• 5 – 7 lb. roasting chicken (I only use the breast in my soup)
• 2 (48 oz.) cans low sodium chicken broth
• 6 cups water
• 8 bouillon cubes
• 1-2 tbsp. neutral oil or unsalted butter (see difference in color below)
• 1 tsp. fresh basil, minced or 1/2 tsp. dried
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced or 1 tbsp. dried
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• l cup onions, chopped (or more)
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• kluski egg noodles

Cover chicken with broth,  water and bouillon.  Bring to a boil and simmer, covered for about 1-1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender and starts to fall of the bone.  Remove and set aside.

Saute the onions, carrots and celery in a small amount of oil in a separate skillet (or spray the vegetables with a cooking spray) for 10-15 minutes or until just tender (see comment). Add vegetables to soup and then add the spices and cook for another 30 minutes.  Add the noodles and cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Cut up the reserved chicken breast, add to soup and reheat.

If you want to get rid of the extra fat, allow the soup to cool, then skim off the fat with a spoon.  Then reheat and serve.  I did not do that in the picture below.  Sometimes a little fat is good, just depends on the cook.

I sometimes like to freeze this soup but without adding the noodles.

Comment: Recently, I cooked the vegetables in butter instead of oil and browned them more. It turned the broth more of a beef color but delicious and more intensely flavored – I like this. I also used wide egg noodles as that was what I had – would prefer the noodles to be thin or medium!

Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com