chicken bacon noodle soup grandpa style

Step 1 - Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and your favorite seasoning.

Step 2 - Heat a 10 inch skillet, (my preference is cast iron) to a medium high heat, then add some olive oil to the pan.

Step 3 - Cook the chicken to and internal temp of 165 degrees, then set aside on a plate.

Step 4 - In the same skillet, cook the bacon until slightly crispy, then set aside on a plate.

Step 5 - In the meantime slice the carrots and celery, dice the onions, and mince the garlic cloves.

Step 6 - Cut the chicken into strips and chop the bacon into small pieces.

Step 7 - In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken and bacon, lower the temp to medium low heat and remove all but two table spoons of the bacon grease.

Step 8 - Deglaze the skillet with 1 cup of chicken broth. Then mix the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in the skillet. Keep cooking, scraping turning the veggies until tender, about 4 minutes.

Step 9 - In a pre-heated stock pot to medium low heat, add the cooked, mixed veggies, chicken stock, milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, chicken, and bacon (hold out some bacon for the topping when serving).

Step 10 - Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 1 hour.

Step 11 - Cook the egg pasta noodles separately. (note: I only cook enough noodles for the number of people that will be eating. This way the noodles won’t feel soggy for the next meal).

Step 12 - Add the cooked noodles to the soup stock. Or, if you want to save some stock for another day, you can add the smaller amount of cooked noodles to the bowls and then pour the stock over the noodles. Again, this avoids soggy noodles.

Step 13 - Serve warm, with a topping of bacon bits, grated cheese and a big smile:)