This is classic chicken noodle soup. It’s not the chicken noodle soup I grew up on. We never used noodles; we used a tiny pasta, called pastina. We never added chicken to the soup. The boiled chicken was eaten in the second course with salad. We always topped our soup with Italian grated cheese. While I still love that kind of soup day, I am smitten with classic chicken noodle soup. It’s what I want on snow days. It’s what I want when the only thing I want for dinner is just a bowl of soup and nothing else.

This is my quick, fast, easy, slimmer version of chicken noodle soup.

I’ve already shared with you the best way to make chicken broth, using chicken necks and backs and even chicken feet if you can access them. That takes all day, and we all know it’s worth it to extract every bit of collagen into a slow moving broth, skimming fat and taking in the aromas  of hot soup on the stove.

This is my quicker than making stock, but slower than opening a can of chicken noodle soup (I hope you don’t do that). There is a product on the market that I’ve come to appreciate. It’s called Better Than Bouillon chicken base. Its USDA organic and claims reduced sodium. It’s sold in jars and you can use a spoon at a time to either make a chicken broth or enhance. I chose to simply enhance what I had already made.   You could skip this part altogether. If I had some stock frozen like I suggest here, I would have used that.  I keep that jar of Better Than Bouillon in the fridge to add to various dishes. Another option is buying chicken broth and adding noodles and vegetables. There are good choices out there for organic chicken broth usually sold in boxes. That works too. You won’t have chicken to add back in, but you won’t be opening up a can either.

What makes chicken soup so good?

Keep it simple. Chicken broth, carrots, onion, parsley, celery, noodles, chicken, salt and pepper.

This is classic chicken noodle soup and if you use good ingredients, this is all you need to satisfy.  Some days you might want to walk on the wild side and  matzo balls.  But, if this is my slimmed down, delicious,  chicken noodle soup in classic style.

Tips for Quick and Fit Chicken Soup

1.  Use chicken breasts for low fat broth.
2.  Never allow broth to continue to boil. Bring to boil and immediately turn to simmer.
3.  Remove chicken from pot as soon as it’s done. Cool quickly and refrigerate.
4.  Never pour broth from the pot. Use a ladle to avoid particles at bottom.
5.  Boil egg noodles separately as they will absorb all of your broth.
6.  Cook celery, carrots and onions (veggies for the soup) just to done, so as to not be too mushy.
7.  Add chicken to each bowl as you serve, so chicken maintains its flavor (if you add chicken back in)
8.  Top each bowl with freshly chopped parsley prior to serving.

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Spinach Tiger Fit Chicken Noodle Soup

A quick and easy chicken soup that is still homemade.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion diced
• 2 sticks of celery diced
• 3 carrots diced into coins
• bunch parsley divided
• few sprigs thyme
• salt pepper
• curly egg noodles about a handful per serving

Quick Homemade Chicken Broth

• 2 chicken breasts (you can use dark meat. This is my quick low-fat method and I use the chicken left over for the soup and for other dishes such as chicken salad or chicken lettuce wraps.
• 1 onion cut into 4's
• 1 carrot cut in half
• 1 celery cut in half
• sprig of thyme
• few sprigs of parsley

Instructions

• Assemble Soup using broth as explained below.
• Put a little oil in soup pan, and add in celery, onion, carrots. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add in broth, thyme, parsley. Add cooked noodles once carrots are soft.
• Boil noodles separately and cook up to about 2 minutes before they are done.
• Add al dente noodles to the pan. This way they absorb some of the broth for flavor.
• Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Homemade Chicken Broth

• Put two chicken breasts in 2 quarts cold water, with one roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery stick.
• Add in salt and pepper. Bring to boil Reduce to simmer and cook chicken until just done.
• Skim off fat. Remove discard veggies.
• Cool chicken and refrigerate. You only need to add one breast back in, unless you want a lot of chicken in your soup.
• Add in 2 more quarts of water and proceed as above. At this point, if I have time, I will add the bones back into the pot and continue cooking, as they add flavor. If you need more chicken flavor add in chicken base at this time.
• Ladle the broth through a mesh strainer to remove all veggies and any particles. Follow instructions above for chicken noodle soup.

Notes

My recommendation for Better than Bouillon is on my own and I'm not affiliated in any way with the company.

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