Super Easy Chicken Soup

I’ve had a few comments and emails lately, particularly on Meal Plan posts, that suggest that some of you out there:

• don’t cook
• don’t know how to cook
• but want to cook for your family (Yay!)

What you need is some easy recipes, I mean really easy recipes. I have a few for you. Let’s start with the way I make Chicken Soup:

Ingredients:
Chicken breasts**
Onion
Celery
Carrots
Starch of some kind (pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.)
Chicken stock or bouillon** (yes, you can make your own, but again this is easier for me)
Optional: Pesto and Lemon juice

**Yes, you can use a whole chicken and it would cost less, but this is more convenient for me. Same with the chicken broth; you can make your own stock, but this takes less time.

1. Set your water to boil. I measured, because I knew you would ask, and it was about 8 cups of water. While that boiled, I chopped up the onion, celery and carrots. How much? Depends on what your family likes. My kids love celery, so I put more of that in, plus I chop the onions tiny so they don’t notice them so much.

2. After the water boils, I add the bouillon, then the vegetables. Chop the chicken breasts into small pieces and add that as well. I use about half as much chicken in soup as I do when I’m serving chicken breasts as part of a meal. Soup really stretches your food dollar!

3. I set the stove lower and cover the pot, then let it simmer for a while, 45 minutes to an hour. Let the vegetables get tender.

4. If you want to be fancy, you can add a tablespoon or two of pesto and a good squeeze of lemon juice. It adds depth and a ton of flavor to the soup.

5. If you’re planning to serve the Chicken Soup right away, you can add your starch at the end; just pick pasta, rice, potatoes, whatever your family likes or whatever you have on hand. If you’d rather freeze it for a later date, leave the starch out. Just let it cool and put it in a zipper freezer bag.

6. Serve with some yummy bread or rolls. If you need ideas, check my Recipes page.