Hopefully, you have enjoyed the ease of my shredded chicken method! It is so simple to put chicken in the crock pot overnight or in the morning and come up with a speedy meal when it is done cooking. There are actually times in which I put the chicken in without even knowing for sure what I will do with it the next day since I know I have so many options that I can turn to at the last minute. (Plus, having it cooked forces me to do SOMETHING with it!) If nothing else, I can pour some bottled BBQ sauce over it and have BBQ chicken sandwiches!

Did you try the Arroz Con Pollo? Jonathan and his new bride are here for two weeks on spring break while Jonathan works at the factory and Maelynn does her junior practicum at a local middle school. I will probably be making that Arroz Con Pollo next week for them!

In addition to the BBQ chicken mentioned above, when all else fails, I know I can pull out some chicken broth, enrich it with chicken base (always!), boil some packaged noodles in the broth, and come up with a pot of chicken noodle soup in no time flat. Here is how I do that quickly.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• Boneless, skinless thighs and/or breasts

• chicken base or bouillon granules

• chicken broth

• Bag of uncooked homestyle noodles

• seasonings as desired: parsley, garlic, pepper, basil

• stir fried tiny pieces of celery, carrots, and (optional) onions

Directions:

1. Cook chicken according to instructions in the general section. 

2. Shred and set aside.

3. Cook noodles in chicken broth until al dente.

4. Optional: Stir fry celery and tiny pieces of carrot (or carrots that you shredded with a potato peeler) in skillet or in micro with butter.

5. To cook aromatics in micro, just put them finely shredded in small microwaveable bowl with a TBSP or two of butter. Cover and cook until tender. You don’t want the celery or carrots to be crunchy.

6. Add chicken, aromatics, seasonings, and more base back into noodles and broth. It is ready! Don’t keep on low as noodles will continue to cook and get grainy.

The post Chicken Noodle Soup appeared first on Character Ink.

I told you that last week’s chicken and rice soup was the easiest soup I ever make. Then this one is definitely a close second! It is the same concept–use the crock pot to cook the chicken over night. Stir it up to shred it (it shreds that easily in the crock!), cook your noodles in broth, add seasonings, and put back in the crock on warm. 

Here is the unofficial recipe:

Combination of boneless, skinless thighs and breasts (or just one or the other)

Store bought “homemade” noodles

broth (or chicken base to create broth above and beyond the broth created from the cooked chicken)

Seasonings–I used the following: garlic and herb seasoning, parsley, sage, onion powder, garlic powder, dried celery, and Forward (a combination seasoning containing heavy black pepper, paprika…and more…)

1. Cook chicken in large crock pot overnight or all day. 

I always start chicken on high for an hour, so it is really hot then turn it to low for the night. I read somewhere years ago that you shouldn’t start chicken on low because it is too low at first, and the chicken could become spoiled–not sure if it’s true, but I’ve always done my chicken this way.

2. Next morning or an hour before dinner: Boil “homemade” noodles in broth until they are al dente. 

I keep my soup in the crock all day for my teachers to eat out of, so I don’t fully cook my pastas; they become too soft if they are completely precooked then kept in a warm crock all day. If you are serving this soup immediately and not putting it back into the crock pot, you might want to fully cook the noodles .

3. Optional: If you like more aromatics in your soup (as opposed to onion powder and garlic powder and dried celery), while the noodles are cooking, stir fry small amount of onion and garlic and lots of celery in butter or olive oil until onions are extremely translucent.

4. While noodles are cooking, take two large serving forks and dig into the chicken and shred it.  

This will go really fast (like two or three minutes) if your chicken is tender and not overcooked. (I cook my chicken for 8 or 10 hours on low after the hour on high, and it is never tough; you could definitely cook it faster on high, if needed.)

5. Once noodles are done cooking, put noodles, broth and all, into the shredded chicken. 

Add the aromatics and the rest of the seasonings. Taste broth and add more base and/or seasonings as needed.

6. Turn on low if noodles were truly al dente and let the flavors mix.

The post Crock Pot Wednesday–Chicken Noodle Soup appeared first on Character Ink.