Once you’ve tried this recipe,
you won’t believe how easy chicken soup is to make.
Both of my Slovak grandmothers made a variation of this soup recipe.
When I was old about 14, they taught me how to make it myself. It was so easy and inexpensive, it became one of my mainstay meals during the winter months when I was first on my own in New York City.
At that time, before making it, I always had to call them to make sure I got the ingredients right. Now, just like they did, I know the recipe by heart.
It’s so delicious, and so easy,
it’s one of my go-to winter recipes still today.
If you haven’t made soup before, this is a great place to start.
The meal is fool proof and very flexible in terms of ingredients.
The greatest thing is you only need about 30 minutes prep time
-the rest gets done while it’s on the stove! Your kitchen will get steamy, which is an added benefit in the cold weather.
You’ll need:
1 Large soup pot (About 6 quarts container)
1 large mixing bowl
1 large strainer
Ingredients:
For Broth:
Chicken bones from a rotisserie chicken, a roasted chicken or any other chicken dish.
water
bunch of parsley (washed, no need to chop)
bay leaf
salt (dash)
pepper (dash)
2- 3 large cloves garlic, peeled (can mince or just throw in)
For Soup:
4 large Tomatoes, de-stemmed
4-5 large carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 pint (2.5 cups) mushrooms (pioppini are great in this, otherwise use a variety)
1/2 med white onion
1/2 green cabbage (optional)
About 2.5 hours before eating :
Take any remaining chicken off the bones (they don’t have to be super clean). Put it aside in the fridge.
Fill a soup pot with water.
Place large bones of chicken into the water (discard any teeny ones)
Heat the bones to boiling.
Add all the broth ingredients.
Simmer for 1-1.5 hours.*
Go and relax!
About 1 hour before dinner :
Wash and chop into bite-size pieces all soup ingredients.
Separate the bones this way:
Place a strainer over a large mixing bowl
Take soup from stove with gloves or potholders.
Pour soup through strainer and catch clear liquid in the mixing bowl.
Bay leaf, parsley and bones will stay in strainer. Discard contents of strainer
Pour the clear liquid back into the pot. Add water if needed as some may have evaporated.
Add the prepped soup ingredients.
Cook them until carrots are soft (you cannot overcook!).
Once the soup is finished, you can add back any chicken that you took from the bones. Let the chicken warm in the soup. The soup will be great even if you don’t have any leftover chicken to add.
Finishing touches before eating:
Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top, if desired.
Add salt and pepper to soup by individual bowl if necessary (try it first without).
Serve the soup along with your choice of side:
Protein – baked chicken breast, fish or lean beef.
Grain – (1 c per person only) fresh pasta, brown rice, or barley.
Vegetable – broccoli, asparagus, ear of corn, brussels sprouts, sweet or white potato.
Makes about twelve servings.
Once soup is cool, you can skim the solid fat off the top. Store soup in pot in the refrigerator. It’ll last about 5 days without a problem.
To make bone broth soup, simply
simmer the bones for longer: three hours minimum. Once chilled, the broth will be gelatin-like.
Nutrition information
per 1.5 cup serving (approximate):
Calories: 107
Fat: 5g
Sat Fat: 1g
Carbohydrate: 8g
Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 9g
This soup is a good source of
Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Niacin, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. It’s very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol.
Nutrition information was generated on NutritionData.com