Here is a recipe everyone should have in their kitchen: Classic Chicken Soup
My kiddo woke up with a sore throat on Saturday morning. “It hurts a lot, Mom. But I’m still playing in my lacrosse game today!!”
“Okay,” I said, “But you’ll play the game and then come home and rest for the remainder of the weekend.”
He did just that. Scored 3 goals and assisted a few (on a rainy, chilly day). They won the game, and my lacrosse-obsessed son happily got his fill of playing. He’s very passionate about lacrosse, so it’s tough for me to take that away… even when the Mother in me says he should sit-it-out and get better instead. We chilled-out for the rest of the weekend, and he’s feeling a bit better with the exception of a pesky cold.
Sunday was a day to make my magical, healing, homemade, classic chicken soup. I love this recipe because it makes use of the entire chicken carcass in the soup, which adds an incredible amount of flavor (as it should) to chicken soup.
The kiddo is pretty opinionated about how he truly feels about dinner. He’s not afraid to tell me if he doesn’t care for it, and he’s also willing to share how he thinks I should adapt the recipe to make it better. With this soup, he was perfectly satisfied. Completely! He gobbled up every bit with some King’s Hawaiian rolls for dunking, and I’m happy to have leftovers for a couple of nights to come.
You might notice from the photos that there are no noodles in the soup. Noodles are completely optional. Add them, if you’d prefer to have a chicken noodle soup.
If you happen to be following the Weight Watchers WW plan, you will find a link to the WW Points on the recipe card below.
Here are a few more chicken soup recipes you may enjoy:
- Roasted Vegetable Rosemary Chicken Soup
- Thai Coconut Chicken Soup
- Chicken Zucchini Noodle Soup
- Lemon Chicken Rice Soup
- Greek Orzo and Chicken Soup
- Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup
- Verde Chicken Soup
- Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
Classic Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pound whole chicken
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- 1 large parsnip, peeled and chopped (optional)
- 2 heaping tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ tablespoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- noodles (optional!)
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken and remove the inside parts. Place the chicken in a large stockpot, add the chicken broth, and then add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the chicken in broth to a boil, if there is visible fat, skim it and discard. Then, add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and parsnip. Simmer until chicken is tender, about 2½ hours.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board and let rest until it's cool enough to handle. Shred the chicken apart, then add back to the soup. Stir in the parsley and dill. Taste and add salt and pepper. If you want noodles in the soup, add them to the broth, bring to a boil again and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes (or until noodles are tender).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you take that chicken and roast it ( since it’s going to be boiled too, it needn’t be cooked through) to brown up and add lots of flavor. Cut it in half and flip once when it browns up, you could even do that in a large fry pan. PS remember to pour in the drippings too, you can pull the grease off later.
does this recipe freeze well?
I don’t see why it wouldn’t… I actually put my leftovers in the freezer 🙂 The only thing you’ll probably have to do when you defrost it later is to add a can of chicken broth to it.
Lori,
Your son is lucky to have an understanding Mom. I bet this soup put him on the path to recovery.
Annamaria