Basic Chicken Soup Recipes

SIMPLE CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Put the bones and carcass from a leftover chicken (they can be in pieces) in a large pot. Cover with the broth and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Skim any foam or fat from the broth with a ladle as necessary.
• Remove the bones and carcass with tongs or a slotted spoon; set aside to cool. Add the carrots, celery, onion and bay leaf to the broth, bring back to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are about half cooked (they will still have resistance when tested with a knife but be somewhat pliable when bent), about 10 minutes. Stir in the rice (to keep it from sticking to the bottom), and cook until the grains are just al dente, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, when the carcass and bones are cool enough to handle, pick off the meat, and shred it into bite-size pieces.
• When the rice is done, add the meat to the broth and simmer until warmed through, about 1 minute. Stir in the parsley, and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste. Serve hot.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.

QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter. Cook onion and celery in butter until just tender, 5 minutes. Pour in chicken and vegetable broths and stir in chicken, noodles, carrots, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes before serving.

BASIC CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Mix 1 cup water and cornstarch in a bowl until cornstarch dissolves.
• Heat olive oil and garlic in a large pot over medium heat for 1 minute. Add carrots, celery, and salt; cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Add chicken thighs; cook until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 7 minutes. Add remaining 7 cups water and chicken soup base.
• Bring to a boil, coaxing anything stuck to the bottom of the pot off with a spatula. Boil for 20 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture, sage, and pepper; mix well and continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Put the chicken, carrots, celery and onion in a large soup pot and cover with cold water. Heat and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken meat falls off of the bones (skim off foam every so often).
• Take everything out of the pot. Strain the broth. Pick the meat off of the bones and chop the carrots, celery and onion. Season the broth with salt, pepper and chicken bouillon to taste, if desired. Return the chicken, carrots, celery and onion to the pot, stir together, and serve.

SIMPLE CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring broth and onion to a boil. Reduce heat. Add the vegetables; cover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir in chicken and soup; heat through.

BASIC CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Place the chicken in a 6- to 7-quart soup pot and add the water (it should cover chicken). Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce to a bare simmer and skim foam as it rises to the surface. When foam subsides, add remaining ingredients, using only 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook chicken, turning 2 or 3 times, until meat loosens from bone, about 2 1/2 hours. Add more water during cooking if chicken is not 7/8 covered. Add salt gradually, tasting the soup from time to time.
• Remove chicken, giblets and bones and set aside. Strain the soup through a fine sieve and discard vegetables. Either skim fat from soup if serving immediately or let cool thoroughly, then cover, refrigerate and skim fat when the soup is cold. Chicken can be pulled from the bones and reheated in the soup. Garnish with parsley or dill if desired.

EASY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add celery, carrots, and onion and cook until celery and carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Add broth and 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Add chicken, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. With tongs, remove chicken and chop or shred into bite-size pieces. Add pasta to pot and cook until tender, about 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. To serve, stir in chicken and dill.

BASIC CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Bring chicken, water, and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil in a large stockpot. Skim foam. Add onions, celery, and garlic. Reduce heat. Simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
• Remove breast, and set aside. Add carrots. Simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes.
• Remove remaining chicken; discard back and wings. Let cool slightly. Remove meat from bones, and cut into bite-size pieces.
• Stir in desired amount of chicken; reserve the rest for another use. Skim fat. Season with salt.