Easy Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

If you checked out my last edition of Five Friday Faves, you might have read that we had a bout of yucky illness running around these parts. Last week, Peyton had a slight case of bronchitis, and this week we're battling RSV. Happy day, and hooray for kids being walking germ factories! Just kidding. But seriously, Peyton can't even look at me without me shrieking "COVER YOUR MOUTH!" I think she's got it now.

So, what's a mom to do when there's sickly-ness about? Make some homemade chicken noodle soup, of course!

And what's a better option to provide for optimum snuggle time with your little than making it in your crockpot?

There is no better option, in my opinion.

Here's my recipe, which is super easy, requires about five minutes of prep work, and can be customizable based on the veggies you have on hand. After a few hours in your crockpot you've got yourself some delicious, good-for-you, warms-you-to-your-toes soup.

And a warning: food blogger I am not. I wish I could take pretty photos of the food I make, but the light was not on my side.

Here's what you'll need. You can change the amount of broth you need based on the size of your crockpot:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (Fresh or frozen. Mine were frozen and I had no problems.)

2 cups peeled and sliced carrots

2 cups sliced celery

1 cup diced onion (I married a man that hates onion, so I threw a whole one in for the flavor so he didn't have to fish the diced pieces of onion out of his soup. Because he would.)

1/2 tbsp. thyme

1 tbsp. parsley

2 bay leaves

1/2 tbsp. pepper

8 cups chicken broth (I skip the canned stuff and use my own. Check out how to roast a whole chicken AND make broth in your crockpot)

4 cups noodles (I used spaghetti, broken into pieces)

3 cloves garlic, minced

**I didn't add any salt to this, but it definitely needed salt when I was done. Better to under-salt than over-salt. Of course, you can tweak any of these measurements to fit your tastes, or even add a few new ones!**

Veggies, herbs, and pasta.

Throw your chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot, followed by the veggies, the herbs, and your broth.

I set my crockpot on high for 4-5 hours. You could also set it on low for 7-8 hours.

Engage in serious snuggle and nap time.

via Instagram. Those eyelashes are unfair.

About a half an hour before your set time is up, throw your pasta in and shred your chicken into bite size pieces and throw it back into the crockpot. You can prepare your pasta separately, but I had no problem with mushy pasta here.

I was going to throw in a bag a frozen peas at this point too, but I forgot. Ooops.

101 reason why I am not a food blogger.

And serve!

The best part is it is Peyton approved. She hasn't had much of an appetite these last few days, but gladly ate some carrots and celery and drank some of the broth. And of course, I had to add cheese (I guess everything is better with cheese?)

Best bed head ever.
Also, that mess you see in the background is some serious craft show prep work.

Easy peasy.

Feel free to pin and share! Happy Monday!

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Also linking up to:
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Imparting Grace
Home Stories A to Z
Jennifer Rizzo