Chicken Gnocchi Soup - Easy Version

We LOVE gnocchi soup! It is definitely a favorite around here. But the recipe I originally used takes forever to make so we didn't eat it nearly as often as we would have liked. This version of the recipe is a game changer - it literally takes at least 30 minutes off the prep time - and is every bit as good! You really can't go wrong either way, but this one is my current go-to. Yum! (Originally found here.)

2-3 chicken breasts grilled using Perfect Chicken recipe*, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

1/2 white onion, diced (yellow or red onion is fine, too)

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups chicken broth (4 bouillon cubes + 4 c. water works fine)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup flour

16 oz. potato gnocchi (I literally buy this at Dollar Tree)

2 cups half and half

1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add celery, onions, garlic, and carrots. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.

Add salt, pepper, thyme and flour. Stir to coat veggies. Add chicken broth and stir well. Add chicken. Bring to a boil, then gently stir in gnocchi. Boil for 3-4 minutes more, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes** to finish cooking gnocchi. (**Or cook the gnocchi in a separate pan according to package directions before adding to other ingredients. Then you can skip the last 10 minutes of cooking time.) 

Stir in half and half and spinach and cook another 1-2 minutes until spinach is tender. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve alone or with homemade bread, breadsticks or rolls.

*You can substitute a 12.5 oz. can of chicken breast if you don't have time to make Perfect Chicken. Or make it without the chicken. I did that once on accident and no one noticed! Or just cook the chicken however you like!

Jeff's Chili

Jeff is a great cook and we have certain favorite meals that are always made by him. Hamburgers, biscuits, fish tacos, and waffles immediately come to mind. Yum!! Here's his latest and greatest contribution. It's delish!

1 pound stew meat or rib eye steak
1 onion, chopped
1 packet Kinder's chili seasoning, "woodfired chili" flavor
32 oz. Spicy V8 juice (or use regular V8 for a more mild chili)
2-3 cans Bush's chili beans

Saute the onion in a little bit of oil. Cut up meat and add to onions. Season with steak seasoning or salt and pepper. Cook until meat is done, then add chili seasoning, beans and V8.

Quinoa Chili

My friend, Gillian, made this for our family. It has the yummiest flavor and is packed with healthy stuff. So good!

1 Tbsp. canola or olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 sweet green or red peppers, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tsp. salt (or you can add it at the end)

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. quinoa, rinsed in warm water and drained

1 to 1 1/2 c. frozen corn

2 cans diced tomatoes - I puree them (fire roasted are great, 15 oz. each)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 c. water (I usually add more water - up to an extra cup or more, as needed)

        Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until tender and starting to caramelize, 5+ minutes. Add salt, garlic, chopped peppers, and spices; sauté for 5 more minutes. Stir in rinsed quinoa. Add corn, tomatoes and water. Simmer together for 20 minutes. Add beans to the pot and simmer another 10 minutes. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, and tortilla chips. Makes 6-8 one cup servings. 

White Chili

Hands down, this is the recipe I've had the most requests for over the years. I got the recipe years ago when Jeff and I were the judges for a Chili Cook-off at church. The flavor was so unique and amazingly delicious that it was our #1 choice. The "chef" was kind enough to give out copies of the recipe to anyone who wanted it. The original recipe is from a restaurant in St. Louis called Lewis and Clark's. I've tweaked and simplified it over the years to the version below. This can easily be doubled or tripled and it makes great leftovers!

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 med. onion, chopped (or a handful of dried minced onion)

4 garlic cloves, minced

one 4 oz. can chopped mild green chilies

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves (don't leave this out. Super yummy!)

1-2 c. cooked and cubed chicken (or one 12.5 oz. can cooked chicken breast)

3 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed

4 c. chicken broth

8 oz. cream cheese - see suggestion below*

Sour cream (optional)

     Heat oil over medium heat. If using fresh onion, add onions and stir until translucent. Stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cayenne and cloves. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken, beans, and broth. Stir in cream cheese. (*To eliminate lumps when adding the cream cheese, warm the cream cheese to soften, stir it up until creamy smooth and add some hot broth a little at a time - stirring well after each addition - until it's runny, then stir it into the soup as the final ingredient.)

     Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Ladle into large bowls. Top with sour cream and serve with tortilla chips, if desired. 

Potato Soup / Corn Chowder

This is one of Sam's favorites. It's pretty easy to make and, with the simple addition of canned corn, it goes from potato soup to corn chowder. It's delicious with homemade bread, rolls, or cornbread.

5-6 good sized potatoes, peeled and chopped in ~1” chunks

8 oz. (or less) baby-cut carrots, chopped (I like mine in big chunks)

1/2 onion, chopped (or a handful of dried minced onion)

1/4 to 1/2 c. butter or margarine

1/4 to 1/2 c. flour

2 c. milk or half and half

one can sweet corn, drained (optional)

salt and pepper

     Saute onion in a little olive oil. (If using dried minced onion, skip this step.) Place chopped carrots, potatoes, and onion in a pan of boiling water with just enough water to cover the vegetables. Allow to simmer until vegetables are soft. In the meantime, melt butter in a saucepan and add same amount of flour with a good dash of salt and pepper to make a roux. Cook together for a minute or so, stirring constantly, then add the milk or half and half all at once. Use a whisk to eliminate any lumps from the flour/butter mixture. Stir constantly over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Pour into cooked veggies. For corn chowder, add corn. 

Chicken Doodle Soup

This is one of Sadie's favorites. It's a pretty basic chicken noodle soup with Hungarian dumplings instead of noodles. We learned how to make the dumplings from our friend, Andy, who served as a missionary in Hungary. Somehow, the dumplings are the perfect addition to this yummy soup. Serve with homemade bread for a comforting winter meal.

8 c. water and 8 chicken bouillon cubes (or use 8 c. chicken broth or stock)

1 handful (~1/3 c.) dry minced onion

carrots (up to 8 oz.) and celery (2-3 stalks), cut into bite-sized pieces

2 c. baked chicken, cubed (or one 12.5 oz. can cooked chicken breast)

Hungarian Dumplings (see recipe below)

     Bring water and bouillon to a boil. Add onion, carrots and celery. When vegetables are soft, add chicken. Add dumplings (doodles) by pouring through a cheese grater and allowing to drop into the boiling soup. Simmer for a few minutes until doodles are cooked. Serve with homemade bread, if desired.

Hungarian Dumplings

2 c. flour

2 beaten eggs

~1 c. water

     Combine to make a thick glue-like consistency. Allow to drip through cheese grater into boiling soup above. You can use a scraper to help feed it through the grater. To make as a side dish, drip into boiling water that has 1 Tbsp. oil and a little bit of salt in it. Cook to a chewy homemade noodle consistency. (Since Sadie only eats the doodles when I make the soup, sometimes I'll make her just doodle soup -no chicken or veggies- for lunch. I halve the Hungarian Dumpling recipe and drip it into 4 cups of boiling water with three chicken bouillon cubes for the broth.)

Taco Soup

My friend, Torrie, made this for us years ago and it's long been a favorite around here. It's so easy to throw together and we love to eat a bowlful with a big dollop of sour cream and plenty of tortilla chips for scooping it up. 

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

1 medium onion, chopped. Saute and combine with beef. (I use a small handful of dried, minced onion instead.)

Then stir in:

1 package mild taco seasoning

16 oz. cut corn or whole kernel corn, undrained

16 oz. kidney beans, rinsed and drained

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

8 oz. tomato sauce

     Simmer 10-15 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, grated cheese and sour cream, if desired.

5-hour Stew

When Jeff and I were first married, we sometimes drove the four hours to his grandparents house in Idaho. His grandma, Helen Stowell, would always have this stew in the oven, ready whenever we were. Served with rolls or homemade bread, it's the perfect comfort food on a cold day. The amounts are not specific so put in as much as you like. If I'm making a large batch, I'll sometimes add 2 cans of tomato soup instead of one.

Stew meat – trim the fat and cut into large bite-sized pieces

potatoes, cut into large bite-sized chunks

carrots, cut into large bite-sized chunks

1/2 of an onion, chopped (can also use a small handful of dried minced onion)

Tomato soup + 1/2 can water

Salt and pepper, to taste

     Combine all in oven safe container and bake at 300° for 5+ hours or until ready to eat. Can also be cooked in a crock pot on low for 5-6 hours. Serve with homemade bread or rolls.

 

Harvest Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is originally from Thanksgiving Point in Utah. My sister passed it on to me and I've tweaked it a bit over the years. It has a slightly better texture when you peel, cube and roast the squash yourself, but I found frozen butternut squash at the grocery store one day and it was a game changer! It cut the prep time from about an hour to only 20 minutes. I've included the simplified recipe at the end. Maybe give both a try and see if the extra time commitment is worth it. For me, this used to be a luxury dish - something I only made once or twice a year. But now with the simplified version, I can make it whenever I'm craving its deliciousness. 

2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (4-6+ c. squash)*

1/4 c. olive oil

pinch of salt and pepper

1 small diced onion

1 Tbsp. butter

3 c. chicken broth

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. curry powder

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

     Toss cubed butternut squash with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast in oven at 350° for 15-20 minutes until browned. While squash is roasting, place onion and butter in large sauce pan and sweat until translucent. Add chicken stock to sauce pan and roasted squash. Boil until squash is tender. (Before pureeing the soup, you might remove some of the liquid so it’s not as runny. You can always pour some back in as needed.) Place in blender, or use an immersion blender, and puree until smooth. Return to pan and stir in spices and cream.

*If using more squash, alter other ingredients as needed.

 

Harvest Butternut Soup, Simplified

This version uses frozen butternut squash and comes together in about 20 minutes.

2 bags (10 oz. each) frozen butternut squash (steamable, organic)

2-3 c. chicken broth

A small handful of dried onion

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

½ c. heavy whipping cream

     Place chicken broth in large sauce pan and bring to boil. Add onion and squash. Boil until squash is tender. (Remove some of the broth, if needed, before pureeing.) Place in blender, or use an immersion blender, and puree until smooth. Return to pan and stir in spices and cream.

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

This is our current favorite soup. The only problem is that it takes FOREVER to prep so make sure you double the recipe to make it worth your time. If you don't, you won't have any leftovers and then you'll be sad. I could eat this for lunch every day! (Update: check out this easier version! Still delish and takes way less time to make :)

¼ c. olive oil

1 c. onion, finely chopped

1 ½ c. matchstick carrots (or baby carrots cut into bite-sized pieces)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 c. celery, chopped

1-3 c. fresh broccoli, finely cut

4 green onions, chopped

¼ c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

½ tsp. marjoram

½ tsp. basil

4 c. chicken broth

1 package potato gnocchi (I cut each piece in half or thirds)

4 chicken breasts cooked with the perfect chicken recipe, cut in small pieces

1 c. fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

2 c. half and half

     Prep all vegetables before starting. You’ll be glad you did. Saute the onions, carrots, and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat for three minutes. Add the celery, broccoli and green onions and continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender. Combine the flour and spices. Add to veggies and stir to coat. Let the mixture cook for about a minute before adding a cup or two of the chicken broth. Stir until smooth and add the rest of the broth. Cook until the mixture thickens. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Add the cooked gnocchi, chicken and spinach to the soup. Stir in half and half. Cook until the spinach is soft.

      (Gnocchi can usually be found near the pasta section of larger stores.)