[Closed] Foolproof chicken soup recipe

I’m guessing separating the stock from the chicken bits is a good start!

This

Strip all the chicken you can from the carcass before boiling it up. When you do boil the carcass don't forget to season (I usually pop in celery and onion along with salt, pepper and a couple of bay leaves). I usually slow cook it overnight then drain it off in the morning and leave in a fridge all day before skimming the fat off the stock.

I then usually make my soup in a soup maker (waits for someone to come along and tell me I am not making my own soup if I do it in a maker).

I wouldn't add any more water to the stock that I made and I also wouldn't add further onion as the stock has plenty of onion flavour and it takes an age to cook onion in the hob/in a soup maker in order to stop it tasting too strongly and being too crunchy. (IMO).

I have never used a recipe, but I add potatoes to the stock (some cut very small to help thicken the base, some cut larger for eating) along with carrot and peas then season with salt and pepper and add the chicken. I cook on the 'chunky' setting then blitz *VERY* quickly at the end just to take the edge off all the chunks of vegetables.

If I did it on the hob, I would do the same then quickly blitz with a hand food processor however it takes a good hour to cook on the hob so I never do this.

So I didn't season when stocking and also forgot to skim the fat off. I've still got two thirds of the stock-and-meat in the fridge, I'll try again tomorrow...

My fav is this one...

Keep back juices from roasting the chicken. Boil carcass and the juices for 45 mins. Strain off. Finely grate 2 carrots and finely slice a leek (halved along the middle) add to the stock along with half a mug of rice (i like basmati). Finally pick of any remaining bits of chicken from the carcass and throw them in. Simmer for 20 mins.  Job done. Always tastes nicer the next day and freezes well.

So I didn’t season when stocking

You don't need to, and if you don't know what you'll be using the stock for or using for different tasks then don't as if you reduce it it will be too concentrated.

Roast and eat your chicken. Pick remaining meat from carcass and rerserve. Put carcass in pot along with a roughly chopped carrot, stalk of celery and onion. Add 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, couple of cloves and a bay leaf. Just cover with cold water and bring slowly up to a simmer. DO NOT LET IT BOIL. Turn heat down to lowest setting you can whilst still keeping the odd bubble to float to suface every second or so. Leave for 2hrs at least, skim off any fats or scum from surface. Strain stock and reserve. In clean pot sweat onion, carrot and celery until softened, add stock and any thing else you want, cook 30mins and add your reserved chicken at end to heat through. Season and serve.

PS: If you want to make stock from raw chicken carcass then this is pretty foolproof.

Slight variation of above....

My butcher sells chicken carcases so i put about 4 whole carcases in, 2 onions, bits of veg I would have cut off and thrown away, like broccoli stems, carrots, half a cabbage. Simmer for 2 hours, skim off fat, freeze.

I drink a big cup of stock as a starter, or make soup, or a casserole. Freezes really well.

Good for batch cooking and costs next to nothing, butcher charged me 1 euro for 4 carcasses.

Phil Vickery’s Chicken Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 large onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 table spoon olive oil

2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped

4 sticks celery, finely chopped

250g (1 pack) chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped

1 litre fresh chicken stock - either homemade or shop bought stock is fine

600g Chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless, chopped into small pieces.

1 tsp Bovril

1 tsp Miso paste

Pepper to taste

150g or 1 bag fresh spinach

Method:

For the homemade chicken stock:

Roast chicken bones in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 220c.

Remove from the oven and put into a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Skim the stock occasionally.

Remove from the heat, strain the liquid and use.

For the Chicken Soup:

Heat the oil in a pan and brown the onions and garlic until coloured.

Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring to the boil, then add the chopped chicken meat and turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes add the bovril and miso paste to taste, season with pepper.

Just before serving add the spinach and adjust the seasoning.

Slight variation of above….

My butcher sells chicken carcases so i put about 4 whole carcases in, 2 onions, bits of veg I would have cut off and thrown away, like broccoli stems, carrots, half a cabbage. Simmer for 2 hours, skim off fat, freeze.

I drink a big cup of stock as a starter, or make soup, or a casserole. Freezes really well.

Good for batch cooking and costs next to nothing, butcher charged me 1 euro for 4 carcasses.

I keep a bag in freezer for adding scraps to when prepping veg. Only buy whole chickens and break them down myself, the carcass get's frozen until I have 3 or 4 and do the same. I usually make pot of soup with half then freeze the other half of stock in ice cube trays and transfer to freezer bag as they are great for making pan sauces mid week when doing a steak, pork chop, chicken breast etc. You only need a small amount so ice cubes are perfect to get right quantities.

DRAC!

What on earth are miso paste and garlic doing in a chicken soup? Sounds all the wrong to me.

If you don't have time to make the soup, I highly recommend this:

I’ve had chicken soup with both those and chilli in today. Recipes may vary. You don’t even make your own soup.

I almost always boil up leftover (and bought for the purpose) bones and other remains for stock.
Roast chicken, lamb bones from the butcher, fish heads and frames from the fishmonger, heads of langoustines and prawns all do well. Bung in some onion carrot, veg peelings etc. and NEVER boil fish bones for more than 20 minutes. But I rarely waste them for soup; I sieve them, skim off the fat and use them as a basis for sauces. Never bother with any meat that's left in the stock pan, all the flavour's gone. Oh, and I don't skim off the scum while it's boiling, that's usually just blood so rinse that off first.

The only soup in my repertoire is French Onion. Fry masses of sliced onion in butter till it's all nice and caramelised, bung in a bit of wine if you want then some nice rich reduced stock. Bloody lovely. Should be really rich and strong flavoured, none of the watery crap you usually get. Eat it quick before it sets!

I also make a fish stew that's a bit like a soup. Fry chopped onion and tomatoes. Bung in some fish (or chicken) stock, lots of white wine, a capful of Pernod, (the cap of the bottle you understand - not the one on yer 'ead) a dash or two of Thai fish sauce then reduce it all down. It'll start to spit and bubble. If ypu're using something like mackerel fillets or snapper stick them in now and cook a bit Then add a load of raw mussels and in a separate pan fry in garlic butter the other fish you want in it: hake, halibut, coley, scallops, prawns haddock (doesn't really matter, some fish stays together others turn into mush. Don't overcook any of it and whatever you do, don't use monkfish. It has no bloody flavour, all it's got going for it is it stays in chunks but it costs the same as scallops which are wonderful.
Throw everything in a big bowl and tuck in.

For chicken soup, super simple recipe: (1) soften diced onion and/or leek (2) add diced potatoes (3) add stock, careful not too much or it will be too thin, and simmer until potatoes done (4) blend + add more stock if too thick (5) add cooked chicken and season.

For chicken stock my tips are:
Wait until you have a few carcasses, cut them up a bit, giblets too
For flavour, really doesn't matter that much, depends what you have left over. Leeks, onion, celery, carrot all work but don't over do the veg it's chicken stock not veg. Garlic and miso work, as do old cheese rinds. Bits of pork eg skin of a joint, or a trotter can really add body.
Cooking: 2 hours OK, 4 hours better, 6 hours best, 8 hours not worth it. Barely simmer, don't boil.
Chill overnight and skim the fat off (save for dumplings)