Every Sunday afternoon my Dad made us two bowls of chicken noodle soup + a tall stack of saltines for the weekly afternoon golf show on CBC.
We’d sit on the chesterfield; my feet barely hanging over the sides, with my soup on my lap and my crackers laid out on the cushion beside me.
Dad would stack his saltines in the palm of his right hand, close his left hand over-top, then squeeze his palms together gently. The crackers would magically fall from his hands into the soup in perfectly sized crumbs.
He helped me crumble my crackers until my palms were big enough to fit around a saltine, then he taught me the trick.
We continued with our chicken soup ritual for many years following.
Although we live further from each other, I’m sure he’ll be on that same couch this afternoon enjoying his saltines and soup. I would be doing the same if we hadn’t mysteriously ran out of chicken breasts.
This Sunday, this chicken noodle soup girl had to get a bit creative.
Chicken Noodle Meatloaf
Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free
A spill-free take on chicken noodle soup.
Yield: One 9×13 meatloaf
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground chicken
- 1 cup uncooked rice pasta
- 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
- 3 tbsp egg whites
- 1 medium carrot, diced – 1/3 cup yield
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery sticks, diced – 1/2 cup yield
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tbsp unpastuerized honey
- 1/2 tsp yeast-free chicken bouillon
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp celery seed
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×13-inch loaf pan with a dab of coconut or extra virgin olive oil.
- Bring water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Add rice pasta and bring back to a boil. Cook for 6 minutes, drain, rinse, and set aside. The pasta should be a couple of minutes from al dente.
- Combine all ingredients but pasta in a large bowl and mix well with your hands. Add pasta and mix gently.
- Form the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with lid, or aluminum foil and bake for 60 minutes.
- Remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes. Must reach an internal temperature of 165F.
note: you can allow the loaf to sit for about 20 minutes to allow to cool so it stays together perfectly.
calories: 156 | fat: 5.3g | carbohydrates: 15.2g | fiber: 1.5g | sugars: 4.2g | protein: 12.4g
Have a fabulous Sunday 
Hello, welcome to my healthy gluten-free 
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This gets most creative recipe I’ve seen in ages! Very cool photos. It’s not every day you see something like these!
This is such a cool idea. I’ve heard of pudding noodles in frittatas and omelets before, but never meatloaf! Great idea, Leanne!
That looks so good!
Amazing! This is so, so creative! And I love the story about you and your dad – so sweet.
I loved reading the memories from your sunday childhood, I have vivid memories of lazy sundays and my dad watching gold in the living room “hogging the tv” as we used to say. This looks sooo comforting, i love meatloaf but it’s been years!
This is really inventive :]
In my family, we’ve never really had any rituals besides the usual annuals (aka Christmas, Thanksgiving, May 20th…)
http://milk-and-tea.blogspot.com
I swear, you come up with the best ideas! And, this one is no exception to that… Love. I’m passing this one on to a few of my friends… It’s like the perfect modern/healthy comfort food.
I happened to have everything on hand so I made this tonight. My husband loved it and almost devoured the whole thing! Luckily I doubled the batch. I also added ketchup, bbq sauce and siracha on top. Great recipe.
I made this recipe and it was delicious! The loaf came apart, though… What did I do wrong? Does it have anything to do with the part missing from your text? You write:
“Combine all ingredients but in a large bowl”
Something has disappeared after but — right?
Thanks for a great site!
Hi Susanne – I’m glad you liked it, sorry it fell apart! The recipe should be “Combine all ingredients but pasta in a large bowl. Mix with hands. Then add pasta in and mix gently”. It could be that you just had a different quality if meat. If you try making the loaf again, it may be worthwhile to let it sit for 20 minutes before serving. I find that usually helps meatloaves hold their form.