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Recipe for Granny's Best Chicken Soup | Almanac.com

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Granny's Best Chicken Soup

Photo Credit
Shebeko/shutterstock
Yield
8 to 10 servings
Category
Soups, Stews, Chowders
Course
Soup
Sources
Hearth and Home Calendar
January 19, 2023
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Any cold day is a great time to make this invigorating, traditional soup. You can cheat and use canned chicken stock—but it won’t be quite the same!

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
finely chopped dill, for topping (optional)
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. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken, chop 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. Top with chopped dill if desired.

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Comments

Mary-Caye (not verified)

1 year 6 months ago

Do not get rid of the chicken fat that cooks out of your chicken.
A friend in Canada who grew up on a chicken farm always said that the fat contained the most important cold fighters, so be sure to serve some on every bowl you serve.
Her mother made them have a small cup of chicken soup everyday during the winter and she said they were seldom sick!!!

Indeed. Chicken is sometimes referred to as "Jewish penicillin"; it is very healthy and was so called because chicken soup is a mainstay in Judaic cooking.

Tom Nimtz (not verified)

1 year 7 months ago

Sautee the vegetables - in olive oil - First. Then add rest of ingredients. It will taste MUCH better.
Also add 1 pkg of onion soup - once chicken has been added.

has monosodiums in packet soup make stock from chicken carcass and clean veg peelings and throw in some bacon and herbs,also put in soupBarley lentils splt peas or other pulse

Isn't a packet of dried soup very high in sodium?

Yes it is. That kind of defeats the point of making "homemade" chicken soup, doesn't it?

Cheryel Lemley-McRoy (not verified)

1 year 7 months ago

I always add a tsp of poultry seasoning. Adding thyme can ease a cough, as thymol, the oil in thyme, is a powerful cough suppresant.

Kathleen (not verified)

2 years 4 months ago

I find that tarragon is much more complementary with chicken than dill. It's like chicken and tarragon are married.

Jane Ringer (not verified)

2 years 4 months ago

Love this recipe I sometimes to either stretch ( we have 13 in our family counting the grandkids) the soup or change it up I will add cream or canned cream soup to make this a creamed chicken veg soup and serve it with home made biscuits. Yummy.

vickie (not verified)

2 years 4 months ago

One of the best toppings for chicken soup is a sprinkling of nutmeg.