Chunky Chicken Noodle Vegetable Soup

Want a healthy soup to make on these cold days? With the cold weather and many people having colds and the flu, this Chunky Chicken Noodle Vegetable Soup is the ultimate go-to, and an easy chicken recipe, when you are searching for a quick soup to make your friends and family. My husband loves vegetables. Me? Not so much. He loves this soup and its aroma will make anyone want to have a bowl on a cold, windy day.

There are two steps to this soup. You have to cook the chicken and then make the soup. You can do it at the same time, but if you’re not using pre-made chicken, you’ll have to do both steps. To begin with, choose your veggies and chicken. Because this is a healthy alternative to creamy soups and it has lots of veggies, you can be sure that your waistline won’t expand.

My husband is the chef (no, he’s an actual chef) and he made this soup tonight. It was so easy and it only took about 30 minutes from start to finish, and this is a large pot, feeds at least 8. There is plenty to feed a crowd or for lunch leftovers.

Chunky Chicken Noodle Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 boxes (8 cups total) chicken stock
1 cup of noodles (we used cellentani noodles)
1 medium onion – medium diced
1 medium yellow squash – medium diced
1 medium zucchini – medium diced
2 stalks of celery – medium diced
2 large carrots – medium diced
4 baby bella mushroom caps – sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen green beans – (we used frozen green and yellow beans)
4 garlic cloves – minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh thyme – off the stems
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Melt the butter in your soup pot on medium heat. You’ll then add the onions and carrots to the melted butter. Cooking these first will make them soft and give a lovely flavor. You don’t want to caramelize these veggies, only cook until they are softening, about 2 minutes or so.

You will then add the celery, adding salt and pepper as you go. As for the seasonings, you’ll want to season each stage of the cooking process. It helps to bring the flavors out, but don’t overdo it. When you season to taste, you are adding a pinch here and a pinch there in order to get the right amount. Not enough will leave your food bland, too much will overpower the soup and you won’t be able to eat it. Remember, you can always add more, you can never take away.

Add your garlic and a pinch of the thyme. In order to help your veggies cook and soften, you will also add a whole box (4 cups) of the chicken stock. There are two types of liquid on the market today. You can purchase stock or broth. Stock is made from the bones of the protein and broth is made from the meat. Both have great flavors and will add to any dish. If you boil the chicken you are intending to use, the juice (or liquid) off of that can be used. However, white meat doesn’t have enough fat to make a great stock, so that is why we are substituting box stock in this soup.

While your stock and veggies are coming to a boil, you can start working on your chicken (if you decide to make your own). We cooked our chicken in a grill pan so that we could have the color, the flavor and the look we wanted. You can boil the chicken, saute it or grill it.

We first pat the chicken dry and salt it. Patting the chicken dry helps with the searing of the chicken. Turn the grill pan on to get it heated and spray it with pan spray. If you don’t spray the pan, your chicken will stick and that would be a mess.

Once the pan is heated, place your chicken in the hot pan. Leave it in place for about 5 minutes (while cooking), make sure the heat is turned down to medium heat. The chicken will burn otherwise. Turn the chicken one time to cook on the other side.

Leave the chicken in the pan (we used a cast iron grill pan) and place it in a preheated 350 degree oven. The chicken will cook for about 10 minutes in the oven. Once the chicken is finished, cut it into cubes.

After the soup has simmered about 10 minutes, add the squash, green beans and the zucchini. Salt the soup to taste. Add the other box of stock at this time.

Add the noodles to the soup. This will need to cook for about 5-10 minutes. While this is cooking, dice your chicken.

Once the noodles are tender, add the mushrooms, chicken and remaining thyme.

Let the mushrooms cook for 2 minutes and serve.

You can serve this with a big hunk of crusty bread or garlic bread. My family just ate it like it came out of the pot, no bread needed.

This Chunky Chicken Noodle Vegetable Soup is nice and warming on a cold day (or night). Of course, like most soups and sauces, it taste even better the next day. If you are battling a winter cold, this soup will make your throat feel better and your stomach full.

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4.9 from 10 reviews

Chunky Chicken Noodle Vegetable Soup

 

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Author: Diane

Recipe type: Main Dish, Soup

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 boxes (8 cups total) chicken stock
• 1 cup of noodles (we used cellentani noodles)
• 1 medium onion – medium diced
• 1 medium yellow squash – medium diced
• 1 medium zucchini – medium diced
• 2 stalks of celery – medium diced
• 2 large carrots – medium diced
• 4 baby bella mushroom caps – sliced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen green beans – (we used frozen green and yellow beans)
• 4 garlic cloves – minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme – off the stems
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in your soup pot on medium heat. Add onions and carrots to the melted butter and cook until they are softening, about 2 minutes.
2. Add celery, adding salt and pepper as you go. As for the seasonings, you’ll want to season each stage of the cooking process. It helps to bring the flavors out, but don’t overdo it.
3. Add your garlic and a pinch of the thyme. Add a whole box (4 cups) of the chicken stock. If you boil the chicken you are intending to use, the juice (or liquid) off of that can be used.
4. While your stock and veggies are coming to a boil, start working on your chicken. You can boil the chicken, saute it or grill it.
5. We used a grill pan. Pat the chicken dry and salt it. Patting the chicken dry helps with the searing of the chicken. Turn the grill pan on to get it heated and spray it with pan spray. If you don’t spray the pan, your chicken will stick and that would be a mess.
6. Once the pan is heated, place your chicken in the hot pan. Leave it in place for about 5 minutes (while cooking), make sure the heat is turned down to medium heat. The chicken will burn otherwise. Turn the chicken one time to cook on the other side.
7. Leave the chicken in the pan (we used a cast iron grill pan) and place it in a preheated 350 degree oven. The chicken will cook for about 10 minutes in the oven. Once the chicken is finished, cut it into cubes.
8. After the soup has simmered about 10 minutes, add the squash, green beans and the zucchini. Salt the soup to taste. Add the other box of stock at this time.
9. Add the noodles to the soup. Cook 5-10 minutes. While this is cooking, dice your chicken.
10. Once the noodles are tender, add the mushrooms, chicken and remaining thyme.
11. Let the mushrooms cook for 2 minutes and serve.
12. You can serve this with a big hunk of crusty bread or garlic bread.+

3.5.3208