Semi-Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – With this easy weeknight recipe, you can have all the delicious flavor and healing benefits of homemade chicken noodle soup in a quarter of the time!

It’s officially cold and flu season. I work at a hospital and let’s just say that business has been booming! By obsessively washing my hands and disinfecting EVERYTHING at work, I’ve managed not to catch anything from my patients.

My 3-year-old, however, is an entirely different story. Preschoolers get lots of colds, but what they don’t get is standard precautions. All that to say, I’ve had three colds so far this season and I anticipate that there are more to come. I just can’t say “no” to my son’s snotty hugs, kisses, and cuddles. Seriously though, I literally found boogers in my hair the other day. BOOGERS! In my HAIR! That’s so gross!

When the snotty nose strikes, aside from some hard liquor to knock me out (from a medical perspective I don’t actually recommend this approach), one of my greatest comforts is Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. I used to make it from scratch from a whole chicken with the bones and all. A few hours later I had a perfect bowl of comforting chicken noodle love.

The thing is, over the years I’ve become lazier. Also busier… I’m a working mom, you know… So I’ve adopted the semi-homemade approach to my chicken noodle soup. By using a rotisserie chicken and store-bought chicken broth, this soup takes me a quarter of the time to make.

The end result is a flavorful, warming, comforting, (and I’d like to think healing), Semi-Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. My whole family slurps this up and they even ask for seconds. It’s so good that’s it’s good enough to eat even when you’re healthy!

Semi-Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

With this easy weeknight recipe, you can have all the delicious flavor and healing benefits of homemade soup in a quarter of the time!

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Ingredients

• 4 tsp butter
• 2 1/2 C carrots, chopped*
• 2 C celery, chopped
• 1 1/2 C sweet onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp dry parsley
• 2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/8 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 32 oz boxes chicken broth**
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 cooked rotisserie chicken, 2 C chopped
• 2 1/2 C durum wheat pasta

Instructions

1. In a large pot melt the butter over medium heat and sauté the carrots, celery, and onions until the onions are translucent (about 5 minutes). Next, add all of the spices to the pot and cook for an additional minute. 
2. Add the 3 32 oz boxes of chicken broth and the 3 bouillon cubes to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to soften the carrots and the celery. 
3. After 10 minutes have elapsed, bring the pot back up to a boil over high heat. Add the noodles to the pot and cook per the higher of the package instruction times (for a softer noodle). Stir occasionally to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot. 
4. Once the noodles are done cooking add the chicken to the pot. Bring the pot back up to a boil and then remove it from the heat. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat for up to 5 days. 

Notes

*To cut even more time use crinkle cut carrots, found in the produce or freezer section at the grocery store. 

**Use regular boxed chicken broth, or consider purchasing boxed bone broth.

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