This big church chicken noodle dinner always draws crowds, and it’s back this weekend
One of the city’s most anticipated church dinners — and one that stars the ultimate January comfort food — is returning this weekend for its 77th annual installment.
The St. Paul’s United Methodist Chicken Noodle Dinner will happen from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at the church, 1356 N. Broadway. For the third year in a row, though, the dinner will be served only to drive-through customers. Though they discussed returning to an in-person format, said organizer Rob Scott, organizers ultimately decided that with flu and COVID cases on the rise, it was safer to wait.
Those who patronize the dinner will pay $12 and drive away with a container full of food made by members of St. Paul’s congregation. Each dinner comes with a big serving of homemade chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh-cut coleslaw and dessert.
Church members spend weeks preparing enough food to feed the 2,000 or so people who pick up food each year. This week, Scott said, a group deboned 1,000 pounds of poultry for the chicken and noodles. Weeks ago, church members got together and prepared noodles from scratch — spreading them out to dry on tables set up in the church hall.
Scott said that this year alone, volunteers used 850 pounds of flour and 2,600 eggs to make 1,219 pounds of noodles. They’ll go through 500 pounds of cabbage for the coleslaw, and they’ll prepare 15 gallons of coleslaw dressing. The dinner also will go through 1,700 slices of dessert — pumpkin pie, chocolate chip pie, white cake, chocolate cake, apple cobbler and peach cobbler.
Diners also can order items a la carte: A quart of cooked chicken and noodles is $8; a quart of mashed potatoes is $8; a pint of coleslaw is $5; a pint of gravy is $4; an extra dessert is $3; a quart bag of dried noodles is $5; three quart-sized bags of dry noodles are $12.
Not only does the dinner raise money that helps the church operate, but much of it is donated to local charities.
Scott said that, even though the dinner is a lot of work for the aging congregation, members look forward to the project every year.
“People are just chipping in and helping as much as they can,” he said. “I was watching these 21 people deboning poultry yesterday, and they were laughing and carrying on and telling stories. I saw the fellowship that was happening, and I just smiled.”
Since the dinner went to a drive-through format, some patrons have had trouble navigating the busy southeast corner of 13th and Broadway, where the church sits. Scott said that cars should enter the parking lot from Topeka — not from 13th or Broadway.
Also, if they want to avoid long lines, he suggests people avoid lining up right when the dinner opens at 11 a.m. It’s usually less busy between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., he said.
People pay for their dinners at the drive-through, and the church can accept cash, checks and credit cards.
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 12:40 PM.
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