Before-Practice Recipe

Chicken Noodle Skillet for Early Practice

A chicken noodle skillet for early practice cooks in twenty-five minutes in one pan, and the broth means a kid gets warm food and their water at the same time.

IngredientsTimingStorageone skillet
Comic-book style illustration of early dinner plates packed around practice bags before leaving the house for Chicken Noodle Skillet for Early Practice.

The forty-degree practice that starts at 5:45

Half-inch pieces of chicken breast, three cups of broth, eight ounces of egg noodles, sliced carrots, and a cup of frozen peas stirred in at the end. Everything happens in one skillet.

Brothy is the right call when they are about to stand in the cold. It goes down easy, it warms them from the inside, and it does not leave the brick feeling that a cream sauce does.

Ingredients

The recipe serves 4 to 6. Plan on about 25 minutes.

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 8 oz egg noodles
  • 2 medium carrots, sliced
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons butter

How to Make It

  • Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the chicken pieces and cook 5 to 6 minutes until they reach 165F and are no longer pink, then season with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
  • Pour in the broth and add the carrots, then bring to a simmer.
  • Stir in the egg noodles and cook 7 to 8 minutes until the noodles are tender.
  • Add the frozen peas and butter and stir 2 minutes until the peas are hot and the broth is glossy.
  • Spoon into bowls and serve warm.

Timing Before Practice

This cooks in one skillet in under 30 minutes, so start about 35 minutes before you leave so the bowls cool enough to eat.

  • T-minus 35: brown the chicken and start the broth
  • T-minus 18: add the noodles and let them simmer
  • T-minus 5: stir in the peas, plate, then shoes and water

Make It Ahead or Save Leftovers

Noodles soak up broth as they sit, so save leftovers with extra broth on the side.

  • Cut the chicken and slice the carrots the night before
  • Store leftovers with an extra splash of broth to keep them saucy
  • Reheat gently on the stove and add broth to loosen the noodles
  • Serve with: crusty bread, apple slices

Parent Tip

Cut the chicken into even half-inch pieces so it cooks fast and stays tender in the broth.

Make it fit tonight

Small changes that make this one fit your night

Extra broth in the leftovers

Noodles drink the pan dry overnight, so store them with a half cup more broth than looks right.

Chicken cut and carrots sliced at lunch

Ten minutes of knife work at noon turns this into a fifteen-minute dinner at five.

A thermos for the sibling with the later game

Rinse the thermos with boiling water for two minutes first, or it arrives lukewarm and gets left in the bag.

Rotisserie chicken instead of raw breast

Stir shredded meat in at the end and the skillet is done eight minutes sooner.

Crusty bread torn, not sliced

Let them tear pieces into the broth and the whole bowl disappears without a negotiation.

Plan the next step

Find more one-pot comfort

Keep a few cozy one-skillet dinners ready for the cold, dark stretch of the season.

Find more one-pot comfort