Description
Mom’s Cold-Season Chicken Soup is a light, comforting broth-based soup made with homemade chicken stock, sautéed fresh vegetables, and delicate seasonings. This easy-to-digest soup is perfect for chilly days and is crafted without chicken meat to keep the flavor pure and clear. Enhanced with a hint of heat from crushed red pepper flakes, it’s an ideal remedy for colds and a heartwarming meal served best with crusty French bread.
Ingredients
Scale
Soup Base
- 4 cups of homemade chicken stock
- Fat from the homemade chicken stock (about 1 Tbsp)
Vegetables
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
- 2 celery stalks, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
Seasonings and Garnishes
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves
- 1 Tbsp chopped greens from a green onion (green part) or chives
- 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning (ground sage and thyme)
- 1/8 teaspoon (a pinch) crushed red pepper flakes or small pinch of cayenne
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the fat: In a 4-quart saucepan, warm a tablespoon of chicken fat (collected from your homemade stock) over medium-high heat. If insufficient chicken fat is available, add a bit of olive oil to supplement.
- Sauté the vegetables: Add the chopped onion, sliced carrots, and celery to the saucepan. Cook them in the warm fat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are almost tender. This usually takes about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add seasonings: While the vegetables are cooking, stir in the poultry seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt, and black pepper. Adding seasonings at this point helps release their flavors into the sautéing vegetables.
- Add the chicken stock: Pour in the 4 cups of homemade chicken stock, bringing the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
- Simmer the soup: Allow the soup to cook at a low simmer until the carrots are just cooked through, approximately 5 to 10 minutes, taking care not to overcook.
- Adjust seasoning and serve: Taste the soup and add more salt or pepper if needed. Garnish with fresh parsley and green onion greens or chives. Serve hot alongside crusty day-old French bread for dipping.
Notes
- This light chicken broth soup is especially soothing during cold seasons due to its easy digestibility and warming ingredients.
- Omitting chicken meat helps preserve the clean, clear flavor of the stock whereas adding meat can muddy it.
- Crushed red pepper or cayenne adds gentle heat, traditionally believed to help combat cold symptoms.
- For best results, use homemade chicken stock made from quality ingredients to build a deep flavor base.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 142 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 456 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
