Granny’s Best Chicken Soup
From the freshly made chicken stock to the mix of vegetables, this soup is a pot of traditional flavors that have survived the passage of time.
By Yankee Magazine|Jan 17 2022|
Granny's Best Chicken Soup
Photo Credit: Aimee TuckerRemember that old platitude about chicken soup being good for the soul? It may have suffered from overuse by canned soup companies, but there really is nothing like hot homemade chicken soup to warm the spirit. From the freshly made chicken stock to the mix of vegetables, this soup is a pot of traditional flavors that have survived the passage of time. Feed your next group with Granny’s Best Chicken Soup, and they’ll be talking about it for generations to come.
Yield:
8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
4 quarts cold water
1 4- to 5-pound chicken, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 to 5 stems parsley
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Measure water into a large soup pot and add all the ingredients. Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, then immediately reduce the heat and simmer for 3 hours, using a spoon to frequently skim the soup as well as possible. Remove from heat and cool. Skim fat from the surface and strain the soup. Wash out the soup pot and return the strained stock to the pot.
Remove and discard bay leaf and parsley. Mash the carrots, celery, and garlic and stir them into the soup. If you prefer, you can also leave them whole. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken, chop or shred the meat and add to the soup. (If the chicken meat has completely fallen apart, that’s ok, too; just use as is, with bones removed.) Heat and season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
This recipes is almost the way I make my soup. I also add a handful of rice and some egg noodles just to add a little extra volume. This is the kind of soup you can live off of, not just in the winter months, but anytime of the year; nothing feels better than warm chicken soup for your insides.
This is good, but I learned to make Chicken Soup from my German motherin-law. She puts Parsley Root in the pot, adds the potatoes and carrots later. We then use just the stock, add very fine egg noodles cooked in it, and that is the soup. Then we eat the meat and veggies with a horseradish/sour cream sauce as the meal.
To add a Spanish flair, add small potato pieces and/or add corn or peas. Add pepper sauce for heat. Cut tortillas into tiny strips and just before serving cut avocado into eighths. Have made this for years.
GREAT recipe. Thanks.
Very good. My grand children loved it, which should speak for itself.
Just like my Mom made it. Well almost but very close.
I have passed this recipe on to a lot of my friends! I love it. Thank you Almanac!
This recipe leaves out ONE very important ingredient: PARSNIPS. The soup needs about 2 (1-inch in diameter) parsnips. They will add a special flavor that will give the soup that perfect touch that will allow you to nurse yourself back to health.
And turnips.
Have made this soup many times, but never thought about adding parsnips, which I will do next time, since parsnips are one of my favorite veggies.
I have made this whenever we start getting sick. It is truly the best!!! I would recommend it to anyone who has a cold or is getting sick. Try it, you will like it and feel better!!!
Love it!!
About the only thing I’d add would be a half bunch of chopped dill. It is wonderful for chicken soup.
I add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom to my chicken soup … it adds a light lemony flavor that is a nice change of pace.
I added cubes of pumpkin. So scrumptious.
I find using a chicken that has already been roasted adds a lot of flavor. I just make one for dinner, eat what we can, trim off the best meat for the soup and sandwiches, and then proceed with the 3 hour simmer.
Just the way I make it except I use my leftover whole chicken, this way you get
more meals per bird.
I don’t understand. What are straining from the soup? If you strain out all the liquid, how does it still remain as soup? Also, aren’t you straining out all the nutrients and flavorful broth?
Hi there. After skimming the fat, the recipe calls for the soup to be strained (and saved) so that the veggies can be mashed and the chicken shredded before being returned to the stock. We chose to return the veggies whole for the photo, but it’s delicious either way. The only things that are discarded are the herbs plus the chicken fat, skin, and bones. Hope this helps!
This looks so good, just about how I make it.
Btw,does anyone remember a soup using basically carrots, and rutabaga and canned tomatoes. How I loved this whenever my mom made it. A New England favorite.
This recipe is very similar to mine. I use a cooked chicken from the store, take off all the skin and proceed. Make so many soups in the winter, love them.
This is called Chicken Noodle Soup. I did not see how many noodles to use. When I make noodle soup I always get too many noodles. What do you suggest?
Any kind of pasta or noodles can be frozen. I put in a freezer bag, flatten it and freeze. When I need a little pasta, I break off chunks of frozen pasta and add to soup at the end to reheat it.
The chicken soup I make is one my mother made all the time.In later years, I saw on tv that Julia Child made hers this way also.Unfortunately, “garbage” soup. I would cut up whole chicken from the store and put all the back bones cleaned, and wing tips in a freezer bag. Add to this bag more and more parts until it looked like enough for a soup.A couple chickens worth. I would put the frozen chicken, the tops and bottoms of carrots that you would normally discard, the bottom of your celery bunch, washed, and all the leaves that I would normally discard, also an onion……not peeled… just quartered.Gives good color. Cover with water, add salt and pepper. Cook a few hours.Spoon off any scum from top and discard.
Strain in fine mesh strainer. Clean out the pot and return the soup.Addnicely chopped carrots, celery,onion, salt and pepper to taste, also”Better than Bouillon “
Depends on how big a pot of soup. Pull off chicken from the bones and add to soup, add uncooked orzo or alphabet macaroni, amount depends on how much you are making. There is actually a lot of chicken on the back bones.So, practically a free soup.So cook until the small cut veges are tender,and pasta is done. Sometime I add veg first and then tiny pasta a little later.If my Mom and Julia Child made it this way ,two ladies who lived through the Depression,and both were great cooks, there is no way to improve it. Oh, if someone in the house has a cold, I put in a 1” piece of ginger that I strain out. Oh, sorry, forgot to tell you ,also throw in uncut parsley when you put it together,then strain it out. Put in chopped parsley when adding the nice cut begs. I have also used dry..a couple tablespoons, depending on how big a pot, I make a gallon or two and share it.
Oh, forgot to say, nowadays, I might use frozen thighs or any cut up chicken as I do not cut up as many chickens as the kids are grown and gone, No need at all to defrost, I clean up the chicken, discard excess skin and fat, etc, so chicken can be used readily for anything
For a Dutch oven size pot of soup,near to the top and including the vegetables, I put about 1/2-2/3 of a cup of uncooked orzo or tiny pasta. It swells in the soup while cooking and we like a good cup of flavorful broth .
I like to serve the soup with rice and noodles “on the side” so they don’t get too soggy or cloud the broth – this allows everyone to choose their favorite!
Since we make our soup in the pressure cooker and use skin, bones on the chicken. Also add Hungarian root parsley (two roots), which gives soup a better taste along with potatoes (halved) and whole carrots. Can’t beet it. Along with home made fine noodles. Hope to make some this Sunday for dinner.
I basically use this same recipe and adding the potatoes, carrots and peas as well as wide noodles, but at the very end once it has cooked and ready to serve, I add a small amount of Ranch dressing and stir quickly in and it adds a creaminess and additional flavor that my whole family and friends love!
Sounds so healing, I am going to kitchen to make some for me! Happy New Year!
My broth was weak, so had to add bouillon.
I add about 1/2 tsp of Mace and it makes a big differance.
my husband is from boston this is exactly how he starts .he does add 3/4 garlic cloves delisious.
Love your recipes- thank you
If you are using noodles ,its best to cook them seperate. Rinse then add to soup. It wont be soggy or cloudy
I throw a couple star anise in when making the broth for a different twist.
Or use chicken stock in a box.
I also add a good squeeze of fresh lemon to add brightness. ( noodles are perfect too)
This recipe is almost the same my mother and grandmother used to make. I usually add a couple of carrots one onion and any other vegetable that I have on hand. This is my go to soup when anyone in my family has a cold or when it’s cold outside.