Monday, March 30, 2009

Making Chicken Noodle Soup in the Crockpot

By KC Kudra

It is true that you can use your crockpot to make a wonderful kettle of chicken noodle soup. While you are busy doing something else, it will be simmering away, creating a delicious bowl of healthy goodness. Whether you are an accomplished cook who uses only the freshest ingredients, or if you only cook when you absolutely have to with ready-made ingredients from the store, you can make a tasty chicken noodle soup in the crockpot that will be much better than canned soup.

If You Use Only the Freshest Ingredients...

If you prefer only fresh ingredients from the farmer's market, the crockpot can still serve you well. Take the skin off your chicken before cooking. You can use whatever you have on hand... a whole chicken, parts, or boneless pieces. Place the chicken in the crockpot with enough liquid to cover it. Add a stalk of celery, a whole carrot, half an onion or whatever you want to help flavor your broth. Simmer on high for at least 3 or 4 hours.

When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, remove it and let it cool. Remove the celery, carrot, onion, and anything else you can strain out of the broth. Throw the vegetation away. Once cooled, remove the meat from the bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Add the meat back to the crockpot. Add some more chopped fresh celery, sliced carrots, some crushed garlic, parsley and any other tasty vegetables you may want to add. Sweet potatoes, rutabagas, and parsnips are also nice in this soup.

Keeping the crockpot on high let it cook for a couple more hours. Do not open the lid until it is time to add your noodles. Taste the broth about 45 minutes before you want to serve the soup. Add salt and other seasonings as needed. Add your noodles. This can be egg noodles, linguine, fettuccine, or any other noodle you prefer. Perhaps you have made homemade noodles to add... if so, they only need to cook about 20 minutes until they are tender.

Simply Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

If you are not too handy in the kitchen, you can still make a terrific soup. chicken noodle soup recipes like this are so simple even an older child could make it. Use chicken leftover from another meal or get one of those tasty rotisserie chickens at the store.

Put your chicken in the crockpot. Add a large container of chicken broth, covering the chicken. Simmer your soup on the high setting for three or four hours. Take the chicken out and let it cool so you can remove the bones. Slice up the meat and add it back to the soup.

Get a bag of baby carrots at the market and drop them in. No preparation needed! Alternatively, you can cut up your favorite vegetables to add, or use frozen vegetables if you prefer. Leave the soup to cook another couple of hours.

About 45 minutes before serving your soup, drop in your favorite noodles. Egg noodles, soba or udon noodles, or even wagon wheels will work in your soup. If you have a small amount of noodles in your cupboard, mix, and match if need be to get the right amount for your soup. If you have large noodles like lasagna noodles, just break them up so they will be bite size.

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