The month of June has been crazy busy for us! Between graduations, Father’s Day, and 2 family reunions, we’ve been out of town every single weekend. I think it finally caught up with my husband, because this morning he woke up with a fever feeling terrible. We packed up, headed home, and while he rested I got busy on the dish that makes everyone feel better when they’re under the weather…chicken noodle soup! Or in this case, emergency chicken noodle soup…because I needed it in a hurry!
During the week, I try to work my time in the kitchen to line up with nap times, but that didn’t really work out today. One of the reasons I love this soup so much is because it is so so easy, you can cook it in under 30 minutes even with a toddler right under your feet yelling “Mama up…up…UP!” Plus, let’s be honest: as women, if we are the unfortunate ones to get sick…the show must go on. So even if you feel like total garbage, but are still responsible for dinner…this soup is soup-er quick and easy! (<<<see what I did there?)
My second reason this is a favorite is because we almost always have the ingredients for this soup at home. I did stop by the store really quick on our way home this morning to pick up some celery and carrots…which we usually have at home, but since we’ve been gone so much this month I haven’t wanted to leave a lot of produce in the fridge.
This recipe is also very versatile depending on your taste. You can add more or less carrots, noodles, etc. depending on what you like.
Oh, and a little disclaimer here…I’m just a regular gal with a regular camera. And by camera, I mean my iPhone camera. If you’re hoping to find beautifully poised culinary photos on this blog, I’m afraid you will be sadly disappointed. But what I lack in photography skills, I make up in flavor!
Ingredients
You’ll need:
- celery, carrots, onions, and garlic
- egg noodles
- I suggest keeping a few extra bags of egg noodles in the pantry for emergencies. When you’re taking care of sick family members, the last thing you want to do is go to the store to pick up ingredients.
- chicken broth (3 options)
- I normally use homemade chicken broth that I’ve made and frozen. This is ideal because homemade bone broth actually has healing properties that are perfect to help you overcome your cold or flu.
- In case of emergencies, I also keep a few cartons of chicken broth in the pantry. I was actually out of homemade chicken broth, so this is what I used today.
- In case of a real emergency, I have a jar of chicken bouillon cubes that I can mix with water to make some broth. It may not be the healthiest option, but it works in a pinch.
- bay leaf, parsley, salt, pepper, or any other seasonings you want to add
- cooked, shredded chicken
- Rotisserie chicken is perfect in this soup, but that’s really only if you’re planning on making a trip to the store to make this. If you have leftover chicken from another meal, that also works great. If you don’t have rotisserie or leftover chicken just lying around, you can pull some frozen chicken out of the freezer and cook it. That’s what I did today with a chicken leg quarter.
- I learned a neat trick a couple of years ago…you can shred chicken in your stand mixer! For someone who hates shredding chicken, this was life changing! Just use your regular mixer attachment, throw the chicken in the bowl, and after about a minute it’s perfectly shredded!
Directions
1. Chop up all your veggies. You can chop or slice your carrots and celery, but I prefer to just stick everything in my Ninja chopper to save time. I use a whole onion, 2 garlic cloves, 2-3 carrots, and 3 celery ribs.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in your pot on medium, throw all your veggies in there, and cook them for about 5 minutes. Bobby Flay would seriously cringe at my non-uniformed veggie sizes, but luckily my audience is a bedridden husband and an 18 month old and not an Iron Chef.
3. Pour 6-8 cups up chicken broth in your pot and bring to a boil. I used about 6 cups, but again…you can adjust this however you want. It won’t really change the flavor, just the “soupiness” of it.
4. Add 2-3 cups of egg noodles to your pot. Chase likes his soup heavy on the noodles, so I used about 3 cups.
5. Add a bay leaf, a teaspoon of parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. The salt really just depends on what kind of broth you use. If you’re using homemade broth, it’s probably already seasoned a good amount. If you buy low sodium, you’ll need more salt vs. regular chicken broth. Just season to your liking!
6. Once you’ve brought everything to a boil, cover it and reduce it to a simmer for about 10 minutes (or until your noodles are cooked and your carrots are tender).
7. I add in the shredded, cooked chicken at the very end. I’m always afraid it’s going to overcook if I put it in earlier, so I just throw it in there once everything is cooked so it can get warm. Again, add as much chicken as you want depending on your preference.
Here’s the printable version:
Emergency Chicken Noodle Soup
Whip up this quick and easy soup in 20 minutes the next time you or a family member is under the weather.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2-3 carrots
- 3 celery ribs
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 4-6 cups chicken broth
- 2-3 cups egg noodles
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a pot over medium heat. 2. Chop the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. 3. Add the rest of your ingredients to your pot (except for the chicken), bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. 4. Add your chicken after everything has cooked. 5. Serve and enjoy!
And that’s it! It’s literally that easy, and so comforting and yummy. I don’t enjoy being sick, but this somehow makes it a little more tolerable.
Have a great rest of the weekend!
Amanda, I’m Billy’s cousin from Arkansas and I just wanted you to know I am loving your blog.
Thanks Sheila! 🙂