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Granny's Best Chicken Soup

Photo Credit
Shebeko/shutterstock
The Editors
Yield
8 to 10 servings
Category
Soups, Stews, Chowders
Course
Soup
Sources
Hearth and Home Calendar
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This is the best chicken soup for when you crave comfort food or you are feeling sick. The garlic, onions, and vegetables are immune-boosting, inflammation-reducing, and cold-fighting!

Note: You can cheat and use canned chicken stock—but it won’t be quite the same in terms of flavor nor health.

Why are boiled bones so restorative? Learn more about the health benefits of bone broth.

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
  1. 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 skim the soup as well as possible. 
  2. 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.
  3. Remove and discard bay leaf and parsley. 
  4. 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.) 
  5. Heat and season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Top with chopped dill if desired.
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The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

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Comments

Laci Bakalik (not verified)

1 year ago

This recipe is very similar to my family's. There is one thing we add at the beginning and take out with the chicken, clove. I throw in 3 pieces per 6 cups water. Not only does it add to the taste, but it'll make your home smell amazing. It also has alot of nutrients, antioxidant properties, and all that good health stuff we rely of chicken soup for!

*typo: ....only one thing missing from this recipe that we always add at the beginning....

Mary-Caye (not verified)

2 years 11 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)

2 years 12 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.

Chicken Soup packets are LOADED with MSG!
Instead of chicken soup packets, I use Simply Nature Chicken STOCK, for 1/2 or all of the water, as it is MSG-FREE!

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)

2 years 12 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.