Easy, Inexpensive Homemade Chicken Soup
WHAT YOU NEED:
1 – 2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
6 cups Chicken Broth + water for desired amount of liquid
2 cups chopped carrrots (whole carrots or baby carrots, whatever you have)
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium onion diced
1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 handfuls rice (uncooked)
Seasonings like salt, pepper, basil, garlic powder
WHAT YOU DO:
If you haven’t already cooked the chicken breast, do so now with a little oil in a large Dutch Oven or Stock Pot over medium to medium high heat to brown and mostly cook the chicken Remove from the pot, and add the chicken broth, water and the next four ingredients, stirring up the browned bits if you just cooked the chicken. Bring to a boil. In the meantime, cut chicken breast into bite size pieces. Add back to pot. Add seasonings to taste. When soup is boiling, add rice. Reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are soup-tender, stirring occasionally.
I have even added the rice when the soup came to a boil, turned the stove off, covered the pot, and left it on the burner to rush the kids to music lessons. An hour and a half later, we enjoyed our delicious dinner.
Shake it Up!
This is my “go-to” started for almost every soup I make, but I change the ingredients depending on what’s in my frig, and my mood:
- chopped zucchini
- leeks or scallions in place of the onion
- a can of cannellini beans (drained with about a third of the beans pureed to add thickness)
- chopped kale or chard
- Quinoa noodles in place of the rice.
The point is to have fun, and experiment. When I yell, “Mangiamo” and my kids rush to the table they know they will be eating a “Mom Concoction” not just an ordinary meal made from a recipe. This is getting them ready for all sorts of uncertainty in the world, like when mom goes through menopause, right?!
ENJOY!
