When winter arrives so do viruses, colds, and the flu. What better to feed your family, sick or healthy, on a cold winter’s night than hearty chicken and noodles? Follow these easy steps and enjoy!
Supplies: You will need
-A stock pot or a large pan
-One whole raw chicken (or chicken breast, depending on your meat preference and amount of people you need to feed, this can be replaced with turkey as well)
-2 bags of frozen German noodles or dumplings (I prefer the Reams brand)
-Salt
-Water
-Any other seasonings you enjoy
-Carrots or other veggies
Depending on how many vegetables you wish to add and how much chicken you purchase, the ingredients will usually cost $10-$15. This will take two to three hours to cook, so be sure to start ahead of time! Two bags of noodles and a whole chicken serves a family of six with some leftovers.
If you are using a whole chicken, remove it from the wrappings and rinse it well in the sink. Be sure all organs are removed if you don’t want them in your dish. Place the raw chicken or chicken breast into a large pot of water. Boil for 1 to 2 hours with a lid on, time depending on size. You will know when the chicken is done because the meat will be tender and falling off of the bones.
Be sure to wash your hands and the sink well after rinsing the chicken. No one enjoys food poisoning!
Once your chicken is fully cooked remove it from the pot. Leave water boiling on the stove. It has now become yellow chicken broth. Cut the chicken into chunks. You can make the pieces as small or large as you would like. Throw away bones and any dark meats you do not want. Set the plate of chopped chicken aside.
Add the frozen noodles to the still boiling broth and stir. Cover with the lid. Leave the noodles boiling for about an hour, stirring occasionally. At this point you may add liberal amounts of salt to taste. The salt seems to just disappear into the broth, so usually you need to add a lot. If you like pepper or any other seasonings they may be added after half an hour as well, along with carrots or any other veggies. If you prefer for your veggies to remain crisp, add them closer to the end of the hour so they do not boil as long.
Once an hour is up and your noodles have become tender, re-add the chicken. Replace the lid and let it simmer for fifteen minutes to half an hour. Then taste it to see if it needs more seasoning. If all is well, serve it and eat!
This is a favorite family dish around our house. If you do not want to use the frozen noodles, it is possible to make your own, but it is a lot of work and noodle dough can easily come out too chewy or too soft. That’s why I prefer to buy frozen noodles, they taste just as good as home made!
A few words to the wise who may wish to alter the recipe: This does not turn out well in a crock pot. The noodles become hard and chewy. If you leave the chopped up chicken cooking the the noodles too long it will turn to nothing but strings, which though they still taste good, aren’t that great texture-wise.
This meal is virtually impossible to ruin. Even if you let the pot boil over and create a mess on your stove top, it still tastes excellent. The dish is even better as leftovers for the next two or three days. If you have way too many leftovers it can be frozen and reheated for a quick meal later. Since the main part of the dish is the noodles and chicken, the broth will always be left in the pot. This can be frozen once it is cooled and used in other recipes as a replacement for canned chicken broth or flavor cubes.
