Chicken Noodle Soup Plus 3 Tips for Quick Fall Soups

The month of October is a strange one, weather wise, here in AZ. It tricks you into pulling out your jackets and scarves one day and then the next day, you are looking for your swim suit! Even though it’s cool one day and hot the next, it still gets me in the mood for soup. I think soup is one of my most favorite meals. Add a grilled cheese sandwich and I’m one happy girl. I like making classic soups for my family. Someday I hope to make chicken noodle soup as good as my grandmother’s. Although this isn’t exactly like my grandmother’s, this chicken noodle soup is still so delicious.

Because those cooler temps are right around the corner, I know we will be having soup a lot for dinner in the upcoming months. Which I’m a big fan of. One thing I like about making soup for dinner is how easy it can be to put together in about 15 minutes.

Here are my top 3 tips for quick fall soups.

I start almost every soup out with these 3 ingredients. Carrots, onions and celery. I don’t usually have celery in my veggie drawer in the fridge since we don’t normally eat it. So when I buy it, I like to chop it up, along with onions and carrots, and freeze it. I take 1 1/2 or 2 big onions, 6-8 med. to large carrots and one bunch of celery and chop everything up. Once everything is chopped up, I make 4 ziploc bags and add 1/4 of each chopped up veggie to the bag. I get all the air out and lay them flat in the freezer. So when I’m ready to make soup, I pull it out and dump it into my hot pan or crock pot. If I’m making a quick 15 minute soup, like the chicken noodle, I add just about 1 tsp. of oil to a hot pan and saute the veggies for just a couple minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients. If I’m doing a long cooking soup in the crock pot, I just dump them right in.

The next thing I always have on hand is chicken or beef broth. Cans or boxes are easy to store and add great flavor to your soups. Chicken and beef bullion can be used to make broth or to add a more rich flavor to your soups too. I really like the bullion granules because they dissolve a lot quicker, especially if you taste your soup before serving and realize it needs just a hint more chicken or beef flavor. You just sprinkle it in, give it a stir and your good to go.

My last tip is to have jars or cans of meat (or beans) already cooked that you can add to your soups. I have bottled my own chicken and roast chunks that are perfect for adding to soup, but you can buy beef chunks or chicken in a can that would work just as well.

Now that you know my secrets to making a quick soup, you should have no problem mixing up a batch of this yummy chicken noodle soup. This soup is great over mashed potatoes too!