My family, especially my sons, love chicken noodle soup.  What they don’t want is canned chicken noodle soup which taste mainly like salt with mushy noodles and veggies.  Just because you don’t have a lot of time doesn’t mean you have to eat poorly.  This recipe is ready in about 30 minutes.

You’ll get great flavors by infusing your spices early in the process to give you a soup that tastes like you took hours to prep it.  Fresh vegetables sauteed before simmering insure there is nothing mushy about this soup.

This recipe is another great way to use those packages of grilled chicken from this blog. Deli chicken will also work well.  Fixing extra portions of your meat dishes (chicken, pork, beef, etc) will save you time for your next dish.  Planning ahead is the secret to your family eating well when you have a busy schedule.

Perfect for a weeknight when its cold.  This recipe makes 6 well filled bowls.  The pasta I use can be found in the Hispanic food section.  The packages are small, inexpensive, and come in a variety of shapes (including alphabet) and are the perfect amount for a pot of soup….no unused pasta to figure out how to store.  Feel free to augment the vegetable  portions or change them to suit your family.  I have been making this soup for more than a decade and it is still one of my son’s favorites to take to school for lunch.

You’ll need:

olive oil as needed

2 medium or 1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic peeled and pressed (mince fine if you don’t have a press)

8 oz package of sliced mushrooms

1- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

6 cups good chicken stock

2 cups carrots, peeled and sliced  1/2 inch thick ( I have used the baby carrots for this-they work fine)

1   7 oz package of pasta ( I use Moderna’s Fideo)

2 cups of diced grilled chicken or deli chicken

1/2 to 1 pkg (16 oz) of frozen green peas

In a 6 qt stock pot:

Into the heated pot, drizzle the olive oil and them immediately add  onions and mushrooms.  Saute on medium to low heat until onions begin to color and mushroom are yielding  their liquid, then add garlic and cook for a minute or two longer.  Sprinkle poultry seasoning over vegetables and stir for another minute. (This is where your flavors really infuse and give you great flavor.)  Add chicken stock and frozen grilled chicken (you can defrost the chicken before you add it, but you don’t have to)or deli chicken and increase heat to bring soup to a simmer.

Once soup is simmering, add carrots and pasta at the same time.  Cook for 8-10 minutes until pasta is done.  Turn off heat and add frozen peas.  Stir and let sit for two more minutes.  Stir again and serve.  Biscuits or hush-puppies,  and piece of sharp cheddar go well with this.