cooked, shredded or diced
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
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Bring chicken stock to a boil.
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Add dry whole-grain noodles to stock and set the timer according to pasta package directions.
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When there are 5 minutes left in the cooking time throw in the chopped carrots and celery. Keep the stock boiling.
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When there is about 1 minute left add the cooked chicken to the stock so it can heat up thoroughly.
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Taste the soup and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve warm and store the leftovers in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Bonus: If you want to go the extra mile make and add whole-wheat matzo balls to this soup. Just make sure you boil the matzo balls in a separate pot of water and not the stock!
Butternut Squash Soup
Used 1 – 16oz frozen broccoli Normandy left overs from dinner, 12 C broth, 5 C whole wheat noodles 3 C left over chicken. All 12 of the kids ate lunch today ! Yay !