Homemade Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is that one food that almost EVERYONE enjoys - sick days, during fall, when you're just feeling cold... whenever! It just brings comfort to everyone. And it does the trick whether you buy it in a can and heat it up, pick some up from your favorite local restaurant or if you make it at home. The perk of making it at home is that, well, you don't have to leave your house. Plus, it's easy and you can make it EXACTLY how you like it. Here are the steps to make one of my favorite comfort dishes: Homemade Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup.

Step 1: The first thing you need to do is cut open the pouch your chicken came in. Clean your chicken off by running him under cool water in the sink. Clean every inch of your chicken - under the wings, the legs, inside the cavity, the back - all of it. Clean the little guy off and then pat him dry with some paper towels.

Step 2: Place your clean chicken on a cutting board or work surface. This is when you will season your chicken. I make a mixture of melted butter, salt and pepper. So in a microwavable bowl place 1 cup of butter, 1 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and melt it down. Stir it all together. Now I spread this generously ALL OVER my chicken - front & back - and inside the skin of the breast area. Pour any remaining mixture into the cavity of your chicken.

Step 3: Place your chicken in a baking dish that is sprayed with nonstick spray (like PAM) and pour any remaining butter mixture all over the top.

Step 4: Now that your chicken is in it's baking dish, you're going to add some vegetables. I'm adding some cut up chunks of potato and carrots that were coated with olive oil and salt & pepper. That's all I am adding. If you like celery, or broccoli or some other vegetable in your soup - then you can add it here. But, this is all I like in my soup vegetable wise - carrots & potatoes - so I'm not adding anything else. I like it simple.

All I do is pour them into my pan, around my chicken, and then use some tongs (or my fingers) and just move them around so they all cook as evenly as possible.

Step 5: Cover your chicken tightly with aluminum foil and then bake it in an oven at 350 degrees. I am using  a Cornish Hen which is MUCH smaller than a chicken so it only needs 1 hour in the oven. (A full size chicken probably needs 1.5 hours to cook completely.)

Step 6: Once your chicken (or hen) is done baking, remove it from the oven. Remove the aluminum foil and let it cool down. It should look similar to this.

Step 7: Once it's completely cool, remove the carrots and potatoes and chop them up. You can chop them rough or fine depending on how you prefer your soup. I like mine chopped into small bites. But you do you.

Step 8: Next you need to remove the meat from your chicken. I like to remove the legs and wings first and then remove the chicken breast. I'm going to remove any meat that I want to add to my soup. (If you only like chicken breast you can use just the breast for your soup and reserve the rest for another dish.) Once you have the meat that you want to use removed from the chicken, set the rest to the side. Once your meat chunks are off your chicken, shred it up into finer pieces for your soup.

Step 9: Now, add your chopped carrots, potatoes, & shredded chicken to a small pot or sauce pan. Then add 1 cup of cooked rice (make it easy on yourself and use a microwavable pouch of rice for this step) and add 1 cup of cooked pasta noodles. You can choose what type of noodle you prefer in your soup. 

Step 10: Add 1 tablespoon of minced onion, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 cup of water (more if you feel you need it) and one 32 ounce container of chicken broth, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of Oregano and 1 teaspoon of celery salt.

Step 11: Place your pot of deliciousness on the stove over high heat setting. Give it a nice stir and mix up all of your ingredients. Then place the lid on it and wait for it to come to a boil. (pictured below)

Step 12: Once your pot is boiling, turn down the heat to low and give it another stir. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream and stir it one more time. Then place the lid back on and let it sit for a bit on a low setting.

Step 13: Once it's nice and thick, start dishing it up.

This homemade chicken noodle soup is so delicious and it's creamy goodness is a nice twist from the traditional chicken noodle soup.  For me, this creamy style soup is a definite MUST during the fall & winter months. Enjoy!!