Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a fabulous recipe to double or triple and keep on hand!  I love to triple this recipe when I have time on a Sunday afternoon.  I then have extra stock and chicken for recipes during the week.  The chicken is great thrown in soups or salads as well as for chicken salad sandwiches for the kid’s lunchboxes!  Enjoy!

Stock ingredients:

1 (4-5 pound) roasting chicken
3 carrots, cut in thirds
2 celery stalks, cut in thirds
1 yellow onion, quartered
10 sprigs of dill
1 head of garlic, cut in half crosswise
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Ingredients to serve soup:

1 ½ cups carrots, sliced ½ inch thick
1 ½ cups celery, sliced ¼ inch thick
¼ cup dill, minced
6 oz whole grain wide noodles, uncooked

Combine chicken, carrots, celery, onions, dill, mushrooms and salt in a large stockpot.  Add 3 quarts of water and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Pull out chicken from stockpot, remove meat and place in sealed container in refrigerator.  Return the carcass of the chicken back to the stockpot and continue to simmer up to 3 hours uncovered.  Strain all of the contents of the pot through a colander.  Place stock in small containers to cool and place in refrigerator.  Allow stock to cool over night.  Remove surface fat in the morning.  Your stock is now ready! 

To serve the soup, heat the stock in a large pot with carrots, celery, dill and noodles.  Dice reserved chicken, approximately 1 ½ cups, and add to stock.  Simmer over low heat approximately 10 minutes or until vegetables and noodles are tender. 

Makes 6 servings.

Tips and Twists:

Making this stock ahead of time and freezing it in small containers is a great way to have a quick week day meal!  It’s also good to have on hand in the freezer when a cold takes you by surprise.  The extra chicken from the reserved roaster is also great for chicken salad!  Check out our Chicken Salad recipe with Greek Yogurt!