Cream Of Chicken Noodle Soup {Using Leftovers & Instant Pot}!

Don't throw away that barbecue chicken carcass! It makes for a wonderful soup base-throw 2 chicken carcasses into a pot (or 1 duck carcass) and create a wonderful riff on cream of chicken soup. This is a combination of two well loved chicken soups-cream of chicken soup and chicken noodle soup!

I almost didn't blog this recipe because I didn't expect it to be this good. And don't feel as though you need to do this with chicken carcasses. You can use 2 chicken thighs or 1 breast if that is what you have. Just promise me that you'll try making this wonderful combination at least once.

I think this soup is the ultimate frugal and pantry dish because this was literally me using up any extras in my fridge. I've been trying to clean out things in my fridge-jars with little dribs and drabs in them and neglected vegetables in the crisper in order to make space for other things.

Space is a real issue everywhere for us as our apartment is so small. And it extends to all areas including making space on my computer. Every time I edit a video I need to clear space on my computer. Except making space on my Mac is a slightly convoluted process with video files going in places that aren't easy to find. So I ask IT support aka Mr NQN to do it for me.

"I've taught you how to do this," he says which is technically true but it's such a process and my brain doesn't work like that and because I don't edit videos very often, I forget how to do it. I did write notes somewhere but I can't find those. So the conversation goes like this:

Mr NQN: "You know how to do it."

Me: "Yes but it takes me ages to do it, you can do it in 1 minute."

Mr NQN: "You need to learn how to do it."

Me: "But you're quicker. You can technically cook, but I do it because I'm quicker at it."

And after this point the conversation is over because he definitely doesn't want to cook so he reluctantly clears it out. And this exact conversation repeats itself once a month or two or whenever I need to edit a video!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you have a mental block on some issues? Are you technically minded? And do you like frugal or waste reducing recipes?

Cream Of Chicken Soup {Using Chicken Carcasses}

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves: 6 people

• 1 duck carcass or 2 chicken carcasses*
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 small carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 400g/14ozs. tin creamed corn or corn kernels
• 50g/1.7ozs. butter
• 3 tablespoons plain all purpose flour
• 150g/5ozs. mushrooms, sliced
• 150g/5ozs. spaghetti or dried noodles
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1/2 cup cream or milk

It's best to have a little meat on the carcass but there is no need to have a lot of meat or keep the legs or breast. I stripped the carcasses of meat to use for a ragu and then really just left that was on the ribs and the backbone.

Step 1 - Place the carcasses and stock in a pressure cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes. You can also do this on the stovetop. Just bring to a boil and simmer for 1.5-2 hours until the meat falls off the bone. Remove the bones and cool and then strip of all the meat and discard the bones.

Step 2 - In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour and stir until melded. Add the cream or milk and make a creamy roux sauce.

Step 3 - Add the carrots, creamed corn and spaghetti to the pressure cooker or pot and place the lid back on the cook for 5 minutes on high (10 minutes on stove top). Add the mushrooms and peas and then add the roux sauce and allow it to thicken with the residual heat.