Creamy chicken noodle soup with mini croutons
Recipe video above. A homemade version of instant cup-a-noodle-soup! Except, well, you know. It's made with real ingredients. :)This is hearty, wholesome, cosy and surprisingly healthy. Creamy, but no cream!
Servings: 5
Calories: 462cal
Ingredients
- 400g/10oz chicken breast (2 small), cut in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks (sub boneless thighs)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tbsp black pepper
Soup:
- 4 strips streaky bacon (enough to cover base of pot)
- 30g/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 onion , finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 2 sprigs thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme (optional)
- 2 celery stalks , chopped (~0.5 x 1.2 cm / 1/5 x 1/2" pieces)
- 1 carrot , chopped (0.5 x 1 cm / 1/5 x 1/2" pieces)
- 3/4 cup corn kernels (frozen thawed or canned drained)
- 4 tbsp flour
- 3 cups milk , full fat best but low fat ok (non-dairy ok too)
- 2 cups low sodium chicken stock/broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp cooking salt
- 1 1/3 cups (100g) broken angel hair pasta OR angel hair pasta / spaghetti broken into 6 pieces, or other small, spoon-able pasta
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 tsp finely chopped parsley , optional
Mini croutons:
- 1 cup bread (crustless) cut into 7mm / 1/4" cubes - sourdough type is crunchier, regular sandwich bread is fine too
- 2 tsp olive oil
- Pinch cooking salt / kosher salt
Instructions
Croutons & crispy bacon
- Croutons - Preheat the oven to 180°C/3450°F (160°C fan-forced). Toss the bread with the oil and salt. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, tossing halfway, until golden and fully crisp (some breads take longer eg sourdough). Cool on the tray, set aside.
- Season chicken - Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with the salt and pepper.
- Crispy bacon - Place the bacon in a single layer in an un-heated, large pot. Turn the heat onto medium high then cook the bacon until golden on both sides (~2-3 minutes first side, 1 1/2 minutes second side). (Note 2). Remove bacon (leave fat in pot), drain on paper towels. It will crisp as it cools. Finely chop, set aside for garnish.
The soup
- Cook chicken - Using the same pot, still hot, cook the chicken in the tasty bacon fat for 1 1/2 minutes on each side until light golden. Remove onto a plate. Once cool enough to handle, chop into small 8 mm / 1/3" cubes.
- Broth - Lower heat to medium high. In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, thyme sprigs. Cook 5 minutes until the carrot is softened, stirring regularly (don’t let the onion brown). Add flour and stir for 1 minute. While stirring, slowly pour the milk in. Once the flour is dissolved, add the stock, water and salt, then stir.
- Simmer - Turn the heat up to high and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. (The soup will seem thin, it thickens as the pasta cooks. Trust!)
- Pasta - Turn the heat back up to high. Add the pasta and corn. Cook for 5 minutes or until pasta is soft, adding the peas and chicken (including any juices pooled) for the last 2 minutes of cook time.
- Serve - Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with bacon, croutons and a pinch of parsley. Eat!
Notes
1. Short cut angel hair pasta - angel hair pasta cut into 3cm / 1.2" long pieces, sold I'm bags. Cooks fast (pack will say 2 minutes, takes 4 - 5 minutes in a creamy broth in this recipe) and ideal soup-scooping size. Find it in the pasta aisle of regular Australian grocery stores. Can't find it? Break angel hair, spaghetti, fettuccini etc by hand (will take longer to cook). Other small pasta like risoni, star shaped pasta, ditalini, alphabet pasta etc also ideal!
2. Cooking bacon - If you are using streaky bacon (ie bacon streaked with fat) you won't need oil. As the pot heats up, the fat will melt so it cooks in its own fat. If you are using lean bacon, you'll need a bit of oil.
3. Other vegetables - Feel free to substitute the corn and peas with other vegetables.
4. Making ahead / storing leftovers - Use colander to separate pasta, chicken and veg from the broth (pasta bloats and absorbs soup broth if left overnight). Once separated, keeps 3-4 days in the fridge, 3 months in the freezer. Don't be tempted to cook pasta separately (read in post for why).
Nutrition per serving assuming 5 servings.
Nutrition
Calories: 462cal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 956mg | Potassium: 774mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2628IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 228mg | Iron: 2mg