Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I’ve had enough of this cold weather! Now to all my readers from colder climates, bear with me. I know I live in Florida, but it does get really chilly here! And because it will go from 80 degrees one day to 40 degrees the next, everyone around here is constantly sick this time of year. Plus, there’s something about 40 degrees in Tampa that is so different from 40 degrees in Illinois. The humidity here pierces right through your bones and its just awful. I am SO ready for spring.

But since we still have a few more weeks of winter here, and since hubby and I have had the sniffles, I decided to make a hearty homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner. Since we’ve gone BPA free its really hard to eat canned soup, but homemade is always 10,000 times better! I can’t wait till I can figure out how to can my own soup. Stay tuned in the coming months. My mother in law is bringing me a pressure canner and it will be SO on!

Now, because I like you so much, and I’m such a nice person, and I’m on a chicken noodle high… I’m giving you my TOP SECRET ingredient. This is the je n’sais quoi, the piece de resistance, the ingredient of all ingredients, that transforms your soup into something wonderful! It is…. Celery Salt! I’m not sure exactly why, but it gives the soup a wholeness that is particularly satisfying.

So here’s my soul warming, body warming, chase away the sniffles, make you feel happy, comfort food of all comfort foods, Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipe.

Here’s what you need:

2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts (about 2 cups cut into 1/2 cubes)
3-4 Carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2-3 stalks of celery, sliced
2 cartons of organic chicken stock (do not use canned, use the cartons that have the Tetra-pak label on the bottom. If you have homemade stock even better!)
2 Cups of noodles (Use any noodle you like. I used whole wheat rotini. You could use macaroni, fusilli, egg noodles, or even broken up spaghetti noodles)
1 T Tarragon
1 T Parsley
2 t Celery Salt
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1/4 cup of flour (optional)
1 cup of cream (optional)

Here’s what you do:

In a large pot saute’ the vegetables in the olive oil, butter, and some salt & pepper, until they are slightly tender. Add the chicken (and a little more salt & pepper) after about 7 minutes. Cook until the chicken is completely cooked through. Allow everything to very slightly brown. Add the herbs and celery salt and pour the stock over everything. Stir well. Add 2 cartons full of plain water as well. Simmer the soup on medium/low heat for about 20 minutes to allow all the flavors to marry. For a slightly thicker soup add a slurry of 1/4 cup flour mixed thoroughly with equal parts cold water. Quickly stir in the slurry. If you pour it in too slowly it might form a dumpling (which could be nice! lol, I figured this out by accident.) When you are almost ready to eat, add the noodles and cook for about 12 minutes or until desired tenderness. If you like, lower the heat to a slow simmer and add 1 cup of cream, then simmer for another 5-6 minutes. Do not boil it once you add the cream. This just adds a little bit of extra creaminess to the soup that is very nice. You can skip this if you don’t want the extra calories. Serve with lots of pepper, and maybe some homemade biscuits! Yum.

Enjoy!