Homestyle Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Cut up your chicken and put it all into a large pot. Slice the onion into large quarter sections. Trim and wash the carrots and celery and cut them into 4″ lengths. Add the vegetables to the pot of chicken, add enough water to cover everything, add the basil, salt and pepper – stir and turn on high to boil.

Once it begins to boil, turn it down onto medium so it can simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours. Check occasionally to make sure all of the ingredients are still covered with water, add more if some cooks away.

After 1.5 to 2 hours of simmering, remove all of the chicken and lay it out to cool on a cooling rack. Scoop out the veggies with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

Pour the remaining juices into a large bowl so you can separate the fat. Whatever method you prefer, I then pour it into a fat sieve, discarding the fat and adding the broth back to the large pot.

Don’t add water to the remaining broth, instead add the 48 ounces of chicken broth. This should be enough broth to cover the two packages of egg noodles. You’ll want to add the noodles and there should be enough liquid to cover them by about 2 inches. Feel free to add a little bit of water if you need some more.

Bring the noodles to a low boil, checking about 15 minutes and stirring so they don’t stick to the bottom. Add water occasionally if needed.

While the noodles are simmering, take the cooled veggies and cut them into whatever size you prefer. If they had stayed in the pot and boiled the whole time they’d be mush – so I boil the big pieces, then cut them up smaller and add them in at the end.

De-bone the chicken pulling the pieces into smallish chunks and set aside in a separate bowl. The noodles will double in size when they’re done. Keep checking them, it will take about 45 minutes to an hour. Test it by cutting them – if they are hard in the middle, they’re not done.

When the noodles are done, add in the 3 cans of cream of chicken soup – this will really thicken things up. Stir that in until well blended. Add in the small cut vegetables and chunked chicken and stir well to blend. Sample the soup and add any additional seasonings if needed to taste.

Now you’re ready to serve and your house will smell wonderfully homey!