Chicken Noodle Soup

Yesterday was cold, raw, and cloudy; the perfect day for chicken noodle soup.  Some of you asked how I made it, so here goes:

 

Boil four large chicken thighs until tender and shred them.  Use enough seasoned water to have at least eight cups of broth. There is no rule saying you have to use thighs, it was just what I had.  Any chicken will do.

Add about a cup of celery and carrots, chopped fine.  They don't have to be this fine, but chopping veggies is a stress reliever for me, so I just keep chopping.  I used purple onion here because I had some left over from another dish.  I usually use yellow onions, but I'm all about using what's in the frig.  There was about 1/2 cup of the onion; you can use more or less.  As you can see, this recipe can be adjusted very easily.

Half a stick of butter.  Butter, only!  Don't be using that other stuff.

Melt it the bottom of a heavy pot on medium heat.

Add the veggies and sauté until tender, about five minutes or so.

I added a teaspoon of chicken seasoning.  We like it; it's up to you.

Add about eight cups of broth here; the noodles absorb a lot of it.
Cook until the noodles are done; twenty minutes or so. Add more broth if you want a thin soup.



I like the small noodles.  I used about half, or eight ounces, of these. You can use any kind, but the larger ones kind of take over.

I added a tablespoon of dried basil because I really like it, but not everyone does.  You could use thyme or another herb or nothing here, whatever you like.

It is yummy.  It in no way resembles that salty stuff that comes in a can, which my sons loved when they were little.  After you make the broth and shred the chicken, it could be cooked in a crock pot.

We like ours with saltine crackers.  And, there are wonderful leftovers for another day!