For Unforgettable Chicken Noodle Soup, This Polish Pasta Is The Only Way To Go

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My grandma was born and raised in Poland, and I grew up watching her and my mom roll out homemade pierogi dough, one sheet after another. The simple dough they created was surprisingly similar to kluski, a Polish egg pasta that can quickly form beautiful noodles. Popular in my homeland of rural Pennsylvania, kluski noodles are the type of addition to soup that'll have you hooked — once you try chicken soup with kluski, you won't go back. You can easily create kluski at home (or snag a bag of these noodles at the store) to seriously transform your chicken noodle soup.

Perfectly soft without ever becoming mushy, kluski noodles will take on the flavors of your chicken noodle soup perfectly, offering a blank (yet delicious) canvas to let both the chicken and the vegetables in your soup shine. They add a nice bulk to the soup as well, creating an end result that's just as filling as it is comforting. Whether you choose to make kluski noodles at home or pick up a bag of them on your next trip to the grocery store, they'll help take your chicken soup to the next level.

If you'd like to try using kluski noodles in your chicken soup, a bag of kluski noodles retails for about $2 at Walmart, or you can make them in your own kitchen. While both can work well, making them from scratch allows you to control the thickness of the noodles. If you decide to make them from scratch, take your time. After the flour and egg dough begins to come together, you'll need to add water a tiny, tiny bit at a time. This can be a painstaking process, but you don't want an overly wet dough, as it will make it much harder to roll out your noodles — not to mention the time it will add to the hours-long drying process before your noodles hit your broth.

Soups aren't the only place where kluski noodles work well. You can also fry them with vegetables and sauerkruat to create a traditional Polish casserole, or enjoy them with shredded beef to make Amish beef and noodles, an old-school meal your grandma probably made if you grew up in the Midwest. Store any noodles that you don't get to use in the fridge, and be sure to use them up within a couple of days. Once you try kluski in chicken noodle soup — or your other favorite dishes — you'll be hooked, and you can easily whip up a new batch any time the craving hits.