Who doesn’t enjoy chicken soup from time to time? Well if you clicked on this then I can assume that you do. A dish that dates back to the neolithic period, it has been around as long as we have had domesticated chickens.
The chicken soup we know of today is far different though of course. The version we now enjoy in America was brought over by the northern europeans. Today we get much of the flavor from the base of root vegetables with the french mirepoix.
As soup has been around since we as humans, started cooking, all soups have evolved. We now have the sub-genres of stew, chowder, consommé, and bisque. We are obsessed with our soups. But the original ruler of all soups is the chicken soup. It may not be the original but it is the most recognizable.
At its heart, a chicken soup is a brothey chicken base with flavors layered on top of it. For this recipe we are going very old-school. Starting by boiling the chicken to create a base broth while cooking the chicken at the same time.
Building the flavor from there in layers we will add the mirepoix and other flavors. This creates the background flavors to set up the ending result.
Chicken Soup Recipe
First, place a medium sized pot on the stove filled 3/4 of the way with water. Then add the uncooked chicken drumsticks. You may start with frozen chicken for this recipe. Most recently meaning the pictures I have taken, I started with 2 pounds of frozen chicken drumsticks. It works out just fine especially when you may not have things thawed out. It’s being boiled anyways, not seared. If cooking from frozen, add 15 minutes of cook time to the chicken.
Allow the liquid to come up to a boil and then lower to a simmer at medium heat. Add 1 Teaspoon of salt and three bay leaves and let simmer for 30 minutes.
While this is cooking, peel and dice 2 carrots, 4 celery stalks, and one large onion and place everything to the side in a bowl.
Once the chicken has reached the 30 minute marker add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes. While you wait, mince 3 cloves of garlic.
Now, using tongs, remove the chicken thighs and place them off to the side to cool down. Then add the garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, ground black pepper, the sprigs of rosemary, white beans, and lemon juice.
Cook for another 20 minutes and then remove from the heat.
Remove your cooled chicken from the bones and chop the meat into bite sized pieces. Dispose of the bones.
Spoon the soup into a bowl and top with as much or as little chicken as you’d like. It also goes very well on top of leftover grains such as rice!
Hearty Chicken Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Chicken drumsticks
- 2 Carrots peeled and diced
- 4 Celery stalks diced
- 1 Large Sweet Onion diced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tsp Salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 12oz can White beans
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1/2 Lemon juiced
- 3 4" Sprigs of Rosemary
Instructions
- First, place a medium sized pot on the stove filled 3/4 of the way with water. Then add the uncooked chicken drumsticks. You may start with frozen chicken for this recipe. If cooking from frozen, add 15 minutes of cook time to the chicken.
- Allow the liquid to come up to a boil and then lower to a simmer at medium heat. Add 1 Teaspoon of salt and three bay leaves and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- While this is cooking, peel and dice 2 carrots, 4 celery stalks, and one large onion and place everything to the side in a bowl.
- Once the chicken has reached the 30 minute marker add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Continue to cook for another 15 minutes. While you wait, mince 3 cloves of garlic.
- Now, using tongs, remove the chicken thighs and place them off to the side to cool down. Then add the garlic, 1 teaspoon of salt, ground black pepper, the sprigs of rosemary, white beans, and lemon juice.
- Cook for another 20 minutes and then remove from the heat.
- Remove your cooled chicken from the bones and chop the meat into bite sized pieces. Dispose of the bones.
- Spoon the soup into a bowl and top with as much or as little chicken as you’d like. It also goes very well on top of leftover grains such as rice!