Campbell’s Knockoff Chicken Noodle Soup

You can thank Dad for this one – no recipe to source here. This came out of a necessity for a basic chicken noodle soup and only afterwards did it remind me of Campbell’s infamous chicken noodle soup. Dad would have added a dozen other veggies and spices, but I was going for the basics here, and it was quite tasty.

Start with your base liquid and bring to a boil. I used 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, 2 cups water, and 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon. To keep the sodium even lower, use homemade chicken broth (blog post coming in the future).

Chop up your veggies and choose your pasta. I used about five or six baby carrots, a 1/4 of a celery stalk, and a small handful of spaghetti broken into fourths.

Add to the boiling broth. Season as desired. I used a dash of Turkish oregano and Penzeys Spices’ Bavarian spice blend (includes sage, basil leaves, and a few other goodies).

While your soup is simmering, cook and dice up your chicken. I used three tenderloins left over from General Tso’s Chicken and cut them up as they cooked in the pan. Be sure to use a bit of oil in pans that are not non-stick – a tablespoon of olive oil is sufficient.

Throw in the chicken and let it simmer until you are ready to serve. This soup simmered for 20-30 minutes but it only needed to cook until the noodles were tender and chicken was warmed through.

My recipe:

• 3 chicken tenderloins or other leftover chicken
• 4 cups chicken broth OR 4 cups water with chicken bouillon (follow ratio on bouillon)
• 6 baby carrots, cut into rounds
• 1/4 stalk of celery, finely diced
• 2 oz spaghetti (or small handful), broken into fourths
• spices, as desired (I used oregano, crushed brown mustard, rosemary, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and sage)

Bring broth to a boil. Dice vegetables and break dried pasta. Add to soup and let simmer. Cook and dice chicken then add to soup. Spice as desired. Simmer until noodles are tender or until ready to serve. Add oyster crackers or dry toast to cure a cold within a day or at least make them feel better.

Makes about 4 servings.