Hearty Chicken Soup: Recipe

If you've ever looked for a chicken soup recipe, you've noticed there are a LOT of them out there. The best part about this is that there are some great ideas for variations on this classic recipe - thai chicken soup, anyone? The worst part is that there are so many recipes with unhealthy ingredients; soups loaded with vegetable oils, margarine, and refined grains. We've truly lost sight of the original benefits of chicken soup, like the minerals and fat found in homemade broth. Yes, saturated FAT is GOOD for you! Anyway, before I lose myself on another fat is phat rant, I wanted to eliminate this need to go searching for the perfect chicken soup recipe. Today I present to you THE best chicken soup recipe you'll ever come across. Now, this doesn't sound very humble, I know, but I wasn't the one who came up with the base of the recipe, so I feel like I can say that. In fact, I don't even remember who came up with this recipe. It has been tweaked and changed so many times that I'm going to share with you how I make it, and then you can continue to tweak it to your family's personal tastes. 

In my last couple of posts we learned about the benefits of homemade bone broths, and I gave you a recipe for chicken broth to start you off on your traditional foods journey. Today, you'll be using that chicken broth to make the most perfect, delicious pot of chicken soup your family has ever laid their lips on. So, without further ado...

Hearty Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons organic pastured butter (feel free to use more)

1 cup chopped organic carrots

1/2 cup diced organic onion

1/2 cup diced organic celery

1-2 cups chopped organic zucchini (optional)

6 cups homemade chicken broth

2 cups or more diced organic pastured chicken

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (I use RealSalt)

1 t organic dried marjoram

1 t organic dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon organic pepper

1. In a medium-sized pot on low heat, sauté carrots, onion, and celery in butter for 5 - 10 minutes, or until tender.

2. Add zucchini (if using), homemade chicken broth, diced chicken, and spices. Mix and cover. Turn heat up a bit, and bring to a very low simmer. Turn off heat and allow soup to sit for about 20 minutes. 

3. Ladle into bowls and serve with homemade lacto-fermented sauerkraut, pickles, and some raw cheddar cheese.

Serves 4

As you can see, this is a very simple recipe. It doesn't need to be difficult to be delicious. The secret is in the homemade broth and the marjoram. Whenever I have served this meal, someone has always commented on how they have never tasted any soup so delicious. I truly think people have become used to the bland-tasting broths that are sold in stores and used in most restaurants. This is a tragedy... but it's not too late to remedy this problem. I guarantee you'll get smiling faces when you serve this soup.

I'd like to make one note: We are a grain-free household. That's right, not just gluten-free, we are completely grain-free. I've been following the GAPS diet for about a year in order to heal my gut, and part of the diet is eliminating stress on the intestines, which means not eating complex carbohydrates. We add zucchini to our soup as a replacement to noodles. It helps to make the soup heartier. I enjoy the zucchini, and it's much healthier than the noodles would be. Feel free to use the zucchini or throw in a different vegetable that your family enjoys. 

During this cold, winter season, it's a perfect time to make this chicken soup, and it will help to provide your family with the nutrients to stave off colds and flus. Are you ready? It's time to take your taste buds for a joy ride!

What is your favorite variation on the traditional chicken soup recipe?

This was entered into Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday, Easy Natural Food's Sunday Night Soup Night!, The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania and Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday.

Golden, Rich, & Delicious Chicken Broth: Recipe

Yesterday we talked about the benefits of bone broth. Today, I'm sharing my recipe for chicken broth. I make this chicken broth at least once a week. It's golden, rich, and delicious - you won't be disappointed. We'll also be considering different methods of cooking broth and various storage possibilities.

If you were to ask around, you’d find that most people make chicken broth more often than any other sort of broth. It’s the easiest to make, and in the average American household, we probably tend to eat chicken more than beef or fish. That being said, both beef and fish broths are just as beneficial and even offer some nutrients that chicken broth does not. So, while today’s recipe is for chicken broth, feel free to experiment with other types in the future. 

There are a few ways to make bone broths, but let’s first start with the basic recipe, and then discuss your options.

Basic Homemade Chicken Broth

Bones from one whole chicken (ideally pastured or organic, at least hormone/antibiotic free)

Giblets from chicken (heart, neck, liver, etc.)

2-4 chicken feet (optional: I keep these in the freezer - great for added gelatin!)

2 tablespoons organic, raw apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s)

2 organic onions, chopped

4 organic celery stalks, chopped

3 organic carrots, chopped

Filtered water

1. Place the bones, giblets, and chicken feet into a large stockpot. Pour the apple cider vinegar over the bones and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. This helps to pull out the minerals, like calcium, from the bones.

2. Add the chopped veggies and cover with filtered water about an inch above the top of the ingredients. Bring to just before a boil, turn heat down to very low, and remove the scum that has risen to the top. 

3. Keep broth at a very low simmer for at least 3 hours, ideally 24 hours. The longer you simmer the more flavor and nutrients will be added to the broth.

4. When finished simmering, strain broth through a colander.

Various Broth-Making Methods

If you scrounge around the internet you’ll find a myriad of creative ways to make broth. Below you’ll find a few of my favorites.

Slowcooker Broth: Make your broth in your crockpot or slowcooker (following the recipe above). If you’re not used to leaving your house with your stove on, this might be a good solution for you. Be careful though, sometimes crockpots can’t heat the broth low enough and even on the warm setting the broth ends up boiling - something you want to avoid.

Perpetual Chicken Broth: Continuing with the idea of the slowcooker method, some like to continually cook broth on their countertop, adding more bones throughout the week and ladling out whatever they need at each meal. This allows your broth to be available and ready to go whenever you need it. You can read more about this method over at Nourished Kitchen.

Whole Chicken Broth: You can also begin your broth by using a whole, uncooked chicken. If you do this, follow the recipe as written above, but remove the chicken from the stockpot after 2 hours, carefully remove the meat from the bones, and place the bones back in to simmer for the remaining time. Store the meat in the fridge to use later in salads or soups. If you leave the meat in the broth for the full 24 hours, it tends to become quite tough. 

Broth Storage Options

Chicken broth will last in your fridge for about a week, but if you can’t use a gallon of broth in a week, what do you do? Some people freeze their broth in small (2-3 cup) containers, so that they only have to defrost what they will use in one meal. You can also freeze the broth in ice cube trays, and then store the frozen cubes in a freezer bag. This works well when you only want to use a small amount of broth for cooking veggies, grains, or for use in sauces. You can use a combination of the above choices to work out the best solution for your family. 

Now that you have a recipe, start saving those leftover chicken bones, and get ready to have this incredibly healthy, mineral-packed, delicious broth on hand. Are you still looking for an excuse to make it? Join me in my next post as I share my recipe for the absolute best chicken soup you've ever eaten, a perfect hearty dinner for these cold winter days.

Are you going to try making chicken broth for your family? 

If you did, how did it turn out?

This was entered into Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday, Easy Natural Food's Sunday Night Soup Night!, and The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania.

The Incredible Healing Properties of Broth: Not Just an Old Wives' Tale

“Good broth will resurrect the dead.” South American proverb

When I first began changing over our family’s diet to traditional foods, the first task I wanted to accomplish was learning how to make chicken broth. I’d never in my life done such a thing, and at that point in time, it seemed quite a steep task. I can chuckle at that thought now, because I quickly found out how easy it is to make broth! In fact, I know I’ll never go back to buying those ridiculously expensive, bland-tasting plastic boxes of broth from the store. No, siree!

Why would I want to learn how to make broth? Bone broth is highly-nutritive, and it’s one of the easiest to digest foods on the planet. It is incredibly soothing to the intestines, especially if you have any sort of digestive problem (which I do - more on that later). Every traditional culture made and ate animal and/or fish stocks. Not only were they being resourceful by using every part of the animal, but they were also being smart because broth provides bountiful benefits to the body. 

Have you ever heard the term, “Jewish penicillin”? This name was given to the chicken broth made by our Jewish ancestors because of its ability to heal colds, flus, and many sicknesses. It’s not just an old wives’ tale; science validates this long-held belief. The broth you make today will do the same.

The Power of Broth

The best part about broth is that it contains numerous minerals in a form that is most easily assimilated into the body: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, and many other trace minerals. Broth also contains amino acids that help to detoxify the body. The cartilage and tendons that are used to make broth provide chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine that help with arthritis and joint pain - both of which are pricey supplements sold in health stores today. 

Bone broth is rich in gelatin. Gelatin, probably the magic ingredient in broth, helps with a multitude of symptoms and sicknesses: ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, jaundice, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and the list goes on. Fish broth, especially, is an excellent source of iodine and other substances which strengthen the thyroid.

As I mentioned earlier, bone broths are excellent for the digestive system. Many of us suffer from various intestinal issues: leaky gut, IBS, Crohn’s disease, etc. Bone broth is a warming and therapeutic drink that is particularly gentle on the stomach. It strengthens the gut wall and helps to reduce inflammation.

Store-bought, canned or boxed broths, and bouillon cubes pale in comparison. Many contain MSG, other additives, and salt in a form that’s not beneficial to you. Additionally, these broths are generally lacking in the all-important ingredient gelatin. The benefits of homemade broth trump store-bought broth, but what about the cost comparison?

The Frugality of Broth

Compared to a quart-sized box of bone broth which may cost you $4.25, especially if you’re purchasing the organic version, making broth at home will cost you pennies - possibly only the electricity used to cook it. I use the bones leftover from the chicken I’ve already purchased for our family to eat. I freeze the bones and giblets until I’m ready to make broth. When I’m ready, I put it all into a big stock pot, throw in leftover vegetable scraps, eggshells from pastured hens (for added calcium), and possibly a few chicken feet (great for gelatin). Then I douse it all with a couple tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar. The vinegar helps to extract the minerals from the bones. I heat the soup for about 24 hours, and in the end, I have a rich, fragrant, golden masterpiece. If you consider the price of the vegetables and vinegar, then the broth might cost a couple dollars and that’s being generous - this makes over a gallon of broth! Bone broths are both nutritious and frugal - you can’t beat that!

Uses for Broth

Our family goes through at least a gallon of bone broth a week. I am currently following the GAPS Diet, a scientifically-designed diet to heal the intestinal tract. This diet calls for drinking copious amounts of bone broth, so we tend to make and eat lots of soups. However, even if I wasn’t following the GAPS I still would simmer a gallon each week, not only because it’s frugal and healthy, but because it’s delicious, too! In addition to soups, broth is a great base for gravy and sauces. Cooking vegetables and grains in broth adds both nutrition and rich flavor. Use it to baste meats, braise vegetables, or heck, just pour yourself a mug, add some sea salt, and enjoy. 

Are you ready to bust out that stockpot? Why not save yourself some money, add some flavor to your family’s meals, and help them stay healthy by making it a goal to make a nutritious bone broth this week. In my next post I’ll teach you how to make lip-smacking, health-promoting chicken broth. After you make it once, you’ll be hooked. I promise!

What is your favorite type of bone broth: chicken, beef, lamb, fish? 

Do you have a favorite recipe?

This was entered into Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday, Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday, Easy Natural Food's Sunday Night Soup Night!, and The Healthy Home Economist's Monday Mania.