Here's another absolutely YUMMY slow cooker chicken recipe...Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles! It's super easy, takes 5 minutes to assemble AND it takes just 6 to 8 ingredients! Epic winner Ever since I made the Beef and Noodles equivalent of this recipe hubby's been wanting chicken and noodles. So, here we go...
It took a couple tries to get it right and the reason I say 6 to 8 ingredients is simply this... If you don't want to use the spices, you don't have to. It IS a bit bland without them but some people don't want to use them and that's cool. I did. And it turned out delish!
That's not just me talking. I don't toot my own horn. I have to get votes. Usually, lots and lots of votes before I publish something. So I didn't make just one crockpot of this stuff. There were three.
One stayed here and we ate on it a couple days (yeah, we do leftovers without issue in this house). Another went to the friend that helped me assemble all the freezer meals...I'll get on that one later but YES this IS a freezer meal too! And another rather huge pan went to work with hubby and he fed some folks at work. I have no idea how many ate it but he said it got really good reviews. And since he's one of my biggest voters, I take his word for it.
Now...on to the recipe
How Crock Pot Freezer Meals Can Help You
I seriously love freezer meals. Not just the dump and go ones (those are awesome too) but the ones you can KNOW... beyond a shadow of a doubt... that you've got an absolutely delicious meal that'll take 2 minutes to toss in the crock pot any time you need to. 'Cause let's face it, life's busy, stuff happens and you can plan all you want...it doesn't always work out.
Proof positive for me. Two weeks ago my truck broke down (yeah, I drive a truck...a big one). So I couldn't go shopping. As a matter a fact, I still can't. As I sit here typing this, my truck is in the shop. I found out an hour ago it won't be ready for another 4 days. But there are freezer meals in the freezer! So guess what? We're eating tonight. And not just something neither of us wants 'cause we gotta make due...we had the options of:
- Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli
- Quick & Easy Vegetable Chowder (which is like Broccoli Cheese Soup but with other veggies too)
So we're good. And that's just an example of crock pot freezer meals can save your backside. We're having the Beef and Broccoli this evening by the way...And now, I'm off that soapbox and here are the directions
One more thing...then I promise I am done...you can check out the EPIC freezer meal cooking expedition we completed. "We" does not refer to me and any of my critters, a mouse in my pocket or anything of the sort. A friend helped.
And she took home several batches herself and has voted on each and every recipe so far too! We did 8 Recipes & 56 Meals! (Psstt...I'll have this posted new week, stay tuned!) But just so you know...we made:
- Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles
- Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Slow Cooker Meatball Ravioli
Video for Slow Cooker Chicken Noodles
Step-by-Step Directions for Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles
Gather Your Ingredients...
You'll need:
- Chicken (duh right)...but boneless, skinless. It doesn't matter if it's white or dark meat. Whichever one you prefer. You can either dice it up into small pieces like I did here, but chicken tenders and leave it in strips OR you can cook it whole, fish it out and pull it into chunks...lots of options! So do whatever is easier and whichever one you prefer! Anyways, you need about 2 pounds.
- Cream of Chicken Soup. There are lots of options available for this too. You can even make your own if you're interested. If you'd like that link, let me know...I'll dig it up. BUT there are many, many flavors for this too. You can read up on those on the Campbells site
- Chicken stock. Or broth. Whichever you'd rather use. The main difference is stock has more "stuff" in it. More cooked out nutrients. You can get it with or without salt, low in sodium, organic, or from free-range chickens...so your options can easily fit your preferences and dietary needs.
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter. You'll need this to butter the crockpot insert and for flavor. You can leave it out if you like, but it will affect the taste. Just FYI...
- 2 packets of chicken gravy. There are lots of kinds out there. Again, you can easily find one that works for your needs. You can see in the picture above there's a reduced-sodium version available from McCormick, you can read about it here. If you decide you'd like to try it but can't find it in the grocery, it's available here.
- 12-ounce package Reames frozen egg noodles. Yep, I said specially Reames. From my experience, they are the best. There may be more that work, I don't know. These cook up really well in the slow cooker. And they have an egg-free version available if you've got an allergy to deal with as well. You can usually find these at Walmart or a lot of the bigger grocery stores.
- Spices: I added a tablespoon of parsley and a teaspoon of garlic powder. You don't HAVE to use either. We like garlic
Preppin' the Meal for the Crockpot...
Again...this is super easy BUT if you have any questions please ask.
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- Use the butter to grease the slow cooker insert.
- Place the chicken in the crock pot.
- Use a separate bowl and combine the soup, seasonings, gravy packets, and broth. Pour it over the chicken.
- Stir it up a bit and cover and cook for 4 to 6 hours.
- Move the frozen noodles into the refrigerator while the chicken cooks...
- 60 to 90 minutes before serving, add the noodles and stir.
- Turn the crock to high, cover and cook until you are happy with the noodles.
Psst...If it's too soupy for your taste just "cock" the lid like I did in the slideshow. It's a great slow cookin' tip that's saved many many meals around here. If you'd like to read up on more crock pot tips and tricks, this article gets updated several times a month with new stuff as I find/try it...
The End Results are Yummy! Chicken & Noodles
Crockpot Chicken and Noodles Freezer Meal Prep
Are you ready? It's super tough...snicker, snicker...You dump everything except the noodles in a large zip lock baggie. Label it and freeze for up to 2 months. They may last longer than that, I don't know. I've never frozen them longer. Let me know if you do and it works
If you want, you can tape the noodle bag to the chicken goop bag. I don't have a picture of doing it with this recipe, but I do from the Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie recipe. Here's what I mean...
Just tape, label, and freeze...super simple BUT I've now started adding a "cook by" date. It'll help food not go bad or get old, so it's a good practice.
Printable Version of Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles
So that's our version of crock pot chicken and noodles. Sure hope you like it! Give us a shout with any questions or whatever. You can do that via email or facebook, either one. Have fun & Rock that Crock!
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