Halloween doesn’t always have to mean candy and sweet treats. Sometimes the simplest little detail can turn an everyday dinner into something the kids think is completely magical.
Enter: Chicken “BOO”dle Soup!
This is classic, cozy chicken noodle soup with a Halloween twist. Before adding the carrots to the soup, I turned the slices into tiny “boo” faces using a straw. It takes just a few extra minutes, but once those little faces start floating around in the soup, regular carrots suddenly become a lot more exciting. You also don’t have to make the soup from scratch, you can totally get ready-made soup and add the carrots to make it heartier!
Find everything you need here!
How to Make the “Boo” Carrots
This little trick is so easy, and it’s one you can use for more than just soup.
Peel your carrots and cut them into rounds. You want them thick enough that they’ll hold their shape while cooking.
Then grab a sturdy reusable drinking straw. Use the end of the straw to punch out two little circles for the eyes and another circle for the mouth. That’s it!
Once they’re cooked in the soup, you have tiny surprised “boo” faces peeking out between the chicken and noodles.
I love all of the Halloween candy and treats, but this is such a fun way to turn up the magic on veggies, too. You can even use the same straw trick on cucumber slices for Halloween lunches, snack boards or after-school snacks.
And because you can’t have a Halloween dinner without going all in, I served our Chicken BOOdle Soup with jack-o’-lantern grilled cheese. It’s basically the ultimate cozy October dinner.
For the jack-o’-lantern grilled cheese, I “carved” one piece of bread before assembling the sandwich. Using a small knife, carefully cut out two triangle eyes, and a jack-o’-lantern mouth.
Place that slice on top of your cheese with another slice of bread underneath, then cook the sandwich as you normally would. As the cheese melts, it peeks through the carved face and gives you that glowing jack-o’-lantern look. Enjoy!
