Homemade Chicken Soup

 

Cold and Flu Season! Cold and snowy days! Leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving yesterday in the US! There is nothing better than having a steaming bowl of Homemade Chicken Soup.  I am just getting better from the flu and this soup saved me.  When you’re sick, your taste buds are off, you are cold and achy and this soup is perfect for getting the nutrition you need while you are sick plus it warms you from the inside out and just makes you feel so much better! I ate bowlfuls of this soup and would probably say, this recipe was the best soup I’ve made in a long, long time!!

I wanted a recipe that was super easy as I wasn’t up to standing around the stove cooking and stirring! I did make my own broth…I didn’t have a chicken carcass so I used skinless, bone in chicken breasts….but if you have a chicken or turkey carcass, even better.

Homemade Chicken Soup

The Broth

• 4 Bone In, skinless chicken breasts or a chicken or turkey carcass
• 2 cartons of low sodium chicken broth
• 3 stalks celery with leaves, cut in large chunks
• 3 carrots with peel, cut in large chunks
• 1 onion with peel, quartered
• 3 slices of turnip, peeled, quartered
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 2 bay leaves

Put all ingredients into a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for  1 hour.  Strain in a colander, keep broth, discard vegetables and set chicken aside to cool.  When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into small pieces.  Set aside.

TIP:  Put your vegetables into the pot before turning on the heat….this way the flavor of the vegetables will be absorbed into the broth. If you put your vegetables in when the stock is boiling, you will seal in the flavor of the vegetables and your broth will not be as flavorful! It works and makes a tremendous difference in the broth’s flavor! 

The Soup

Return broth to your stockpot and bring to boil.  Add:

• 4 carrots, finely diced
• 1 small head of turnip, finely diced (about 5 or 6 slices)
• 4 celery stalks, finely diced
• 1/2 head of green cabbage, thinly sliced and diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 tsp dried parlsey

Return to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until vegetables are cooked.  Add in shredded chicken. Stir to combine and enjoy! YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! 🙂

Personally, I like a nice thick soup but if you have any leftovers, you may need to add a bit of water to thin the soup.

DD