This is my recipe for chicken pasta soup that my kids and friend’s kids love to eat. It’s the only chicken soup so far that my kids would eat the vegetables.

• Prep time: 30 minutes
• Cook time: 20+20+30+12 minutes (80 minutes total)
• Serving: 10-14 quarts, I used a 24-quart pot for this pictorial
• Notes: I used half the ingredients the first time I cooked this for my kids. My daughter loved it so much and requested me to document a pictorial recipe for her so she can “teach her kids and grandkids how to cook it”.

Ingredients: Updated 11/18/21

• 8+ quart water*
• 2 can 14-oz Swanson’s chicken broth
• 12 dried Chinese jujube
• 4 yellow roasted onions
• 1 bug chunky roasted ginger
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chicken powder
• 1 tsp black ground pepper
• 3 Tbsp sea salt
• 4 cornish hen
• 1 cup fried shallots
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 4 cup shredded carrots
• sugar (2 Tbsp)

*Note: Try not to add anymore than 10 quarts of water next time. The very last ingredient to add is sugar only if needed to balance out the saltiness since the jujube, chayote, onion, and carrots give out a natural sweetness.

Direction:

1. Gather, prep, and measure all the ingredients. I discovered my kids would eat carrots and chayote only when I shred the carrots and thinly sliced the chayote into strips. The celery needs to be cooked to softness too.

2. Set the cornish hen, shredded carrots, chayotes, fried shallots, and sugar aside. Put the rest of the other ingredients into the pot with water and chicken broth. Bring the pot to a boil on high heat and then turn to medium high heat. I covered the pot with a lid to speed up this step and this took 20 minutes for me. Then set timer to cook the soup for 20 minutes on medium heat with light constant boil.

3. After 40 minutes, add the four cornish hen and fried shallots. Cook for another 30 minutes on light constant boil. Discard any scum so the broth would be clear.

4. Pick your chosen pasta. My kids prefer shells and bow ties. Take out the cornish hen and set aside to cool. Pour the four cups of pasta, shredded carrots, and sliced strips of chayotes into the pot of soup and set timer to 12 minutes on medium high heat to cook. My kids love it when I cook the pasta in the soup so that it can absorb the broth flavor as well versus cooking the pasta separately and serving it with the soup when they want to eat.

5. Turn off stove and remove pot to a cooler spot. Discard the onion bulbs. Let the pasta continue to cook in the hot soup. The jujube, onion, carrot, and chayote add a natural sweetness to the soup. Taste the broth at this time. If the taste is lacking a bit of sweetness, this is the time I add just a little sugar to balance off with the salty flavor. I might add more carrots and Chinese jujubes next time.

6. Shred the chicken when it cools down enough. Then add the shredded chicken into the pot.

7. Serve. The pasta will continue to expand in the soup so it is best to serve the soup within the day. If I’m not sharing with friends, I would just cook half of the ingredients listed in this recipe. But since it’s easy to make and doesn’t cost that much to cook a big pot, why not share the love. In this pictorial, I must confessed, I didn’t have enough pasta to make 4 cups so that’s why it looked a bit liquidy. But it’s still good. Enjoy!

Note: I do not recommend freezing any soups with pasta in it. It will taste mushy once thawed and reheated.

I love this precious moment! My two little foodies seldom love the same food I cook.

Behind the scene:

Chef Ethan waited too long for this mama to prep the ingredients for him to help me put it in the pot and fell into a deep sleep. LOL! He did get to help decorate the backdrop for the headshot in his collage.

I am an Amazon Associate. Below are the Amazon products I used. I earned a little commission if you choose to support my website by purchasing any of the recommended products via the link provided below. Thanks.