It’s almost the beginning of fall, and for many people, that means it’s soup season. Right now it’s 100 degrees in Los Angeles but a bowl of soup tastes good anytime. Fall is also the beginning of cold and flu season and nothing makes you feel better than a warm bowl of chicken soup, the Jewish penicillin. I like to get creative with mine, and rather than serve a clear broth with a giant matzah ball, I add plenty of chopped vegetables and fresh herbs instead. The recipe I created below is called Homemade Bone Broth Chicken Soup with vegetables.
The benefits of eating bone broth
There wasn’t anything on TV the other night so I started skimming my DISH Network, which has WAY too many channels. I clicked onto KCET and it was featuring Doctor Axe talking about “eating dirt” and the benefits of bone broth. He claims that bone broth helps treat leaky gut, overcomes food tolerances and allergies, improves joint health, reduces cellulite, and boosts the immune system. Hmmm! There’s a reason that chicken soup has healing qualities! Dr. Axe also sells bone broth protein powder.
Eating dirt doesn’t mean you chow down a plate of garden soil. It’s more about not over sanitizing your food, eating probiotics like kefir, yogurt, and sauerkraut, consuming raw honey, mushrooms, vegetable peels etc. He also recommends you get a dog, swim in the ocean and walk barefoot more. That way you build up immunities to common diseases.
I kind of like this guy.
It’s interesting that hand sanitizer was banned from being marketed by the FDA recently. Too much sanitation makes you more prone to disease than less prone.
People in longevity hotspots around the world like Italy and Greece have been cooking up bone broth for thousands of years. Simmering bones, marrow, skin, feet, tendons, and ligaments for hours and even days, releases its collagen, proline, glycine, and glutamine that are necessary for good health. However, most manufactured bone broths contain meat “flavors” and way too much salt and preservatives. Some contain MSG.
Making the soup
What I like to do is boil up an entire chicken. (sans head and feet) By now you vegetarians and vegans are probably reeling. Sorry about that. The good news is; you can also make broth by boiling down vegetables. It just won’t have the collagen and other benefits that bone broth has.
No matter what type of bones you use, it’s always best to make sure the animal hasn’t been fed antibiotics or hormones. Grass-fed, free-range, and organic is always best. Once the meat and bones have been boiled for hours, let the bone broth sit for a while so the flavors congeal. Once it’s cooled I stick it in the refrigerator overnight. Then, I remove the meat and bones and any vegetables used for seasonings, run the broth through a sieve and remove the fat either using a spoon or a defatting pitcher.
I separate the meat from the bones and place it into a bowl. Then, I use some of it to put back into the soup and the rest for chicken salad sandwiches or other dishes. I also like to save some for my dogs. They LOVE it when I make chicken soup. It’s good for them too. I make sure to pick out the giblets because that’s their favorite.
It’s even better for you with lots of vegetables
When I make soup I use any type of vegetable I have in the house. I also throw in cans of corn, green beans, and crushed tomatoes, because the juice in the cans flavors the soup. Just make sure your canned vegetables are organic or as pure as possible. If you like, throw in beans, rice, or noodles.
Next time you come down with a cold, the flu or pneumonia, or simply want a healthy meal, boil up some homemade bone broth chicken soup and add lots of vegetables. It’s good for you.
Enjoy!
- 1 whole chicken with giblets (optional)
- 1 whole unpeeled onion
- 2-3 celery stalks and leaves cut into 4-5 inch pieces
- several sprigs of parsley with stems
- 2 Bay leaves
- About ¾ pot full of homemade Chicken stock strained and with fat removed
- 2 stalks of celery chopped
- 1 turnip chopped
- 2 large carrots chopped
- 1 can (14¼ oz) of corn with juice
- 1 can (14¼ oz) green beans with juice
- 1 small can (14¼ oz) of crushed tomatoes
- 3 cloves chopped garlic
- chopped sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley to taste or dried if fresh is not available
- 2 bay leaves
- pepper to taste
- Course salt to taste (I like Celtic or Pink Himalayan sat)
- 1 cup dry egg noodles
- 2 cups of fresh spinach stemmed and cleaned
- Put the whole chicken with giblets into a large soup pot and cover it with water.
- Add 1 whole unpeeled onion. 2-3, 4-inch celery stalks and leaves, 1-2 large unpeeled carrots. several springs of parsley. and 2 bay leaves.
- Bring the pot to a boil and simmer on low for 3 hours or more.
- Let the broth sit until cooled.
- (optional) Refrigerate overnight to let flavors congeal.
- Remove the chicken and other large pieces of vegetables and place them into a large bowl.
- Remove the meat from the chicken and place it into another large bowl.
- Discard the chicken skin, bones, and vegetables.
- Strain the broth using a sieve into a bowl or large pot.
- Let it set for a while until fat rises to the top.
- Skim off the fat using a large soup spoon or a fat skimming pitcher.
- Place the skimmed and defatted broth into a soup pot.
- Add 2-3 cups of stewed chicken meat to the broth in the pot.
- Add the chopped celery, turnip, carrots, can of corn with juice, can of green beans with juice, can of crushed tomatoes, garlic, fresh herbs, 2 bay leaves, pepper, and salt.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 1 hour until the chopped vegetables are tender.
- Adjust the seasonings to taste
- add the egg noodles and cook for 10-12 minutes until tender.
- A couple minutes before the noodles are ready, add the spinach.
- Serve or let the soup sit overnight so that all the flavors congeal.
What do you like to put in your chicken soup? Please leave a comment below.
Hand sanitizer was banned? I have to check that out. And anyone who wants me to continue walking barefoot and hanging in the ocean is my kind of person!
Yes. Hand sanitizer is being banned from being marketed by the FDA. I just left a link in the post.
soup sounds great–especially throwing in so many varieties of veggies. Question for you: If you use the leftovers from a store-rotisseried chicken to make the bone broth, including all the leftover bones, does that still count as bone broth?
Good question. You can always boil down a carcass and make bone broth. Adding the meat and skin adds to the flavor but it’s all good. The minerals and other elements from the gristle are very good for you. I also have a recipe for leftover Thanksgiving turkey soup made from the carcass of a Turkey.
Oh this looks so healthy and delicious thanks for the recipe. Actually, I’m not a huge fan of hand sanitizers I think we can become too ;clean; and I don’t think a little dirt hurt anyone.
I agree. A little dirt is good. Hope you enjoy the recipe if you get a chance to make it.
I hit Pinterest to pin before I even finished reading. This is something I’d like to make.
Thanks so much Carol. I appreciate the pin.
I don’t think I’ve ever had bone broth but that soup looks amazing. Perfect comfort food for a fall day. And I had no idea about the hand sanitizer. I’ve learned so much in this post!!
Thanks, Lois, All you need is soap and water according to the FDA who are banning the marketing of hand sanitizers. Too many chemicals in them that aren’t good for you. Hope you enjoy the soup.
I can’t eat salt and this looks as if it would be delicious even without the salt. (And I never use hand sanitizer, so I won’t miss it when it goes.)
The salt is definitely optional. The broth tastes good without it. Store-bought broths are notorious for their sodium content. I was never a big fan of hand sanitizer either. It’s pretty harsh.
That looks delicious. I know that chicken soup is good for the soul and for whatever ails you.
Thanks, Estelle. Yes it great for healing, that’s for sure.
I recently started eating soup again, even though it’s still warm here. I realized how much I miss it. Thanks for this delicious-sounding recipe~!
Soup packs a lot of nutrition in and this recipe is fairly low in calories. It’s also a good way to stay hydrated.
This couldn’t be more timely. I’m recovering from a respiratory bug and need a recipe like this.
I hope you feel better soon.Barbara. The soup will help, I guarantee it.
That looks delicious – waaaay out of my cooking comfort zone, but I’d be more than happy to knock off a bowl or two if someone made it for me 🙂
I totally understand. It time consuming but so delicious when you’re done. Wish I lived closer or I’d make you a bowl. LOL
This looks like the soups my grandmother used to make – I will be making some Crock Pot Chowders in the next few weeks.
I bet your grandmother’s soups were good. Enjoy the recipe!
oh yes, and I miss not having them!