Chicken Soup From Scratch 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.

THE BEST CHICKEN SOUP EVER

Steps:

• Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water. Place celery leaves in pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and place in a bowl until cool enough to handle.
• Meanwhile, strain the cooking liquid, discard the celery tops and place the cooking liquid in a large pot. Place celery, carrots, onion, bouillon, soup mix and chicken broth in the pot and let simmer. Season with thyme, poultry seasoning, basil, peppercorns, bay leaves and parsley.
• Bone chicken and cut up meat into bite-size pieces. Return meat to pot. Cook until vegetables are tender and flavors are well blended, up to 90 minutes.
• Stir pasta into pot and cook 10 to 15 minutes more, until noodles are al dente. Serve hot.

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.

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.

CLASSIC HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Cut up your chicken into pieces (thighs, legs, breasts, etc) and place in a large stock pot.
• Fill with cold water to cover and put on high heat as you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
• Cut up all of your veggies. You can do this any way you like, but I like to leave these in large pieces so they don't get too mushy during the long cooking time.
• You can tie your dill and parsley together if you like.
• Put all the veggies and herbs into the pot.
• Add extra water if needed.
• Bring to a boil, and then let simmer.
• Simmer for 2-4 hours*.
• *The cook time is largely up to you. I like to cook mine for many hours to get all of the flavors out of the chicken, but really, once the chicken is cooked through, you can take it off the fire.
• If you prefer to have smaller pieces of carrots, potatoes, or celery in your soup, dice as much as you want and put it into the pot 30-40 minutes before it's done.
• ***TIP: There will be A LOT of fat on the top of this soup from the chicken skin. Traditionally, you would cook this the day before, refrigerate over night, and then remove the hardened fat layer. Easy as pie. But, if you want it the same day, you will have to skim the fat as the cooking progresses. So watch the soup over the 2-4 hours of cooking and skim as you go.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. (you will need a lot of salt. Don't fret. Start off with a teaspoon. Taste. Add another pinch. Taste. Add. And so on until you reach desired flavor.
• Take all the chicken out of the pot and remove the meat from the bones and skin. Discard the bones and skin. You can replace the meat into the pot or leave it on the side for people to put into their individual bowls.
• Make egg noodles, rice, or dumplings to accompany.
• Eat and enjoy.

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.

CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Tie parsley stems together using kitchen twine. Prepare a bouquet garni: Place peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, and garlic in a 5-by-5-inch piece of cheesecloth; tie to enclose using kitchen twine.
• In a large pot, combine parsley stems, bouquet garni, carrots, parsnips, onions, and chicken, breast-side down. Add enough water to cover; season with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the top and discard.
• Remove chicken from pot, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Skim fat from surface of soup, if desired, and discard. Remove and discard parsley stems and bouquet garni. Remove meat from bones; discard skin and bones. Shred meat into bite-size pieces, and return to pot. Cook until heated through; season with salt. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Combine chicken and water in large pot. Bring to a boil. Skimm off any scum that rises to the top.
• Reduce heat to med/low; cover and simmer 15 minutes.
• Add onion, salt, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns. Simmer covered for additional 35 to 45 minutes or until chicken falls off the bone.
• Remove chicken, bay leaf and peppercorns from broth; cool.
• Remove chicken from bones; cut into bite size pieces.
• Skim fat from broth. You may want to put broth into the fridge for several hours or overnight. It is easier to remove the fat.
• Bring broth to a boil. Stir in chicken pieces, celery, carrots and rice - I add a little more onion too. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies/rice are tender. I add the peas for the last 10 minutes. If you are using noodles instead of rice, add uncooked noodles at this stage.
• Add parsley or green onion if desired.

ONE-HOUR CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a stockpot or large pot over high heat. Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch pieces. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and add it to the pot. Cook the chicken for 4 minutes without stirring, or until it is browned. Flip the chicken and cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until the second side is browned. (Browning the chicken pieces well adds richness and color to the soup.) Set the chicken aside in a separate bowl, leaving as much fat as possible in the pot. If no fat is left, add the additional tablespoon olive oil.
• Add the celery, carrots, onion, and herbs to the pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are slightly soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. While stirring, scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pot and incorporate them with the vegetables.
• Return the chicken and any juices that have accumulated in the bowl to the pot. Add 5 cups water and stir. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to low. If any scum has formed on the top, skim it off. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes, and then stir in the pasta. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes. If the pasta is not done, continue simmering until the pasta is fully cooked.
• Stir in the hot sauce and remaining teaspoon salt and serve.
• The soup will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.