I have a story for you about chicken and noodles. I love them.

My mother’s side of the family gets together on Christmas Eve. We bring food and spend time catching up with those we haven’t seen in a while. Uncle Joe brings two of my favorite things – homemade salami and chicken and noodles.

The salami is made out of ground beef. I made it once, per his recipe, which required purchasing a bag of Morton’s Tender to “cure” the ground beef and turn the meatloaf-like loaves into salami. Eventually, I’ll share it with you, but not yet. Soon, dear readers, soon.

Then, there’s always a pot of his homemade chicken and noodles on the stove. One year, I guess I got upset that he didn’t bring any (I don’t remember this ever happening and it may have been mentioned to me because he knew I liked it a lot and was teasing me about it), but now, every year, Uncle Joe brings the chicken and noodles because I may get upset if he showed up without them. I would get upset, but I like this little “thing” we have going here.

 

 

So of course, along with the salami recipe, I asked him how to make the chicken and noodles. The chicken is the easy part, but the homemade egg noodles are not. I have yet to get them just right, enough that I want to share it with YOU. Instead, in my recipe, you’ll find store bought noodles.

GASP. Store bought noodles, Sara? Really? Shame on you. 

Well, no. While I’d love to share a homemade noodle recipe with you, there are many out there and if that’s what you prefer then, by all means, go for it. But instead, I used store bought Amish wide egg noodles and they were delicious. Shame on me.

This isn’t Uncle Joe’s recipe, but it is similar in that this recipe has soup-like noodles, but there’s not enough broth to be soup. I added carrots while Uncle Joe did not, and I prefer wide noodles to thin ones. Either way, I loved making this warm and hearty dish and I can’t wait for you to enjoy it with your family.

Chicken and Noodles

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 small yellow onion
• 2 celery stalks
• 3 carrots
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• Shredded cooked chicken (can be store bought, or try roasting a whole chicken or cooking one in a slow cooker)
• 8 oz old fashioned wide egg noodles
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTION

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil together.
2. Whisk in the flour for two minutes, then add the diced onion, celery and carrots.
3. Stir together and cook until vegetables become soft about five minutes.
4. Add the spices (all but the salt) and stir.
5. Add the chicken broth, water, and cooked chicken.
6. Bring to a boil, then add the egg noodles.
7. Simmer for 15 minutes or until noodles are soft.
8. Taste the dish and if it needs it, add salt to your liking.
9. This will likely depend on what kind of broth you use.