When you are feeling under the weather, cooking is the last thing you feel like doing. Tired of toast and butter or other quick no cook meals (yogurt, frozen food, whatever else I had in the fridge that didn’t require any effort) I threw together this quick _ minute soup with vegetables and pantry items we always keep on hand.

I also add a couple scoops of collagen powder to the finished soup to add more protein. I typically do this to most of my soups if I’m using store bought chicken broth or chicken bouillon paste as it shocked me how these store bought options do not contain any protein.

If you have the time (and chicken bones), I would recommend making a large batch of chicken stock and freeze in quart sized containers. Nothing is better than homemade chicken stock. Check out my simple chicken stock recipe (link). It’s only a few ingredients (chicken bones, water, garlic, spices) and can be left on the stove all day.

Now back to this chicken noodle soup. We start by sautéing the vegetables – onions, carrots, and celery. Once veggies have softened, we add the garlic and red pepper flakes (omit if avoiding spicy foods). I learned from one of Kenji Lopez’s recipes to add red pepper flakes during the cooking process rather than at the end, and it has been wonderful. After a minute, we add the chicken broth and herbs.

The herbs used are bay leaves, thyme, oregano and parsley. I keep dried bay leaves and oregano in the pantry. I also have dried thyme, but try to keep the fresh version in the fridge and eventually freezer. Any time I buy fresh herbs, I freeze the remaining. You don’t have to follow the herbs I use exactly if you do not have on hand. Your soup won’t taste exactly like this one, but it will be pretty dang close.

This recipe is versatile and you can add whatever veggies you have on hand. I chopped up a couple leaves of kale and added it in.

For the chicken, I used a shortcut and had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge.

For the noodles, I prefer the short spaghetti noodles in my chicken noodle soup. You can obviously use whatever noodle you prefer (egg noodles would be good here) and just cook it as long as it says on the package.

Make sure to salt your soup to taste and salt as you go. I add a pinch of salt when sautéing the vegetables and after adding the broth. Please make sure to watch if you’re using low sodium or regular chicken broth as this will impact how much salt you need to add.

My last tip is to freeze any leftovers in individual servings. This way the next time you are feeling under the weather, you can quickly reheat! Your future self will thank you!

Ingredients (Serves 2 big bowls):

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced or grated
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh oregano (or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano)
• 2 oz of preferred noodle (I use spaghetti and break it into little pieces)
• 1 cup of shredded cooked chicken
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
• 2 scoops of Vital Proteins Collagen
• salt & fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a small dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat
2. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 7 to 10 minutes
3. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for another minute
4. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, oregano (and any other veggies you wish to add) and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add noodles and boil until al dente (follow instructions on box)
6. Add the chicken, parsley and collagen for an additional minute, until warmed up
7. Season with salt & pepper (don’t forget to remove the bay leaf before serving)

Nutritional Information (Per Serving): 336 calories, 7g fat, 32g carbs, 25g protein

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