Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

I love chicken noodle soup. I mean, who doesn't? Well, I know that some people don't actually like it...but I'm not one of them! Thankfully, this is a very easy dish to make in India!

This is one of those great recipes where you literally throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook all day, making your house smell heavenly. I think if you had a cold the smell alone would heal you. The only extra step involved is shredding the chicken and adding the noodles in for the last 30 minutes. 

Most recipes you find for chicken noodle soup call for egg noodles, but since those aren't available in India, I just use regular corkscrew rotini noodles. And this might seem shocking...but I maybe like them even better. The jury's out...I'll have to wait till I have some chicken noodle soup at Panera when we're back in America, and then I can truly decide which noodle I like better. :)

Also here's a side tip: At least in Kolkata you can't consistently find celery year round. So when I do see celery, I buy extra, clean, chop and freeze it for the times I want to make soups and it's not available. 

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Original Recipe

2-3 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed

1 cup of chopped carrots

1 cup of chopped celery

1 large or 2 small onions, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

1 tsp basil

1 TBS parsley

1/2 tsp thyme

salt and pepper to taste

6-7 cups of water

5 chicken cubes (sub the water and chicken cubes with chicken broth if you have it)

1/2 pkg of rotini noodles

Throw everything in the crock pot except for the noodles. Give it a stir, and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-6 hours. (I would cook it at least 5 hours if the chicken is frozen).

In the final 30 minutes of cooking, take out the chicken and shred it. Add the chicken back in along with the pasta noodles, and stir.

After 30 minutes, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. If the noodles have soaked up too much of the liquid, add a little more water or chicken broth. 

For stovetop instructions if you don't have a crock pot, click the original recipe link.