Chicken noodle soup is probably one of the most requested fall and winter meals in my home. This works great because it’s the time of year that we are butchering, making broth, and harvesting carrots, onions, and celery. Plus, I have found that when we have colds or fevers the warmth and the pepper really make us feel better.
How we use everything on the homestead
My routine is usually having one of the kids butcher a chicken for me if I don’t already have one in the freezer. I will then roast the whole chicken in the oven at 350°F for 1 hour. Before I roast it though, I spray it with olive oil or butter and season well with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Then I add carrots, onion, and garlic to the roasting pan along with roasting herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) with fresh or dried. This makes for an absolutely delicious bird. If I’m making broth, I pull the cooked breasts off for the chicken noodle soup and then use my broth recipe with the rest of the carcass.
I like my carots in about quarter inch rounds, however, if you want the soup to cook faster or don't like the chunks feel free to chop smaller or shred.
Slice the celery
Slice the celery proportional to the carrots so that everything cooks evenly. I personally can not stand the taste of raw celery, but love it cooked.
Dice the onion
Unless you have a kid that cant find every piece, then puree!
Mince the garlic
Now I am a huge fan of garlic. I never think that anything has enough garlic in it. However, chicken noodle soup just isn't a garlicy dish. I still put between two and four cloves, but don't over do it.
Cube the chicken
I cube the chicken in about half inch chunks. Shreaded works just fine too.
Dutch Dump
Dump all the ingredients, except the noodle into the Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium.
Boil for 45 mins
Check occasionally because you only want to cook long enough for the vegetable to be soft, but still hold their form.
Add noodle and adjust
Add in the noodles at this point and cook for another 5ish minutes. Sometimes the noodles absorb too much of the broth. To correct this, either add a little more broth or a cup of water and a tsp of chicken bullion.
Finishing touches
Remove the bay leaves and add some extra pepper to taste. I like it really peppery, but my kids like it a little more mellow.
Can’t have chicken noodle soup without grilled cheese!
This night, we used sourdough bread for our sandwiches and it was heavenly!
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