Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken and Base
- 1500 g whole chicken, whole or cut into large bone-in pieces
- 3000 ml water, cold
- 2 yellow onions, halved, skins left on
- 400 g carrots, roughly chopped into large chunks
- 300 g celery stalks, roughly chopped into large chunks
- 1 garlic, whole head, halved horizontally
Aromatics and Seasoning
- 20 g fresh parsley, whole sprigs
- 5 g fresh thyme, whole sprigs
- 3 g black peppercorns, whole
- 15 g kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves, dried
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 678 kcal
- Protein
- 55 g
- Carbohydrates
- 16 g
- Fat
- 43 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sugar
- 6 g
- Sodium
- 1272 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 12 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Potassium
- 1019 mg
- Calcium
- 121 mg
- Iron
- 3.5 mg
- Magnesium
- 30 mg
- Phosphorus
- 66 mg
- Zinc
- 0.5 mg
- Vitamin A
- 700 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 22 mg
- Vitamin E
- 0.6 mg
- Vitamin K
- 79 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.3 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 5.5 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.10 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.10 mg
- Niacin
- 1.0 mg
- Folate
- 46 mcg
- Water
- 660 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place the raw chicken, halved onions, carrots, celery, and garlic into a large stockpot. Wash hands and sanitize surfaces immediately after handling the raw poultry to prevent cross-contamination.
Pour the cold water over the ingredients, ensuring the chicken is fully submerged. Add the peppercorns and bay leaves.
Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring the water to a gentle boil.
Immediately reduce the heat to low so the liquid barely bubbles. Skim any foam or gray scum that rises to the surface during the first 15 minutes to ensure a clear broth.
Cover partially and simmer very gently for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the chicken is completely tender, falling off the bone, and reaching an internal temperature of at least 74 degrees C / 165 degrees F.
Add the fresh parsley and thyme during the final 15 minutes of simmering to infuse their essential oils without becoming bitter or muddying the flavor.
Carefully remove the chicken from the pot using tongs and transfer to a cutting board to cool slightly before handling.
Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a clean pot or heatproof container, discarding the spent vegetables and herbs. Season the clear broth with the kosher salt, tasting and adjusting as needed.
Shred the cooled chicken meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding the skin and bones. Return the shredded meat to the hot broth to serve.
Chef's Notes
- Leaving the papery outer skins on the yellow onions provides a beautiful, rich golden hue to the finished broth.
- For the clearest soup, never let the pot reach a hard boil. A gentle, lazy bubble prevents fat and impurities from emulsifying into the liquid.
- Starting with cold water rather than hot allows the proteins in the meat and bones to coagulate slowly, resulting in a cleaner, clearer broth.
- The strained vegetables have given all their flavor to the broth and should be discarded, but the leftover chicken bones can be simmered again with fresh water to make a secondary, lighter stock known as remouillage.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Skim solidified fat from the top after chilling for a perfectly clear broth.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze without added noodles or fresh garnishes for the best texture.
Reheating: Gently simmer over medium heat until reaching 74C/165F.
Troubleshooting
Cloudy, greasy broth
Cause: Boiling the liquid too vigorously, which emulsifies the fats and impurities into the water.
Fix: Cannot be fixed perfectly, but clarifying with an egg white raft is an advanced rescue technique. Skimming fat once chilled also helps.
Prevention: Maintain a bare, lazy simmer rather than a rolling boil, and skim the surface early on.
Bland or watery soup
Cause: Insufficient salt to bring out the savory chicken flavor, or too high a ratio of water to chicken.
Fix: Add kosher salt a pinch at a time, tasting after each addition until the savory flavor blossoms.
Prevention: Use the correct ratio of ingredients and season incrementally at the end of cooking.
Cultural Context
Often affectionately referred to as Jewish penicillin, chicken soup has been prized for generations not just for its rich, savory flavor but for its restorative properties. Almost every global culinary tradition features a foundational chicken broth used to nourish, comfort, and heal.
