Slow Cooker Mom Inserra Chicken Noodle Soup

This is the slow cooker version of the soup my MIL made.  It is a ton quicker since I prep the meat before hand and just pull out frozen stock and chicken when I make this.  All I have to do is prep the veggies and throw it all in the slow cooker and let it do it’s thing.  I am super happy to have a quicker alternative to the stock pot soup, though I did make one change with this one, I added peas since I am trying to pair down my freezer and I had a bag in there.  Peas were a nice color addition, I might even add them to the stock pot next time I make it that way.

 

Note: 

Prepped chicken- I buy like 5 or more lbs of drumsticks when they are on sale, cook them in a stock pot, freeze the broth and freeze the chicken in 1 lb bags to use in different dishes later.  This has been super handy and works great for soups and/or potpie, or really any dish that works best with shredded chicken.

 

Ingredients:
• 6-8 c water (cover the food, plus some- depends on how much broth you like)
• 1 lb chicken, shredded or diced
• 2-4 c celery, diced (including tops)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• ½- full pkg shredded carrots
• 4-6 (small- medium) potatoes, diced (small)
• 1 c peas (frozen)

• ½ c Orzo Pasta
• ¼- ½ c Parmesan cheese, grated (shaker cheese)

 

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients except Parmesan cheese and orzo in slow cooker
2. Cook on high for 4-6 hrs or low for 7-9
3. Add Orzo in last 30 min to 1 hr
4. Add Parmesan cheese before serving, let sit for 5- 10 minutes
5. serve

Slow Cooker Mom Inserra Chicken Noodle Soup

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Mom Inserra’s Chicken Noodle Soup

My MIL made the best chicken noodle (or rather pasta) soup ever.  Before we moved, I helped her make it and wrote down the directions.  Now, 5 years after we left WNY, I have changed a few things about how I make this compared to how my MIL made it, though it tastes exactly the same.  The changes I made were just changes to the procedure, making it more streamlined.

 

One of the major things I do differently is that I cut up all the ingredients the night before, place them in bags filled with water, and just drain them and add them to the soup when called for, my MIL cut them up during different parts of the process, this is just easier for me.  I also remove the skin from the chicken to cut down on fat, and remove the chicken before it is fully cooked so that I don’t get any bones in my soup.  We always had to play “find the bone” in my MIL’s soup and that kinda weirded me out.

 

I hope you enjoy this hearty soup.  It is a family favorite and it freezes well!  It is also great to share with friends or neighbors, you’ll have more than enough!

 

Ingredients:

• Large Stock Pot with Lid (16 qt)
• 6-8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
• Orzo Pasta (16 oz box) approx. 2 ½ cups
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 bunch of celery, diced (including tops)
• 1 large onion or 2 medium onions, diced
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 6 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1 lb carrots, shredded
• 6-8 potatoes, diced (small)
• Parmesan cheese, grated (shaker cheese)

 

Directions:

1. Fill Stockpot ¾ full with filtered water
2. Place skinned and cleaned chicken in water
3. Let come to a boil (lid on top helps)
4. During the first ½ hr occasionally skim fat (foam) from top of water, throw away
5. Make sure to stir the meat after each time you skim off foam, more will appear
6. After about a ½ hr, when very little is floating on top, remove chicken and let cool
7. Add bouillon cubes
8. Add celery, onion, two cans of broth
9. Add a palm of salt and a palm of pepper
10. Clean chicken off of the bone, dice up, add back to pot
11. Let boil for 2 hours
12. Taste, add more salt or pepper if needed
13.  Add carrots and potatoes
14. Let cook 10-15 minutes
15. Add pasta, mix
16. Keep stirring soup
17. Add ½- 1 c Parmesan cheese
18. Turn down heat, let simmer for ½ hr (or more) to mix together
19. Enjoy!

This freezes well!!

Mom Inserra’s Chicken Noodle Soup

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