Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

Talk about comfort food.

This is just seriously yummy. My family has made homemade chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, probably for all of my life, and my life has certainly been the better for it. Every time I've been pregnant, I crave this meal during the early feeling sick and nothing sounds good weeks, so of course a few weeks ago I was craving this. (P.S. We're pregnant! Hence the lack of posts for the past month, because I've been feeling too nauseous to cook much. We've eaten a lot of pancakes for dinner lately.)

My mom mercifully reminded me of this recipe while she was visiting back in March, and I realized that it was totally possible to make here in India. And it's so delicious, you definitely should!

The key is in the mashed potatoes. I know it seems like a lot of carbs, but I beg of you to abandon all carb consciousness and don't eat the chicken and noodles alone (although they're good enough for that). The mashed potatoes are what really make this dish so delectable. Actually, in an ideal world you'd add one extra carb and serve this with a side of homemade rolls. Yes.

I seriously had to pause in the middle of writing this to go reheat a plate of leftovers to eat. They're that yummy.

This recipe is also so, so simple. The most complicated part is making the egg noodles (if you're in America, you can cheat the system and use Reames frozen egg noodles. If I were in America, I would definitely cheat the system). But really, the egg noodles were not hard to make. I had never made homemade noodles before and was nervous, but I found this recipe that was so easy, and actually didn't even take very much time. I'll include the directions for the egg noodles below the main recipe. 

I won't tell you a recipe for mashed potatoes, because everyone has their own mashed potato style, and hopefully you already know how to make them. I will say though, that boiling the potatoes in the pressure cooker has changed my mashed potato life. Talk about a time saver! Oh, and don't make garlic mashed potatoes for this. Yuck. In fact, I wouldn't even add sour cream or cream cheese if you're that kind of person, because the potatoes will absorb a lot of the liquid and become extra creamy already. Just keep it simple with butter, milk, salt/pepper. Ok, that was practically a recipe.

One final note: the great thing about this recipe is that it's not time sensitive. The longer the chicken and noodles simmer in the broth, the more flavor the noodles absorb. My mom said she's let them simmer as long as an hour before. So it's very forgiving on time; just let them simmer away (or not and eat immediately!)

Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

2 large or 3 small chicken breasts

7-8 cups of water

5 chicken cubes (the size that you normally dissolve in 1 cup of water)

(if making this in the U.S. use chicken broth or stock instead of the water and chicken cubes)

3 bay leaves

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 recipe of egg noodles

Mashed potatoes

Mix up your egg noodle recipe 15-20 minutes before starting the chicken and noodles. See below.

Bring the water to a boil and add the chicken cubes. Stir to dissolve. 

Cut the chicken breasts into chunks (I cut small ones in half or big ones in thirds). Add to the pot. Bring the pot back to a boil, but then lower the temperature so it's more of a poaching simmer vs. a full on rolling boil. You'll still want to see some movement of bubbles but not a full boil. This will keep the chicken from getting as tough as when you actually boil it. Cook the chicken for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. While the chicken was cooking, I rolled out and cut my egg noodles.

Remove the chicken from the pot, bring to a boil, and add the noodles. If it seems like there's not enough liquid, you can add more water and adjust the seasoning. I prefer waiting to add any salt or pepper until this stage, so I can see what the broth tastes like after the chicken has cooked in it.

While the noodles are boiling, shred the chicken with two forks. When the noodles seem somewhat cooked, stir the chicken back in. If you're using frozen Reames noodles, they'll take longer to cook than fresh egg noodles. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Simmer for as long as you wish!  When ready, spoon over mashed potatoes and dive in headfirst.

Egg Noodles Recipe

1 Cup of flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

In a bowl, add 1 cup of flour and salt. Whisk together using a fork. Then push the flour to the edges of the bowl to create a "well" or dent in the middle of the flour in the bowl. Crack the eggs into the well. Using the fork, beat the eggs together. Then continue whisking with the fork and slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs until a dough forms (it will be VERY sticky). You might need to use your hands to get the last bit of flour combined.

Generously sprinkle flour on a flat surface and put the ball of dough on it. Knead the dough by hand and incorporate more and more flour until the dough is no longer sticky and is a cohesive ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take the dough out of the fridge and divide into two sections. On a well floured surface, roll out one half of the dough thin, but not paper thin. Keep in mind that once the noodles absorb the water they will expand in both length and width, so roll extra thin if you like thin noodles. Once rolled out, use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut into noodles. Again, make these as thin or as thick as you like, but keep in mind they'll expand (in my picture above, the original noodles were probably half of the width as they turned out after cooking). Place cut noodles on a cooling rack to keep them from sticking together.

Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Also, if it's too stressful for you to time making the noodles at the same time as making the chicken, you can make the noodles ahead of time and cut them, and just leave them sitting out on the cooling rack until you're ready to use them. In fact, the first time I made this, I made the noodles the day before and let them dry overnight, then used them the next day. If you let them dry, it just takes them longer to cook.