Warming Winter Chicken Broth Soup

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Winter is the perfect time to be making soups. Many of us are also working from home at the moment which gives us the luxury of using weekdays for cooking days too. So lets take advantage of the time and the season and create some nourishing and delicious soup!

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Soups are also ideal because you can freeze them in portions and have a quick easy meal option for the lazy days or, god forbid, the days where you might have a cold or the winter blues.

A bone broth is the best base for any soup. The nutritional benefits of bone broth include, but are not limited to; aiding the digestive system, the protein from the gelatine, for the amino acids and collagen, and it may also support immune function. Perfect for any time of year, but especially valuable in Winter.

For the below soup recipe, first you will need to make Chicken Bone Broth, which takes 24 hours. So plan in advance.

CHICKEN BONE BROTH RECIPE

  • 2 Chicken Carcasses (ask a chicken shop at the market)

  • Lots of water

  • 2 carrots cut in half

  • 1 pealed onion cut in quarters

  • Stick of celery cut in quarters

  • 2 bay leaves

METHOD

  • In a large pot place the carcasses and cover with water. Boil for 5-10 minutes and then strain all of the water out of the pot. This cleans the bones.

  • Then cover the bones in water again and as soon as the water starts to boil, reduce the temperature to a low simmer.

  • For the first 1/2 hour to an hour you will need to scrape the grey bubbles off the top of the water and discard them. See below photo for reference.

  • After there is no more grey matter, then leave the pot to simmer for about 12 hours. Adding cups of water here and there, when you see it is reducing.

  • After roughly 12-18 hours add the chopped veggies and the bay leaves and let simmer for another 12-6 hours. Adding a cup of water when you see fit.

  • After roughly 24 hours remove the veggies and the carcasses and pour the fluid through a strainer into an other large pot. Now you have bone broth!

  • Set aside some of the broth for drinking, or cooking and/or freeze some for later use. Keep approx. 2 - 3 litres for your soup.

NOURISHING CHICKEN BROTH SOUP RECIPE

  • Approx. 2 L of bone broth

  • 6 chicken thighs or 3 chicken breasts (thighs fall apart easily which is nice for the soup)

  • 1 onion, diced

  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 2 large carrots, diced

  • 2 celery stalks. chopped

  • 2 large zucchini’s, diced

  • 1 cup of green peas

  • Slice the cornels off 2 big sweet corns

  • 1.5 Tbsp of fresh grated ginger

  • 1 Tbsp of fresh grated turmeric

  • 1 Tbsp of fresh chopped rosemary

  • 1 Tbsp of fresh thyme, stems removed

  • 3/4 cup of pearl cous cous

  • Salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

  • In a large pot, add to the broth the chicken, onion, garlic, turmeric and ginger and cook on a low simmering heat for 2-3 hours. After which time the chicken should shred apart. Use forks or wooden spoon to shred the chicken in the pot.

  • Add the veggies and herbs (except for the peas and corn) and the pearl cous cous and cook for another 45 min - 1 hour. Add a cup of water if needed.

  • When the veggies are soft, add the peas and corn and salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Enjoy!