Weekend Cooking: Chicken Soup

Happy Saturday. Today's Weekend Cooking post is going to be short and to the point.

I'm cooking for my elderly mother this week and am tasked with finding appealing dishes that aren't too spicy and that are easy to digest. We've had scrambled eggs, baked salmon with broccoli, and roast chicken with rice.

I had some leftover chicken and was looking for some simple ideas for using the meat to make a tempting meal. I turned to Budget Bytes, one of my go-to sources for trusted recipes. While browsing the site, I came across Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, and decided that was just what my mom needed.

Because the chicken was already cooked, and my mother can no longer tolerate garlic and onion, I used the Budget Bytes recipe for inspiration only, though my finished dish looked very much like the photograph. Oh and I used boxed bone broth instead homemade.

My mom ate a full serving, which is a total success in my world. The recipe and a video for making the soup can be found on the Budget Bytes website. The photo is theirs too.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 8
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 lb. carrots
1/2 bunch celery
2 split chicken breasts, bone-in
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 whole bay leaf
Freshly cracked pepper
2-3 tsp salt
6 oz. egg noodles
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a large pot and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transparent.

While the onion and garlic are sautéing, wash and slice the carrots and celery. Add them to the pot and continue to sauté for a few minutes more.

Pull the skin and any excess fat from the chicken breasts. Add the breasts to the pot along with the bay leaf, basil, parsley, thyme, some freshly cracked pepper, and eight cups of water. Cover the pot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for one hour. Make sure the pot continues to simmer for the whole hour. If the heat is turned down too low and it is not bubbling away, the chicken will not shred easily.

After an hour of simmering, remove the chicken from the pot. Using two forks, pull the meat from the bone and shred it slightly. Season the broth with salt. Begin with one teaspoon and add more to your liking. I used 2-3 teaspoons. The flavor of the broth will really pop once the salt is added.

Add the noodles to the pot, turn the heat up to high, and boil the noodles until tender (about 7 minutes). Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Taste and season again with salt if needed (I didn’t need to). Serve hot!

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