Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
As comforting to make as it is to eat!
Deb's Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe. Make use of all the skin and bones and chicken left over from the Sunday roast chicken feast to make this unbelievably rich soup.
We often buy pre roasted chickens and get two hearty meals (for two) by making this tasty soup broth for the following night.
Chicken skin, bones and wing tips from a pre-roasted chicken are simmered into a delicious broth, an essential beginning to any homemade chicken soup recipe.
Add noodles, rice, tortillas or whatever floats your boat to make a new favorite every time.
Deb's Homemade Chicken Soup
Ingredients for Homemade Chicken Broth Recipe
- 1 or 2 - Pre-roasted chicken carcass, skin and juice
- 1 - Carrot, trimmed, peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 - Onion, trimmed and chopped
- 1/2 Cup - Celery and leaves, chopped
- 1 - Roma Tomato, chopped
- 1 - Bayleaf (2 if small)
- 1/2 teaspoon - Poultry seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons - Fresh Parsley, chopped (or 2 tsps. dried)
- Water to cover contents
- Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
Method - Homemade Chicken Broth
- If you roasted the chicken yourself, add 2 cups of water to the roasting pan and turn the heat under it to deglaze. Use the resulting liquid as part of the water.
- Put chicken carcass, skin, wing tips, neck and any other parts you don't intend to eat into a 5 quart soup pot. I de-bone the chicken before serving, setting aside our favorite parts for a meal and reserving some chicken meat for the finished soup.
- Add the carrot, onion, celery, tomato, bayleaf, poultry seasoning, parsley, pepper and enough water to cover the contents.
- Set the heat to high until the broth mixture begins to boil then reduce heat to med/low and simmer for at least 2 hours.
- Check the broth frequently adding a little water as needed to keep the liquid from evaporating. Stir occasionally to break up the carcass and vegetables.
- In the last half hour or so, stop topping off the liquid, and allow it to evaporate a little to concentrate the broth. It's easier to adjust the intensity of the flavor by adding water later than by subtracting it.
- Strain the broth into a bowl (leave 'til it stops dripping) and discard the chicken and vegetable solids. You should now have a highly flavored, golden colored broth that can be eaten as is or turned into the best homemade chicken soup east of anywhere.
The broth can be stored as is or further concentrated (by simmering and evaporating) and frozen into ice cube trays as chicken bouillon.
Once you've brewed your chicken broth it can be transformed into a chicken and noodle or vegetable soup in minutes. Just add your favorite ingredients and bubble up your specialty.
Ingredients for Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe
- 4 Cups - Homemade chicken broth
- 1 to 2 Cups - Reserved chicken meat
- 1/4 Cup or less - noodles or rice
- 1 - 2 Cups - vegetables if desired
- Salt if required
Method - Chicken Soup
- Return 4 cups of the broth to the pot, diluted as necessary to adjust the flavor.
- Add the reserved chicken meat, noodles, rice, tortellini, quinoa, vegetables (carrot, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, cabbage, beans, kale...) whatever you have.
- Add only a handful (1/8 - 1/4 cup) of grains or noodles as they absorb a lot of moisture and can make your soup too thick.
- Simmer 'til cooked and salt to taste.
- Makes 4 servings
