Why have regular chicken noodle soup when you can have CREAMY instead? Pure comfort food at its finest! Ready in 30 minutes, an instant family favorite, and PERFECT for chilly weather!!
1heaping cup carrotspeeled and sliced thin (about 1 1/2 large carrots)
1heaping cup celerysliced thin (about 2 large stalks)
1medium sweet Vidalia oniondiced small
2 to 4garlic clovesminced
3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
2tablespoonsunsalted butter
64ounces8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 ½cupswhole milkread blog post about milk/cream substitutions
12ounceswide egg noodlesor your favorite noodles or pasta
2 to 3cupsshredded cooked chickenwhite or dark meat, turkey may be substituted; use a store bought rotisserie chicken to save time
1teaspoonfresh thymeor 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
½ to 1teaspoondried oregano
1teaspoonfreshly ground black pepperor to taste
½ to 1cupheavy creamoptional but highly recommended (read blog post about milk substitutions)
saltto taste (1 to 2 tablespoons likely but add slowly and to taste)
2 to 4tablespoonsfinely minced fresh parsleyoptional and to taste
Instructions
To a very large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil, carrots, celery, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften; stir intermittently.
Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 minute, or until fragrant; stirring constantly.
Evenly sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, add the butter, and stir constantly until the butter melts, about 1 minute.
Add the broth, milk, egg noodles, cooked chicken, thyme, oregano, pepper, and bring to a boil. Allow mixture to boil uncovered fairly rapidly for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through and the vegetables are very tender.
Add the heavy cream and stir to combine.
Turn off the heat, taste the soup, and add salt to taste and the optional parsley. I added nearly 2 tablespoons of salt but this will vary based on how salty the broth used is, how salty the chicken is, how much cream you added, and personal preference for salt. If desired, make any necessary seasoning adjustments (i.e. more salt, pepper, herbs, etc.).
Serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. To reheat: Reheat refrigerated (leftover) soup very gently in the microwave on 50% power or over gentle heat on the stove until it's as warm as desired. Any time you are reheating anything with milk/cream in it, there is the risk of it 'breaking' or separating. This is less likely with fattier milks such as whole milk and heavy cream. If you're using skim, 1% or 2%, there is a much greater risk it can 'break' which is why my advice is to use fattier milks and heavy cream. Adapted from Easy 30-Minute Chicken Noodle Soup.