Homemade Chicken Soup – a Comforting Family Recipe

I found the following in an article about remedies that DO help colds on the Mayo Clinic website published October 28, 2010:

“Chicken Soup: Generations of parents have spooned chicken soup into their sick children. Now scientists have put chicken soup to the test, discovering this it does have effects that might help relieve cold and flu symptoms in two ways. First, it acts as an anti-inflammatory by inhibiting the movement of neutrphils – immune system cells that participate in the body’s inflammatory response. Second, it temporarily speeds up movement of mucus, possibly helping relieve congestion and limiting the amount of time viruses are in contact with the nose lining.”

I’m not a medical practitioner and cannot claim this soup helps with a cold.

I can say it’s soothing and easy to eat. At a minimum it helps keep liquids coming.

Ingredients

• Carrots
• Celery
• Garlic cloves
• Onion
• Olive oil
• Jalapeno pepper
• Small chicken fryer OR boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
• Chicken stock
• Water
• Apple cider vinegar

Ingredient Notes

Preparing the Vegetables – Time Saving Tips

The most time consuming preparation of this recipe is the vegetables. Here are a couple of short cuts that speed things up and still create a delicious soup.

1. Put all the vegetables in the Food Processor. If you don’t mind not having sliced and chopped vegetables (e.g. the soup won’t be as visually pretty) this is a perfect way to make the soup quickly. I usually do it this way because I’m in a hurry when I make it.
2. Buy prepared vegetables. Many grocery stores now offer prepared produce for recipes. This is an even faster way to get what you need with no effort.

Handling Jalapeno Chile Peppers

Jalapenos can vary greatly in their spiciness. When cutting them do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth before washing your hands first.

The seeds create most of the spiciness so removing those before adding the pepper into the soup is key.

What Type of Chicken to Use

Small Whole Fryer Chicken

Originally I would make this recipe with a small whole fryer chicken. It adds more flavor due to the skin and bones.

However it also takes three times longer to fully cook and requires straining out the bones and shredding the chicken.

If you have the time, it’s delicious.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

I began making it with boneless skinless chicken breasts due to often making the soup with little notice and those being on hand.

The soup cooks faster and the chicken only needs to be cubed so it’s an easier method overall.

Chicken Stock

I typically use one quart of regular Chicken Stock and one quart of Low Sodium Chicken Stock. 

There is some information suggesting the salt in chicken soup is partially what makes people feel better. 

I think the balance of the two types of stock taste good.

You can use EITHER regular or low sodium chicken stock.

Apple Cider Vinegar

A touch of apple cider vinegar brightens the flavor of the soup.

Some people believe it has home remedy properties for a cold but those claims have not been medically substantiated.

Chef’s Notes

Simmering the Soup. If I have the time I let the soup simmer for a number of hours (or prepare it in my Instant Pot). It greatly reduces the broth to a rich taste.

Doing this causes some evaporation so I add 2 additional cups of water toward the end to dilute the broth a bit. 

Garlic is great for your immune system and gives the soup great flavor. Though the kitchen will smell of the amount of garlic, in the soup it does not taste strongly of garlic. Feel free to modify the amount of garlic to your own liking.

Chile peppers.  I think getting a good sweat on is great for moving a cold along (personal opinion only). I like the heat of the chile pepper in this soup for that very purpose.

Seasoning. The sauteed vegetables are all that is needed to flavor to the soup. I keep other seasoning to a minimum (salt and pepper only) for this soup. I find frankly when getting a cold I cannot taste much anyway. If you are making this homemade chicken soup under more normal circumstances, add whatever seasonings you like in soup (thyme, oregano, bay leaf would all be nice).