Sick Day Soup Recipe: Use what you have on hand!

Create this Sick Day Soup recipe using ingredients that you already have on hand. See the handy dandy chart below to put together a homemade meal that will soothe.

While roaming the blogosphere this morning I discovered that “the crud” is sweeping the nation. With Hubs getting over a cold and Sweet T starting to contract it, our home is no exception. This week I made a big batch of this sick day soup since I’m a firm believer in its curative (and at the very least comforting) powers. Making it from scratch is the tastiest and healthiest option but boy is it labor intensive!

There no way around that if you want the full benefits and flavor of chicken noodle soup (somehow I doubt throwing a can of chicken into ramen noodle soup is quite the same) but this will hopefully save you the hassle of a trip to the grocery store on top of your time in the kitchen. Who wants to leave the warm house when they are fighting a cold? The chart below will show you the different sick day soup substitutions you can make.

Technically to enjoy the benefits all you need is chicken, salt, and water! Feel free to omit anything else if you have to. Hubs RAVED about my sick day soup saying it was “the best chicken noodle soup he’d ever had” and that “no one had ever made it for him from scratch before.” That was worth all the work right there. 🙂

Recipe Ingredient	What I Used	Other Options
1(3 1/2-pound) whole chicken	Frozen Chicken Thighs	Any bone-in chicken or turkey, chicken or turkey carcass
3 quart low-sodium chicken broth	1 quart broth + 2 quarts water	Just use water. You are making your own broth here anyway. You may have to add extra salt to taste later or some bullion cubes
6carrots, peeled	Baby carrots not peeled	Potatoes, parsnip, cabbage, partial bag of coleslaw mix, extra celery, extra onions, or extra leeks
4 stalks celery, ends trimmed	Celery, but used the ends in broth making	Potatoes, cabbage, parsnip, partial bag of coleslaw mix, extra carrots, extra leeks, or extra onions
3 medium onions, peeled	1 large onion	Potatoes, parsnip, cabbage, partial bag of coleslaw mix, extra celery, extra carrots, or extra leeks
5black peppercorns	Extra black pepper	Omit or use ginger or white pepper sparingly
1 cloves garlic, crushed	4 cloves	Garlic powder to taste, jarred diced garlic
10 sprigs parsley	5 springs cilantro	Italian parsley, dried parsley, poultry seasoning, dried Italian seasoning, dried oregano, celery tops, poultry seasoning
2 sprigs thyme	Dried poultry seasoning	Italian parsley, dried parsley, dried Italian seasoning, dried oregano, celery tops
1bay leaf	3 bay leaves	Thyme, rosemary, oregano
2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter	2 tablespoons tub spread	Margarine, oil, bacon grease
4leeks, tops and root ends removed	Omitted but used extra veggies	Potatoes, parsnip, cabbage, partial bag of coleslaw mix, extra celery, extra onions, or extra carrots
1 teaspoon salt	Cajun seasoning	Any seasoning mix with high salt content, ½ bullion cube, teaspoon ramen noodle seasoning packet
1 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper	Ground black pepper	Other seasoning of choice
3 cups (5 ounces) medium egg noodles	Whole wheat spaghetti noodles broken into thirds	Any shaped pasta (break if needed), ramen noodles, couscous

Make the stock: Place the chicken and chicken broth in a large stockpot and set it over medium heat. Roughly chop 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs, and 1 onion and add to the broth. Add the peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs of parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and enough water to just cover the chicken. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the chicken is very tender — about 1 1/4 hours — skimming the surface periodically. Remove the chicken and place in a large bowl. Strain the broth through a very fine sieve into a large, clean bowl or stockpot. Discard the vegetables.
Make the soup: Skim any fat off the top of the strained broth and discard. Slice the remaining carrots, celery, onions, and leeks into 1/4-inch-thick pieces and set aside. Remove and discard the skin and bones from the chicken, cut meat into 1/2-inch pieces, and set aside. Chop the remaining parsley leaves and set aside. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook until the onions are translucent — about 7 minutes. Add the chicken, the reserved broth, salt, and pepper. Simmer the soup until the vegetables are tender — about 1 hour. Stir in the egg noodles and parsley and cook until the noodles are tender — about 10 more minutes. Serve hot.