Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
Mike wasn’t feeling well, so I wanted to make him some soup. I had toyed with the idea of making a “traditional” chicken noodle soup, however we had a bit of milk that I was trying to use up. I also happened to have some heavy cream in the refrigerator as well.
Mike had not been consuming as much milk as usual since he was not feeling well, so I was trying to find creative ways to use up the milk before it spoiled.
Although chicken noodle soup traditionally contains egg noodles, I was trying to get rid of orzo pasta so I threw them into the soup. I bought orzo because I thought I would like it. As it turns out, I hate it. I didn’t have enough orzo, so I added rotini pasta to the soup as well so that there would be enough pasta.
I also added broccoli and chopped baby carrots because I was trying to get rid of those too, I mean because they are healthy. This soup was both creamy and delicious! This soup is hearty, with big chunks of food in it that is sure to fill someone up.
- 1 cup uncooked rotini (spiral) pasta*
- ½ cup uncooked orzo pasta*
- 2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
- 1½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ cups chopped onion
- 10 baby carrots, chopped
- ½ broccoli crown, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 teaspoons chopped dried parsley
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups skim milk
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- Prepare noodles according to the package instructions.
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the onions, carrots and broccoli until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add chicken broth, parsley, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over medium heat for 10 - 15 minutes.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and continue to stir vigorously until the flour is combined with the butter.
- Slowly whisk in milk and continue to stir vigorously. Add heavy cream and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Pour the milk mixture into the soup mixture, add the chicken and noodles and stir to combine.
- Serve immediately.
Adapted from Cooking Classy
