The classic Kosher food and healer of all things, Chicken Soup nourishes body and soul.
Everyone agrees it’s not a Jewish holiday meal, or a Jewish cookbook, without chicken soup!
Chicken soup is the classic Jewish food. It’s the healer of all things from a cold to a broken heart. There are 101 different ways to make it, and in my opinion, they’re all good, although everyone thinks their bubby’s is the best! Just be sure you make enough so everyone can have seconds or even thirds.
Avoid having to fish peppercorns out of your dishes by using a bouquet garni—a little bundle of herbs—to flavor stews and broths. Just place the herbs in a small muslin bag or piece of cheesecloth and tie securely with cotton string.
This soup is my original and it is delicious, but I now make a CRYSTAL CLEAR CHICKEN SOUP WITH JULIENNED VEGETABLES AND ANGEL HAIR, when you’re ready to graduate to a more mature soup recipe click here.
Classic Chicken Soup
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 3½-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 12 cups water
- 1 large carrot peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 large parsnip peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 large onion cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 large turnip peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 medium stalks of celery cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 ½-ounce chicken consommé stock cube (optional)
- 1 bouquet garni of 15 parsley sprigs 15 dill sprigs, 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- Additional fresh parsley or dill for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse chicken and place in a 6-quart soup pot.
- Add water and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim any foam, residue or fat that rises to the surface using a large spoon or skimmer and discard.
- Once boiling runs clear, reduce heat to a simmer and add carrot, parsnip, onion, turnip, celery and salt. Add stock cube, if desired.
- Simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 30 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of cooking add the bouquet garni and then remove before serving.
- Remove chicken meat from the bones and place a few pieces into each bowl. Ladle soup and vegetables over chicken.
- Mince dill or parsley and sprinkle on immediately before serving, if desired. Or cool the soup and refrigerate overnight.
- Contributed by: Quick & Kosher, JAMIE GELLER
Thank you.
3 tablespoons of salt seems like a lot of salt. All of my other recipes for chicken soup call for 1 tablespoon of table salt. Is this the correct amount?
Everyone has different feelings about salt and Jamie likes things salty. For recipes like this it is best to start with less so maybe start with 1 tablespoon and add more as needed.
I love this recipe as a template for chicken soup just the way I like it. I keep things very simple so I skipped the turnip, peppercorns and dill. I also would reduce the kosher salt to 2 T. and add to taste as the soup cooks. I added 2 cans of broth as I needed a little more for about 25 matzo balls. I save my parsley for garnish and a little freshness when serving. Perfection!
I remember my father eating the “feeselach” from my grandmother’s chicken soup pot – he would suck down one toe at a time (OH MY!!!)
Also i will sometimes removed the chicken breasts for cutlets & add necks & giblets aka “pippiklach.” and if i really want to go down memory lane i will add “feeselach”, the chicken feet. They give an added flavor to the soup
i add at least 3 peeled potatoes. 1 peeled zucchini & on Rosh HaShana 1 leek. Family doesnt like turnips too much.
FYI – if you are freezing this soup you need to removed some of the veggies such as turnips & potatoes. they dont freeze well
for sure but note that the soup will have a more delicate flavor vs a richer flavor if you use the chicken bottoms (but I like it and sometime use just the chicken breast too!)
is it possible using chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken?
oh I LOVE this idea
I do a slow cooker version of this for Shabbos morning and with the garni in for 20 hours it really has a good taste.
GLORIA!!!!! Thank you so much for taking the time – right back at ya! Wishing you and yours a beautiful, delicious, happy Passover!
Jamie:
thank you for some wonderful Recipes. I wish you and, yours
a Happy Passover….
sounds divine and perfect for a cold winter night. Can you submit it as a recipe to our site? and even better if you have a picture.
I make a very flavorful shortcut recipe, I use a cooked rotisserie chicken, boil the skin and bones in 2 qts of chicken stock and 1 qt of water. Separately sautee 2 onions, 2 stalks of celery, 2 large carrots with 1 10 oz. box of defrosted and squeezed out spinach and 1 can of cannellini beans, 1/2 tsp each of pepper, dill, thyme, basil and parsley and all the white meat cubed from the cooked chicken (reserve dark meat for a different use). Defat the cooled stock and add to the sautéed veggie, spice, bean, spinach mix. Allow flavors to marry on a slow boil.
kosher salt not table salt. Cut in half if using table salt
Exactly! (THANKS RICHARD!) Cut in half if using table salt. I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, always – it’s more forgiving than other kosher salts an not as salty so you are less likely to oversalt.
Hi,
NB:!!! I used 3 tablespoons of salt as this recipe suggests….
it must be a typo cuz the soup was exceedingly salty!
Pls correct this typo for future users.
B’hatzlacha
Made this Sunday using some chicken stock I made from one of our chickens we raised. I love the addition of turnips in the soup. I used 3 in place of the parsnips. I also used fresh dill from my garden. The result was a delicate but flavorfull bowl of soup.
during the winter or when I’m not feeling so well i like to add a small piece of ginger and garlic (i like a whole head) not only does it make a bit spicier, it boosts your immune system