When a cold, rainy day comes along, a simple and comforting bowl of soup seems to always slide onto our menu. There’s something very meditative about peeling and chopping all of the vegetables and tossing them into an aromatic pot of boiling broth. It really ushers in a tone of comfort and relaxation that is unmatched.
This is a very classic take on chicken noodle soup, but there are two ingredients in here that are less common that you don’t want to leave out: the flour and the potato. Both add more body to the broth. (Plus, what’s more comforting than a potato???) Instead of the broth being watery and thin, the starch from the flour and potato bring this soup to the next level by thickening it up for a silky, irresistible texture. Pairing this soup with some fresh garlic knots or other warm herby bread is what cozy dreams are made of.
A word of caution regarding substitutions: I wouldn’t recommend replacing the flour with corn starch as I’ve seen in some other recipes, it makes your leftover soup “snotty”. (Sorry for that image.) The broth in the fridge tends to gel on the top rather than set up into one homogenous thick broth.
I haven’t actually tried freezing the soup after it’s made, but I’ve heard noodles don’t hold up well to freezing, thawing, and reheating. If you want to make this into a freezer meal, I would go the “no cooking” route and just toss all of the ingredients (minus the butter, water, and noodles) into a freezer bag. Then, when it comes time to use the meal, dump the contents of the bag into a pot of boiling water (8 cups), and boil until the chicken is cooked through, then add then noodles in and cook them while you’re shredding the chicken. It’s not a complete “ready-to-eat-freezer-meal”, but it will save you a bit of time in measuring and preparation.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
real people
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- 1 tbsp butter, unsalted $0.09
- 1 small yellow onion $0.19
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper $0.02
- 1 tbsp minced garlic $0.06
- 3 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup) $0.24
- 3 medium carrots, coined (about 1-1.5 cups) $0.24
- 1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced small (about 1.5 cups) $0.09
- 1 tbsp poultry seasoning $0.75 (alternatively you could also use 1 tbsp mixture of any of the following you have in your spice cupboard: thyme, rosemary, marjoram, sage, oregano)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour $0.09
- 8 cups water free(ish)
- 2.5 tbsp chicken bouillon $0.09
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast( (fresh or frozen) $1.99
- 8 oz wide egg noodles $1.12
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional/to taste) $0.01
Ingredients
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- Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat and add in the onion and pepper, saute for a couple minute and then add in the garlic
- While the onions and garlic are sautéing, chop the celery, peel and coin the carrots, and peel and dice the potato. Add them in as you go. There's no need to cook them through here, we're just working on aromatics and softening flavors at this point.
- Once all the veggies have been added in, mix the poultry seasoning and flour into the pot and coat the veggies well. Once they're coated, add the water and bouillon as to not burn any of the flour.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and add the chicken. Fresh chicken should cook through in about 15 minute, frozen will take 20-25. Check the chicken with a meat thermometer to make sure the core temperature has reached 165 degrees F. If you don't have a meat thermometer, you can cut your chicken in half lengthwise to make sure there aren't any pink spots left, but the only way to make sure it's truly cooked through is to check the temperature.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the soup to a cutting board and add in the egg noodles and boil them according to the packages instructions. While the noodles are cooking, either shred or chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and add them back into the soup.
- Once the noodles are done cooking, the soup is ready to serve, just let it cool down for a few minutes so you don't burn yourself!
- Label a gallon sized freezer bag with the date and the title: "chicken noodle soup" and write these instructions: 1. boil 8 cups of water in a large stock pot 2. dump in contents of bag and boil for 20-25 minutes to cook chicken 3. shred chicken and add in noodles and boil according to the noodle package instructions.
- Peel and chop all the veggies and throw them into the freezer bag along with all of the spices and chicken. You will not need to include the butter, water, or noodles in the bag. Just store the noodles away in your pantry and omit the butter all together. Throw the bag in the freezer! It should stay good for a lonnnng time, but try to use it within six months to avoid freezer burn.
- When it comes time to use the soup, bring 8 cups of water to boil and dump in the contents of the bag. Boil the soup for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through (165 degrees F internal temperature). Take the chicken out to shred it and replace the chicken with the noodles and cook them while you're shredding the chicken. Add the chicken back into the soup and serve!
Serving size: 1 cup
Servings: 14
Price for dish: $4.98
Price per serving: $0.36
Price per bowl: $0.83
Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 176
Carbs: 29.5 g
Protein: 10.4 g
Fats: 4.1 g
Sodium: 532.5 mg
Fiber: 4.3 g
Sugar: 2.2 g
