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Tips and recipes for making homemade chicken soup, from the ThriftyFun community. Post your own ideas here.
When making homemade chicken soup I start out by covering the chicken with cold water and bringing it to a boil. Then I put it on simmer for about 1 hour. I line a colander with a clean white cloth (which I have wet with water and rung out to help the cloth "stick" to the colander). I then pour the broth into the cloth that is lining the colander. This catches any fat and makes a more calorie conscious soup base. I then remove the chicken, let it cool, cut the chicken into small pieces and return to the soup pot. Then add the low-fat soup broth. Then add whatever veggies and seasonings you like.
Whenever I make a whole chicken or when we get a rotisseree chicken .. I save whatever we don't eat and save and freeze the carcass. When I have a couple of leftover chickens I "brown" the bones and toss in a large crockpot with carrots, onions, garlic and whatever dried spices I feel like that day or are getting old in the cupboard and water and let cook on low overnight.
Good Luck!
When I make a chicken soup from scratch, I make sure the chicken is just covered with water. Too much water will leech out the chicken flavor and weaken the broth. To the water I add 2 or 3 Wyler's solid chicken boullion cubes which enhances the flavor very nicely. I've tried other brands boullion cubes, but the flavor I like is missing. To get rid of the fat I use a four cup plastic measuring cup with a spout on the bottom from which I pour the broth into another container while the fat rises to the top.
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I am making homemade chicken soup in a stock pot that takes 24 cups of water. I had to take 8 cups out to fit the whole chicken in, plus carrots, parsley, parsnips, onions, celery.
I usually use 2 tsp for 6 quarts. I would use 3-4 tsp for your soup.
Since bouillon powder/cubes tend to be very salty, I believe that I would start with 3 or 4 (as Judy suggested) and add another if taste tests are not salty enough as you can always add more but difficult to correct if too salty.
It is difficult to say for sure as you may have a pot full of chicken and veges but very little liquid so try to add a little at a time. Also, food tends to taste saltier after it has sit or rested for a while.
When I make chicken soup with a whole chicken, I don't use any bouillon at all. It's basically dehydrated broth and you are making that with the chicken already.
I usually cook the soup down for a long time, remove the bones and allow the strained liquid to sit in the fridge so that I can remove the fat layer from the top after it cools. Then I add in my veggies, my broth and the chicken meat I removed from the bone and cook it down. I adjust the seasonings with salt or even a splash vinegar if it is too bland.
Good luck and let us know how your soup turns out.
