Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Since chicken soup is touted for curing what ails ya, I believe people will be faking illness just to get a bowl. This is THE  best creamy chicken noodle soup recipe I've tasted anywhere! I found this one at Chef in Training and it has become my all-time favorite soup!

This one takes a bit of time in the kitchen (about an hour-- chopping, boiling, stirring, adding, making the white cream sauce, etc.) but it's well worth the effort. It's also NOT a "diet food", but I never eat diet food anyway. I did use organic half and half (instead of heavy cream) this time because that's what I had on hand. Often I will exchange chicken soup base ( a pasty replacement for bouillon) but the rest was prepared as written-- not the healthiest soup on the block, but definitely the tastiest!

The pics really don't it justice. The base is WONDERFUL! This is so smooth and creamy. I like the hint of garlic flavor too. If you are a noodle lover as I am, add more. If not, add less. But don't change much else. This is soup perfection, right here.

Here's the recipe:

BASE RECIPE
2 qt water
3 chicken breasts (buy the organic ones--not the huge ones pumped full of steroids/antibiotics, etc.)
½ medium sweet onion, finely diced almost minced
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. onion powder
2 chicken bullion cubes, ground up into powder (or 2 tsp. soup base)
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 bay leaf
2-3 cups thick homestyle egg noodles

CREAM SAUCE RECIPE
½ cup butter
½ cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream (this time I used half and half)
1 tsp. garlic salt (I used one crushed fresh garlic clove)
½ tsp. salt

1.Fill a large pot with 2 water. Place raw chicken breasts in water. Add finely chopped onion. Add salt, celery salt, onion powder, powdered chicken bullion cubes, sliced carrots, celery and bay leaf. Stir a little bit just to combine flavors evenly. Cover with lid.

2.Cook over medium-high heat and let boil for about an hour.

3.Uncover. Remove bay leaf and discard. Remove Chicken breasts and chop them into bite-size pieces or shred them (I like mine shredded) and set aside.

4.Add noodles and bring back to a boil for 20 minutes. If your water is low, you can add more water if needed (I had to, but if you add much more water, add another bouillon cube.)

5.While noodles are boiling in base, make cream recipe.

6. In a medium bowl, combine milk and cream and stir to combine the two. Set bowl aside.

7.In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt ½ cup butter completely. Once butter is melted add flour and stir constantly to form a roux. Cook roux for about 1-2 minutes.

8.Slowly, about ½-1 cup at a time, add milk to roux stirring constantly and not adding any more until each milk addition is thoroughly mixed in.

9.Once desired thickness has been reached, stir in garlic salt and salt to the white sauce.

10.Once noodles have boiled for about 20 minutes or until done, add chicken back to the base.

11. Then pour and stir in white sauce to evenly combine. If mixture is too thin for your liking, stir over medium heat until it reaches desired consistency.

Serve with breadsticks, or a thick hearty bread and a salad on the side.

Enjoy~Everything in Moderation