Drew's Birthday Chicken & Noodles

Recently Drew had a birthday (out of respect for my elders I will not say how old he is...hehe). I offered to make him whatever he wanted for diner for his birthday and he chose Chicken & Noodles. Never having made the dish before I wasn't sure where to start. It sounded pretty easy so I start searching online for recipes. After combing through several, nothing looked good. For some reason the thought of boiling noodles in cream of chicken soup just did not sound like something I could get behind. So, I ended up winging it and it turned out great. So great, in fact, that it has officially been added to the "regular diner rotation" and shall be dubbed "Drew's Birthday Chicken & Noodles". I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

6 Chicken Thighs

1 Chicken Bouillon Cube

1 Small White Onion

2 Tbs Vegetable Oil

2 Cans Chicken Broth (any brand)

1 Pack Dry Chicken Gravy Mix (I used McCormick)

1 Bag Frozen Egg Noodles (I used a brand called Mona's)

Place chicken thighs in 9 X 13 pan. Season with sea salt and cracked pepper. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes uncovered. When thighs are finished baking set aside to cool.

When chicken is cool enough to work with, remove skin and discard. Remove meat from the bones and dice into bite size pieces. You could use a rotisserie chicken or any other kind of leftover chicken you would like for this recipe. I prefer chicken thighs because I like dark meat and they are very cheap and quick to cook. They are great for this recipe and home made chicken noodle soup.

Dice onion. Add oil to large pot and sauté onions with salt & pepper until translucent. Add diced chicken and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes or until chicken is hot. When chicken and onion mixture is hot, add one can of broth and bouillon cube. Let simmer until bouillon cube is dissolved. Add second can of broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Add egg noodles & keep the temperature at low. I use the Mona's frozen egg noodles because they cook in about 3 minutes with a perfect texture. You could, of course, use home made noodles as well.

In a small bowl combine gravy mix with about a cup of water. Whisk together until smooth. Slowly add to chicken and noodle mixture stirring constantly. Stir continually for about a minute. Please note that this will not make a very thick sauce. If you like a thicker sauce I would suggest using a corn starch and water mixture or adding gravy flour until it is the consistency that you would like.

I served this over mashed potatoes using just a small amount of the sauce on the chicken and noodles.

Enjoy!