The Easiest Shortcut Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup
It’s not the complicated recipe creation that makes me feel happy and proud so much….it’s the easy ones.
Serving Size: 4
It’s not the complicated recipe creations that makes me feel happy and proud so much….it’s the easy ones. The shortcuts that make me say, “Man, why didn’t I think of that sooner?”
There is a recipe for a Pretzel Cheese Snack in Dinner Solved! that is a perfect example. I was trying to figure out some good snack thoughts for the kids, and trying to figure out how to make pretzels – one of the most popular and truly least nutritionally exciting snacks on the planet — into something a little more substantial.
I decided to layer in a small piece of cheese between two pretzels, and then heat the little stacks in the oven so that the cheese would melt, and the whole thing would stick together into the mini pretzel “sandwiches”.
It worked, the kids loved them, and it ended up in the book. My editor, Suzanne, who has edited everything from The Silver Palate Cookbook to little old me, though this was one of the cleverest things ever. This is a woman who helped launch Chicken Marbella into the world. I’d say that is a sound endorsement for the celebration of simple ideas.
so, I have been making shortcut chicken soups for quite a while (enhancing boxed broth with chicken, using rotisserie chickens, using matzoh ball mix, etc.) but this time I pulled together every single one of my shortcuts, and added one more: ramen noodles.
I threw away the salty little packets of chicken flavored powder and cooked up the noodles on their own, and when everything came together there was nothing to be heard at my house but the sound of people slurping up one of the nicest chicken noodle soups I’ve made (or kind of assembled) in a while.
And guess what? If you wanted to murder this shortcut idea, and skip the carrots, celery and onions, you could go right ahead.
The Easiest Shortcut Chicken Ramen Noodle Soup
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 6 cups less-sodium chicken broth or stock
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 stalks celery, cut into chunks
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 packets ramen noodles (any flavor – the flavor packet gets tossed)
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1. Remove all of the meat from the rotisserie chicken. Set aside the skin and bones and every other little bit left from the chicken. Shred the meat into bite sized pieces.
2. Place the chicken broth in a large pot and add all of the bones and skin from the rotisserie chicken, along with the carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a simmer, partially covered. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, fill another large pot with water, salt it lightly, and bring to a boil on another burner. Cook the ramen noodles (discard the flavoring packet) just until barely tender, stirring so that they separate. Drain and leave in the colander for a moment.
4. After 20 minutes (you can cook it up to 45 if you have time), strain the broth through a sieve into the pot you cooked the noodles in. Add the dill and the reserved shredded chicken and return to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the noodles and serve hot in bowls.
