Homemade Chicken Soup
Old-fashioned homemade chicken soup: bone-in chicken simmered for 2 hours with carrots, celery, parsnips, a whole onion and other vegetables.
From the recipe book of Sandra Mills, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained cook in our family.
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This is Sandra Mills's homemade chicken soup, the kind that simmers on the stove for a couple of hours and fills the house with its aroma. Bone-in chicken goes into the pot with carrots, celery, parsnips, a whole peeled onion and butternut squash if you like.
Her one firm rule: use enough water to cover everything, but do not drown the chicken! Afterward, the meat can go back into the soup or be saved for chicken salad or a casserole.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds of cut up chicken (or more) with bones
- 4 carrots
- 4 stalks of celery
- 2 parsnips
- 1 whole medium onion
- Butternut squash (if you like)
- Any other vegetables that you choose
- Enough water to cover everything; do not drown the chicken!
- Chicken bouillon cubes, as needed
Instructions
- Fill the pot. Put the chicken into a stock pot. Peel and cut all the vegetables except the onion. Place the peeled onion in the soup whole.
- Boil and skim. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down until the liquid simmers evenly. Skim the scum off the top of the soup and discard.
- Simmer. Simmer for 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the pot along with any vegetables you don't want to eat.
- Adjust the flavor. If the soup comes out too weak, strengthen the flavor by adding chicken bouillon cubes as needed.
- Finish. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken. If you like, put the meat back in the soup. If not, use it for chicken salad or a chicken casserole.
Tips
- Sandra's book says to wash the chicken first. Today the USDA advises against rinsing raw poultry, because it splashes bacteria around the sink; patting it dry with paper towels is enough.
- Chill the soup overnight and lift off the fat that hardens on top for a clearer, lighter broth.
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