Freezer soup packs
Reheat the base, drop in noodles at the end, and the bowl tastes just-made.
Someone is worn out or under the weather and a warm bowl is exactly the fix.
You froze the broth and chicken ahead, so reheating is quick and the noodles go in fresh.
Ingredients
Before making freezer chicken noodle soup packs, pull the ingredients below and leave room for about 35 minutes to cook, then freeze.
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups sliced carrots and celery
- 1 diced onion and 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon thyme, salt, and pepper
- Egg noodles (cooked separately and added at serving, not frozen)
How to Make It
The recipe works best when freezer chicken noodle soup packs ends with a visible next move for the family.
- Saute the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until softened.
- Add the broth, chicken, and thyme; simmer 20 minutes.
- Season to taste and cool completely.
- Important: do not add noodles before freezing. They turn to mush. Freeze the broth-and-chicken base only.
Freeze It
Freeze the soup base without noodles. Frozen-then-reheated noodles fall apart, so you add fresh ones (or pour the hot soup over them) at serving.
- Freeze the noodle-free base flat in labeled bags or quart containers (best within 3 months)
- Leave headroom for expansion
- Note on the label: add noodles fresh when reheating
Thaw and Reheat on Practice Night
Reheat the base, then add quick-cooking noodles right at the end so they stay tender.
- Stovetop from frozen: covered pot, medium heat, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring
- Stir in dry egg noodles for the last 6 to 8 minutes, or add already-cooked noodles to bowls
- For a thermos lunch, pack hot soup over cooked noodles
- Serve with: crackers or a roll, a grilled cheese, apple slices
Parent Tip
Pour the hot soup into a preheated thermos over a small scoop of cooked noodles for a sideline dinner.
Make It Fit Tonight
Small Tweaks That Help This Dinner Land
Add rice instead of noodles
Rice holds up better than noodles if you want to freeze it in.
Stir in tortellini at serving
Cheese tortellini makes the base feel like a fuller meal.
Make it creamy with a splash of cream
A richer bowl from the same chicken-and-vegetable base.
Spice it up into a chicken tortilla soup
Add salsa, corn, and chili powder, then top with tortilla strips.
Bulk it up with extra carrots and celery
More vegetables stretch the base into more bowls.
Plan The Next Step
Freeze the base
Add a soup-base batch to the planner and keep noodle-free packs on hand.