Chicken Pasta Soup - From The Freezer and Pantry

Chicken Pasta Soup

Serves: as much as you make.

Ingredients from the freezer and pantry!

Hey guys! This recipe is a little different.  I got inspired to use up some of the great ingredients I have in my freezer. Do not throw out good ingredients, freeze them.

I do this all the time.I get a rotisserie chicken, we get a meal out of it. I take left over chicken and shred it, put it in a container, pour stock over it and freeze it. It will keep for a couple of months. Take the leftover skin and bones and make a stock.

Pop the frozen chicken it in a pot, add some other frozen vegetables you have, for me it was sautéed mushrooms and sautéed onions and garlic. I freeze extra herbs like parsley and cilantro. You can even freeze whole jalapeno peppers and bay leaves!

I’ll take you through what I did as a guide. Also, if you don’t keep frozen homemade chicken stock in your freezer, keep boxed stock or bullion in your pantry for a backup.

Here is what I used for my soup:

2 cups frozen shredded rotisserie chicken in chicken stock

1 ½ cups sliced sautéed mushrooms, frozen in chicken stock.

½ cup chopped onions and garlic, frozen in chicken stock

¼ cup chopped parsley frozen in water

1 or 2 fresh frozen bay leaves

Fresh or dried herbs you have, my garden has lots of thyme and oregano

1 cup orzo pasta, or any small pasta you have

1 ½ cup frozen homemade chicken stock

fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt if necessary may not be

Hint: Take the frozen chicken, mushrooms and onions and garlic out of the freezer an hour early, they will melt a little and be easier to get out of the container!

Here is what I did:

In a large soup pot put in  the chicken, mushrooms, onions and garlic, parsley, bay leaf plus a large sprig of thyme and 1 TBS chopped oregano.

Cover and let the ingredients melt on medium low heat, remember these ingredients have already been cooked.

While that is happening, heat chicken stock in a separate pot until boiling, add the orzo and cook until slightly undercooked. I don’t salt the water because my stock is salted. It’s important to cook the pasta separately otherwise it can get over or under done.

When the soup is all melted and nice a warm pour the pasta into that pot, you don’t have to strain it just pout it all in the pot. Let it all come together and make sure you fish out the time sprig and the bay leaf.

Taste and make sure you like it, this is where the chicken bouillon comes in!

Ladle it into your favorite bowl and enjoy with some crusty garlic bread and for us extra pepper.

Let’s Eat!!.