Hey, how’s it going? Long time no see. Sorry I haven’t been on here recently, it’s been difficult trying to find time to sit down and have a quiet moment to work on recipes since my kitchen renovation started. Every day brings an untold amount of dirt and dust into the house, not to mention the fact that the house is freezing cold too (it’s the first day of December so no surprise there), so it’s been hard trying to find time to sit down and blog. But here I am to share my Chicken Soup recipe with you all.

This time of year calls for hearty comfort foods and this Chicken Soup definitely delivers. I have many pie recipes – I must admit pies are my ultimate favourite comfort food for winter, but this makes a really nice change from that. The soup itself is more broth-like (watery and thin) than a thick soup but is delicious to mop up with crusty buttered bread – yes, it has to be buttered I’m afraid, I just love the taste of butter!

Chicken Soup has long been considered a remedy for colds and flu, while the science of this is debated on, one thing that is for certain is that boned chicken definitely adds more flavour to a soup. However, there may be times when you crave this and want to make it anyway like I did on the day I shot this recipe and if that’s the case, that’s absolutely fine. I used boneless chicken thighs, I prefer thighs to breasts as they’re naturally juicier and in my opinion more flavourful. If you want a leaner chicken soup though, you may consider using chicken breasts.

You can easily adapt this recipe to include other ingredients that will help to thicken it, like lentils and barley (make sure you soak them beforehand), just throw in a handful when cooking the chicken to add more texture. Adding these extra ingredients may mean you have to add more stock, as they will undoubtedly absorb more liquid, just make up extra stock and add to the pot. Alternatively make a cornflour slurry (2 – 3 tsp of cornflour, dissolved in a little cold water) and add this to the soup when adding in the vegetables and this will help to thicken the soup a little more.

I hope this recipe is one you’ll turn to whenever you crave an easy but tasty Chicken Soup.

Serves 4 – 6

You will need: for Chicken Soup 

1kg boned chicken OR 700g boneless chicken (I’m using boneless)
1.5 pints of water
2 medium onions
5 bruised cloves of garlic
20 black peppercorns
3 – 4 bay leaves
2 vegetarian stock cubes (I use the vegetarian Oxo brand)
1 – 1.5 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 large potatoes
4 medium carrots
100g spring onions OR celery
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground black pepper

Method:

Start by peeling 2 onions and cutting into quarters.

Use a pestle to peel and bruise 5 cloves of garlic.

Add 1.5 litres of water to a saucepan – I am using a pressure cooker to cook my chicken as this speeds up the process but a normal saucepan works fine too.

Add the quartered onions to the pan.

Next add the chicken to the pan (no need to cut the chicken as we will shred this by hand after it has cooked), 5 bruised cloves of garlic, 20 black peppercorns and 3 – 4 bay leaves.

Finally add 1/2 tsp of salt (this is enough for now, add more salt to taste later) and crumble in 2 vegetarian Oxo cubes.

Give everything a stir and place the lid on top. Pressure cook for 15 – 20 mins from the point pressure has risen in the cooker whether you are using boneless chicken or boned.

If you are using a standard saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for around 30 – 35 mins for boneless chicken, for around 45 – 60 mins for boned. As the chicken cooks in a normal saucepan you may notice foam/scum forming at the top, it’s best to remove this for a clean soup.

While the chicken cooks, prepare your other ingredients.

Peel 2 potatoes and cut into large chunks.

Peel 4 medium sized carrots and cut into large discs.

Roughly slice the spring onion (or celery if you are using this).

Once you have cooked the chicken for the required duration, release the pressure in the pressure cooker before removing the lid.

Remove the lid from the pressure cooker/saucepan and using a slotted spoon take out the chicken pieces. Allow the chicken to cool and then shred using a fork or by hand.

There will be some fat surfacing on top of the soup, you can chill the entire soup once cooled if you want to get rid of this entirely (this is a longer process), alternatively use ice cubes (my ones are the re-usable type) and throw them into the soup, the fat will cling to them and you can then remove them.

Next add all back the shredded chicken along with the chunky diced potatoes, carrots and spring onion (or celery if you are using celery).

Add in the herbs and spices at this point too: 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp ground black pepper and extra salt, I added 1 tsp extra but adjust this to suit your taste.

Give everything a stir and then simmer for 10 – 12 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but not mushy.

The soup is ready to eat serve as is or with crusty bread.

This soup is really good, don’t surprised if everyone wants seconds, just make sure you have enough bread to mop it up with!

5.0 from 4 reviews

Chicken Soup

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Afelia's Kitchen

Serves: 4 - 6

Ingredients

• 1kg boned chicken OR 700g boneless chicken (I’m using boneless)
• 1kg boned chicken OR 700g boneless chicken (I’m using boneless)
• 1.5 pints of water
• 1.5 pints of water
• 2 medium onions
• 2 medium onions
• 5 bruised cloves of garlic
• 5 bruised cloves of garlic
• 20 black peppercorns
• 20 black peppercorns
• 3 – 4 bay leaves
• 3 – 4 bay leaves
• 2 vegetarian stock cubes (I use the vegetarian Oxo brand)
• 2 vegetarian stock cubes (I use the vegetarian Oxo brand)
• 1 – 1.5 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
• 1 – 1.5 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
• 2 large potatoes
• 2 large potatoes
• 4 medium carrots
• 4 medium carrots
• 100g spring onions OR celery
• 100g spring onions OR celery
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Method

1. Start by peeling 2 onions and cutting into quarters.
2. Use a pestle to peel and bruise 5 cloves of garlic.
3. Add 1.5 litres of water to a saucepan – I am using a pressure cooker to cook my chicken as this speeds up the process but a normal saucepan works fine too.
4. Add the quartered onions to the pan.
5. Next add the chicken to the pan (no need to cut the chicken as we will shred this by hand after it has cooked), 5 bruised cloves of garlic, 20 black peppercorns and 3 – 4 bay leaves.
6. Finally add ½ tsp of salt (this is enough for now, add more salt to taste later) and crumble in 2 vegetarian Oxo cubes.
7. Give everything a stir and place the lid on top. Pressure cook for 15 – 20 mins from the point pressure has risen in the cooker whether you are using boneless chicken or boned.
8. If you are using a standard saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for around 30 – 35 mins for boneless chicken, for around 45 – 60 mins for boned. As the chicken cooks in a normal saucepan you may notice foam/scum forming at the top, it’s best to remove this for a clean soup.
9. While the chicken cooks, prepare your other ingredients.
10. Peel 2 potatoes and cut into large chunks.
11. Peel 4 medium sized carrots and cut into large discs.
12. Roughly slice the spring onion (or celery if you are using this).
13. Once you have cooked the chicken for the required duration, release the pressure in the pressure cooker before removing the lid.
14. Remove the lid from the pressure cooker/saucepan and using a slotted spoon take out the chicken pieces. Allow the chicken to cool and then shred using a fork or by hand.
15. There will be some fat surfacing on top of the soup, you can chill the entire soup once cooled if you want to get rid of this entirely (this is a longer process), alternatively use ice cubes (my ones are the re-usable type) and throw them into the soup, the fat will cling to them and you can then remove them.
16. Next add all back the shredded chicken along with the chunky diced potatoes, carrots and spring onion (or celery if you are using celery).
17. Add in the herbs and spices at this point too: 1 tsp dried parsley, ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp ground black pepper and extra salt, I added 1 tsp extra but adjust this to suit your taste.
18. Give everything a stir and then simmer for 10 – 12 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but not mushy.
19. The soup is ready to eat serve as is or with crusty bread.

3.5.3251