Easy Cooking: Chicken Soup for Someone You Love
I threw this chicken soup together two years ago for a friend with pneumonia. My physician father always says chicken soup has verifiable medical benefits. My wife, who I met five years ago to the day I started writing this, appreciated that I made her chicken soup when she got sick early in our relationship. Make this soup for someone you love or care about who is stuck home sick. We could all use an extra boost, especially during the isolation of the pandemic.
The recipe is the first I really wrote down, mostly because it turned out so well, even though there is no much special about it. My better half suggested an important tweak, cooking the onion some before browning the chicken. The rosemary is not strictly necessary — dried thyme leaves work fine — but adds a lot. The Costco rosemary plant we bought in 2020 has proved extremely hardy, despite my overwatering.
One thing I need to mention, I made a kind of demi-glace from my failed gravy for this Instant Pot whole chicken recipe (which I tried with less butter), skimming the fat then freezing in cubes. Two or three demi-glace cubes do wonders for chicken soup and other suitable dishes.
Most measurements are approximate and this recipe is easily modified. I made it with an Instant Pot in about an hour flat if memory serves, but am also including instructions for a large pot on a stovetop.
Ingredients
- Olive oil (extra virgin a plus)
- ~1.5 pounds chicken thighs or one standard package (boneless/skinless easiest)
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of garlic-ginger paste (buy a jar at Indian grocery, then refrigerate it for months!) OR 2 to 3 cloves of garlic minced
- Kosher or sea salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 5 large carrots, peeled, rinsed, and evenly chopped (halve thick ends)
- 16 ounces of chicken broth or stock (half of a quart-sized carton; low-sodium not recommended)
- Other chopped vegetables as desired (we had extra snow peas and celery; kernel corn works too)
- ½ pound egg noodles
- 2–3 frozen cubes of demi-glace, if you have them
Suggested ground spices in decreasing order of amount:
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary (which made a big difference!)
- Turmeric
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Thyme
- Smoked paprika (or regular, as noted I do not know the difference)
- Coriander (may not have made a difference, ours was stale)
- Red chili powder to taste
Preparation
- Cover bottom of a large pot on a stovetop or Instant Pot with olive oil. Select low sauté setting for Instant Pot or medium heat if using stove.
- Add diced onion and salt to draw out water. Mix everything.
- Add raw chicken then season with salt and fresh ground black pepper; allow chicken to sear. No worries if it sticks or does not brown a lot.
- Add garlic and ginger paste or minced fresh garlic; move chicken around. It may naturally start to pull apart.
- Add fresh herbs and other spices as desired including more black pepper.
- Separately start heating one pot of generously salted water to boil egg noodles. Pasta should cook for only two or three minutes; remove while still a bit undercooked so pasta finishes in soup. Delay this step if using a conventional stovetop, about half an hour before simmering is done. When egg noodles are done cooking, drain, set aside, but do not rinse. If desired add some pasta cooking water to soup before draining.
- Add carrots and other chopped vegetables to chicken as desired. Mix.
- When chicken is starting to cook through, split apart with spatula or large spoon into bite-sized chunks.
- When chicken is sautéed to your satisfaction, add roughly half a carton of chicken stock.
- Cover rest of ingredients with water, up to the ten-cup line on the Instant Pot liner. Add demi-glace cubes if you have them.
- Seal Instant Pot and set to cook at high pressure for twelve minutes (or between ten and fifteen depending on how soft you want chicken). Perform quick release when cooking cycle is done. If using stovetop, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for at least one hour, ideally two or three.
- Remove any fresh herb stems, stir in pasta, allow to cool so pasta finishes cooking, then serve.
We likely have another five or six months of quarantine ahead of us in the U.S., or longer if you live in Europe or elsewhere outside of East Asia, Australia, or New Zealand. We really need to stick together during this time. Maybe you know someone who lost a loved one to COVID-19. I hope you make this soup for others in your community, bringing it closer together.
