Chicken Soup
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4 - 6
Ingredients
  • 1kg boned chicken OR 700g boneless chicken (I’m using boneless)
  • 1kg boned chicken OR 700g boneless chicken (I’m using boneless)
  • 1.5 pints of water
  • 1.5 pints of water
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 medium onions
  • 5 bruised cloves of garlic
  • 5 bruised cloves of garlic
  • 20 black peppercorns
  • 20 black peppercorns
  • 3 – 4 bay leaves
  • 3 – 4 bay leaves
  • 2 vegetarian stock cubes (I use the vegetarian Oxo brand)
  • 2 vegetarian stock cubes (I use the vegetarian Oxo brand)
  • 1 – 1.5 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
  • 1 – 1.5 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
  • 2 large potatoes
  • 2 large potatoes
  • 4 medium carrots
  • 4 medium carrots
  • 100g spring onions OR celery
  • 100g spring onions OR celery
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
Method
  1. Start by peeling 2 onions and cutting into quarters.
  2. Use a pestle to peel and bruise 5 cloves of garlic.
  3. Add 1.5 litres of water to a saucepan – I am using a pressure cooker to cook my chicken as this speeds up the process but a normal saucepan works fine too.
  4. Add the quartered onions to the pan.
  5. Next add the chicken to the pan (no need to cut the chicken as we will shred this by hand after it has cooked), 5 bruised cloves of garlic, 20 black peppercorns and 3 – 4 bay leaves.
  6. Finally add ½ tsp of salt (this is enough for now, add more salt to taste later) and crumble in 2 vegetarian Oxo cubes.
  7. Give everything a stir and place the lid on top. Pressure cook for 15 – 20 mins from the point pressure has risen in the cooker whether you are using boneless chicken or boned.
  8. If you are using a standard saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer for around 30 – 35 mins for boneless chicken, for around 45 – 60 mins for boned. As the chicken cooks in a normal saucepan you may notice foam/scum forming at the top, it’s best to remove this for a clean soup.
  9. While the chicken cooks, prepare your other ingredients.
  10. Peel 2 potatoes and cut into large chunks.
  11. Peel 4 medium sized carrots and cut into large discs.
  12. Roughly slice the spring onion (or celery if you are using this).
  13. Once you have cooked the chicken for the required duration, release the pressure in the pressure cooker before removing the lid.
  14. Remove the lid from the pressure cooker/saucepan and using a slotted spoon take out the chicken pieces. Allow the chicken to cool and then shred using a fork or by hand.
  15. There will be some fat surfacing on top of the soup, you can chill the entire soup once cooled if you want to get rid of this entirely (this is a longer process), alternatively use ice cubes (my ones are the re-usable type) and throw them into the soup, the fat will cling to them and you can then remove them.
  16. Next add all back the shredded chicken along with the chunky diced potatoes, carrots and spring onion (or celery if you are using celery).
  17. Add in the herbs and spices at this point too: 1 tsp dried parsley, ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp ground black pepper and extra salt, I added 1 tsp extra but adjust this to suit your taste.
  18. Give everything a stir and then simmer for 10 – 12 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but not mushy.
  19. The soup is ready to eat serve as is or with crusty bread.
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/chicken-soup/