How to Make Chicken Soup

When I went hunting for a real-deal homemade chicken soup for the flu, I only found recipe after recipe that called for adding pre-cooked chicken meat to boxed prepared chicken stock. Those recipes are easy and better than canned soup because they involve fresh vegetables but they don’t have the same benefits as chicken soup from scratch offers.

To make the kind of chicken soups that really work as home remedies for colds and flu, you need a few crucial ingredients:

• a whole raw chicken
• a big pot of water
• fresh vegetables
• herbs and spices

This recipe is the best home remedy for cold and flu because it also adds fresh roasted garlic, lemon juice, spicy cayenne pepper to the broth. Garlic, lemon, and spicy seasonings are each known home remedies for cold and flu.

Why THIS Chicken Soup is So Easy

1. One-pot recipe: Add the chicken to the pot first. Then just add all the veggies as you chop them. It will all simmer together in the one pot for 2.5 hours. 
2. Little hands-on time: It only takes about 20 minutes to prep everything for the soup pot. Then it is mostly hands-off till the soup is done.

Roasted Garlic for Soup

The roasted garlic takes a little extra time but it sooooo worth it. Roasted garlic has a sweeter, milder flavor and is perfect for picky kids. 

No one wants to take a bite of soup and crunch down on a big chunk of garlic. When you roast it, the cloves are so soft you can just mash them with a fork. When you stir in the mashed, roasted garlic, it will simply dissolve into the broth leaving behind all the garlic goodness without any of the crunch.

Roasted Garlic Instructions:

1. Chop off the top of a head of garlic. Drizzle it with some olive oil. Wrap it in tin foil or place in a small ceramic container.
2. Roast it at 375 degrees for 35 – 40 minutes or until the cloves are toasted and golden brown.
3. Let the garlic cool enough for you to handle it. Use a fork to pop out each individual clove from the head. Add them to a small bowl and mash them.

The whole process for roasting the garlic maybe adds on 5 minutes of work to your soup.

Homemade Chicken Soup for the Flu

This delicious homemade chicken soup is perfect for fighting the flu. It is filled with all the home remedies you’d need: roasted garlic, lemon, cayenne, and spices to get you feeling better in no time.

YIELD 16 servings

INGREDIENTS  

• 20 whole cloves of garlic peeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 whole raw chicken
• 1 large onion
• 6 carrots
• 3 ribs of celery
• 12 cups of chicken stock
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 4-6 lemons
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp dried mint leaves or leavees from 3 springs fresh mint
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups cooked jasmine rice
• Salt & Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Roast the Garlic

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a small baking dish with a square of tin foil. 
• Slice the top off the head of garlic. Place it into the dish and drizzle the olive oil over the top. Loosely wrap and cover it with the foil. 
• Cover the baking dish and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the garlic is softened and caramelized.
• Remove the garlic cloves with a fork and mash them in a small dish. Set aside.

Cook the Chicken Soup

• While the garlic cooks, rinse the chicken in cold water and place it in a large stockpot. 
• Peel the onion and dice it, add it to the pot. Peel the carrots and dice them into bite-sized pieces, add them to the pot. Rinse the celery and chop it into small chunks, add it to the pot.
• Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and dried mint. (If using fresh mint, wait till the end to add it.) Pour the chicken stock over the veggies, spices, and chicken and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
• While the soup cooks, prepare your rice and reserve.
• Use a pair of large slotted spoons or spatulas to carefully remove the chicken and place it on a plate. The chicken will be so tender, it’s wise to use your slotted spoon to check the pot for any remaining small bones that might have broken away. Remove the bay leaves when you find them.
• Stir in the reserved garlic, lemon juice & zest, and fresh mint if using.
• Remove the chicken skin, shred the chicken meat, and return the chicken meat to the soup pot. 
• Stir in half of the reserved cooked rice.
• If the soup seems too thick, you can add a cup or two of chicken stock or water to help thin it back out.
• Test the seasonings and adjust. The soup should be bright and lemony with a spicy kick from the mint and cayenne.

Storage Tips

• Store any leftover soup and the remaining rice separately. You can add more rice and top it off with more stock to maintain your prefered texture when reheating. If you add all the rice to the pot immediately, the rice will absorb the soup and it will be more like a stew.