Homemade Chicken Soup
This recipe for Homemade Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls AKA Jewish Penicillin will hit the spot and maybe even cure what ails you! Does a cold, flu, or other illness have you down? Or are you just craving chicken soup?
If you’re under the weather, make a batch of the Best Chicken Soup Recipe I’ve ever tasted. And it just might alleviate some of your congestion and other symptoms. At the very least, it tastes amazing!
Why You Must Make
- This is the BEST chicken soup, Jewish penicillin, or whatever you’d like to call it. I’ve always shied away from parsnips, and dill is not my favorite herb, but they both add layers of flavor to this delicious Chicken-Vegetable Soup.
- The only homemade chicken soup I remember from my childhood was matzo ball soup, which may seem unusual for our Catholic family. My sisters and I adored it.
We had Jewish neighbors down the street, and I imagine my mom’s version came from her friend, Hanna. Even growing up in a small college town in the Midwest, my mom collected recipes from her friends of all ethnicities, Julia Child on PBS, and her treasured cookbook collection, including the New York Times Cookbook (affiliate link).
I’ve added matzo balls or orzo, a small rice-shaped pasta, in the past, but any noodle or dumpling would be nice in this flavorful chicken stock. This Jewish chicken soup is perfect if you’re under the weather or simply want something to warm you to the core on a chilly evening. I’ve shared this recipe with numerous friends, and every single one swears this is the best chicken soup recipe they’ve ever tasted.
How Do You Make Chicken Soup From Scratch?
- PRO-Tip: The process for making this Chicken Soup, AKA Jewish Penicillin, starts with placing a whole chicken in a large pot. This won’t work best with boneless, skinless chicken breasts; you need the bones for an unequivocal success in the flavor department. The bones have high amounts of collagen, plus marrow and cartilage. These break down into gelatin as the soup cooks, “Giving the liquid a rich, luxurious mouth feel along with releasing essential amino acids and savory flavors.”
- If you’d rather use bone-in chicken pieces, make sure to include both dark meat and white meat, as the dark meat is more flavorful. Cover the chicken with water.
- Large chunks of vegetables are added along with herbs, and the simmering process begins. The long cooking time helps reduce the liquid via evaporation, which concentrates the flavors, plus it allows more flavors to be extracted from the chicken and bones.
- PRO-Tip: Make sure to occasionally skim off any foam, which comes from impurities, and will make the broth cloudy if not removed.
- PRO-Tip: I add about a tablespoon of kosher salt to start (it takes a lot of liquid to cover the chicken!), but after an hour or so, taste and add a bit more if needed.
- After waiting patiently for 3 hours, you’ll be clamoring for a bowl of this fragrant broth, but make sure to add back some chunks of carrots and the shredded chicken.
- I also like to slice up some celery and add it towards the end of the cooking time for some additional vegetables.
- PRO-Tip: Loading this soup up with matzoh balls makes for a most gratifying meal, but pasta is a delightful alternative. I like using small pasta like orzo.
- The small pasta can be cooked right in the soup pot, but when I make matzo balls, I cook them separately in salted water or a box of chicken broth, so they don’t absorb too much of the soup. I hope you’ll give this recipe a shot!
Health Benefits of Chicken Soup
Have you ever wondered why chicken soup is constantly recommended when you’re feeling under the weather? Or why Homemade Chicken Soup is often referred to as Jewish Penicillin? Well, there are a few reasons why a good, homemade (or even canned) chicken soup can relieve your upper respiratory infection symptoms. There are quite a few health benefits!
- Fluids help reduce congestion, though this is not limited to chicken soup.
- The steam of a hot liquid can also help soothe the throat and open the nasal passages.
- A 2000 study by The American College of Chest Physicians showed that chicken soup can help reduce upper respiratory inflammation, although it does not kill the viruses causing the illness. It actually inhibits the movement of white cells to the inflamed areas, which helps prevent further congestion.
- A Huffington Post article cites the TLC factor, meaning when someone cares enough to provide comfort through a bowl of soup, it can actually help you feel better. It’s not the same as the placebo effect.
- Often referred to as “Jewish” penicillin since chicken soup is a traditional food in Ashkenazi Jewish culture and part of the Passover meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Matzo Balls are Ashkenazi Jewish dumplings made from matzo meal, eggs, fat, water or broth, and salt. They are typically served in homemade chicken soup and a traditional Passover dish. I usually add some minced parsley to give the matzo balls some color, but forgot this time!
If you’d rather add noodles or rice to your chicken soup, they’d be a delicious alternative!!!
If your chicken soup is bland, it may need more salt. That’s why it’s important to taste it along the way and adjust the seasonings. PRO-Tip: You can always add more salt, but you cannot remove any excess.
Other ingredients you might consider include herbs, garlic, peppercorns, chicken bones, along with more unusual vegetables like parsnips.
Note: Do not taste the broth until the chicken has simmered for over an hour to avoid the chance of a foodborne illness like salmonella.
Here is a recipe adapted from The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York by Claudia Roden (affiliate link).
2 eggs, separated
½ cup matzo meal
1 teaspoon salt
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the lightly beaten yolks, the matzo meal, and salt until well blended. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In a pot of well-salted boiling water, roll the dough into ¾-inch (2-cm) balls and simmer in the water for 20 minutes. Lift from the water with a slotted spoon and keep warm.
More Chicken Soups You’ll Love
I always have a stash of chicken in my freezer, and I appreciate how versatile it is. From this comforting Chicken Jambalaya Soup to this hearty White Chicken Chili, the flavor profiles are endless. I also adore this Chicken Wild Rice Soup, and this French Côte d’Azur Cure-All-Soup has loads of garlic and chicken broth and is touted to cure hangovers! It may have similar powers to this Jewish chicken soup! This flavorful Verde Chicken Soup and Asian Chicken Soup also caught my eye! If you have a pressure cooker, this Instant Pot Chicken Stock is unbelievably good!
Plus, check out all my Best Soup Recipes.
Homemade Chicken Soup
The BEST chicken soup you'll ever make!! My friends will vouch for this!!
Ingredients
- 3-5 pound chicken (you can also use bone-in chicken parts)
- 2 large onions, peeled
- 5 stalks of celery, leaves included, cut in half
- 1 pound carrots, peeled, with ends removed
- 1 parsnip, peeled
- 1 or 2 small zucchini, each cut into 3-4 chunks
- 3 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 bunch of Italian parsley
- 1 bunch of dill
- Kosher salt to taste (start with a scant 1 tablespoon and taste after an hour or two, then re-season if necessary)
- Orzo or other small pasta or homemade matzoh balls
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large pot. Add onions, celery, carrots, parsnip, zucchini, and garlic. Cover all ingredients with cold water...but not too much...just an inch over the veggies.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Skim off any foam.
- Add salt. Lay parsley and dill on top of the soup. Place the lid on the pot, but leave it off slightly to allow steam to escape.
- Continue simmering for 3 more hours, skimming the foam from time to time.
- Remove chicken and veggies from the broth. Strain the broth through a sieve.
- Slice carrots and add to broth. Remove the chicken meat from the bones and tear it into bite-sized pieces. Add back to the broth.
- Add cooked orzo or another pasta, matzoh balls, or dumplings. Garnish with parsley to serve.
Notes
So that the pasta or matzo balls don't soak up all the chicken soup, cook them separately in salted water (or boxed broth), then add to the soup to serve.
Adapted from How to Cook a Wolf Blog
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 749Total Fat: 38gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 266mgSodium: 333mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 72g
Lambeau checking out this Homemade Chicken Soup in November 2010 when this recipe was first shared. Photos and text were updated in 2020.
22 Comments on “Homemade Chicken Soup”
A classic must-have recipe for the home cook! Just a simple rustic recipe to which you can adjust the seasonings as you desire (I added fresh sage). Just be careful at the end when removing the carcass from the broth…mine was so tender that it started to fall apart…the giblets etc. almost fell into broth.