I don’t know about you, but there is something so nice about a homemade cup of chicken noodle soup! It’s the best, right? Check out this guest post all about a kid-friendly version of homemade chicken noodle soup!
Quick and Nutritious Kid-friendly Chicken Noodle Soup
It is so nice to have a warm bowl of homemade healing chicken soup for your little ones if they are feeling under the weather in the winter. Kid-friendly chicken soup can be very simple to make. There is no need to spend hours simmering a chicken carcass to make a bone broth if you don’t have the time.
I reserve Sunday mornings for make healing bone broths that can simmer away all day. You can freeze batches of the nutritious stock to have on hand. When I need to make soup quickly I rely on organic, low-sodium bone or vegetable broth that is available at most local supermarkets.
The recipe described here calls for boxed broth and frozen vegetables. Kids like to eat things that are cut into uniform sizes and small enough to fit on their little spoons. For this reason, my go-to vegetables are the packaged frozen vegetable medleys, such as carrots, corn, and peas. Organic and flash frozen are of good quality and retain their nutrients.
For the chicken, try to get a free range. You can use leftover chicken or use fresh, as described below.
Ingredients
- 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Enough water to cover the breast generously
- Pinch of sea salt and black pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1-1/2 to 2 cups frozen vegetables of your choice (carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, spinach……)
- 1 cup small pasta, such as orzo, alphabets, or pastina
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or 1 TBS light miso* paste
Directions
- In a 1-1/2 to 2-quart soup pot, place the chicken breast and cover completely with water. Season the water with a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Turn the burner on to high. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a rolling simmer and allow the chicken to poach. (Skip this step if using leftover cooked chicken).
- Remove the poached chicken to a cutting board and allow it to rest and cool enough to touch. Rinse out the soup pot to remove the poultry foam – no need to clean it well.
- Return the pot to the burner and add the broth. Bring this to a boil on high. As soon as it boils reduce the heat to a rolling simmer and add the frozen vegetables. This will cool the broth down temporarily.
- While the broth is coming back up to a simmer, dice the chicken into uniform ½ inch pieces.
- When the broth is simmering nicely, add the chicken and the pasta to it. Allow the soup to simmer for anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes until the pasta is just cooked. Test the pasta for doneness.
- Season with either 1/2 tsp of sea salt or whisk in 1 TBS of the miso paste before serving. Season to your liking.* Miso paste is naturally salty and is a good source of probiotics for digestive health.
About Author
Victoria is a home cooking mom and a food blogger behind How Daily. She loves to share her recipes and culinary tips from her diversified experience and multi-cultural lifestyle. She’s most interested in cooking and creating authentic and original taste from traditional recipes. Check out yet another of her favorite chicken soup recipe.
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