Do you have a recipe for a great chicken soup?

[XBenedict]

I am currently making chicken stock (for the first time) and I want to make it into a yummy chicken soup - any fab recipes?

[Gales]

I'm not sure it's a "recipe" but this is what I do:

Presumably you're making stock by simmering a roast chicken carcase. So, once done, strain the stock then pick through the bones and add any flakes of meat back to the stock. Take a few minutes doing this and you'll be amazed how much there is, what with the carcase having been picked clean before it went in the stock.

Let the stock cool overnight, then you can remove any fat from the top.

Reheat and add shredded greens, sweetcorn and some dried noodles (5 mins max).

DH and DSs all love this soup. I love it because I get to produce a whole meal with little effort and it's almost free! I like to add a dash of soy sauce, DH prefers it without. It's also good with a little chilli and ginger, but slightly less child friendly.

[sharond101]

I do the boil carcass then remove meat adding it back into stock. I add grated carrots, grated turnip, sliced leeks and some long grain rice and simmer until veg are soft.

[spilttheteaagain]

It's all in the stock.

I am forever grateful to the MNer who said about making stock in her slow cooker overnight, so 12 hours on low. The darkest, richest and most delicious stock I have ever made. I made a lovely stew with it.

But absolutely don't chuck out the fat that solidifies on top of the stock. Use it to fry your stew veg in, along with butter for flavour. Fat is flavour.

This is what I did:
For stock, fry carcass in knob of butter with chopped onion and carrot, generous s&p, L&P, mushroom ketchup, 3 bay leaves, bouquet garni, fresh thyme & rosemary until colouring. Then cover with boiling water and tip into slow cooker. Leave on low overnight, then strain, pick off meat, discard veg.

Use stock for the broth: Cubes/chunks of swede, celeriac, celery, onions, carrots (or other root veg of your choice) fried in butter with s&p, fresh thyme & rosemary until colouring, add half the leeks and cook a bit more. Add chicken stock and bubble til veg almost done, then mix in leftover chicken, rest of the leeks and shredded savoy. Put a lid on and cook for about 5 mins til all done. Stir in some cream, heat through, serve immediately.

It was divine.

[Laquila]

I use this something akin to this recipe:

thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/chicken-and-dumplings/

Technically I guess it's a stew (I also add pearl barley) but if you leave out the dumplings and add more liquid it's basically a soup. Either way, it's pretty simple and sooooo tasty.

[mamaonion]

This is the recipe my German friend gave me, used as a cure-all medicinal comfort food. My kids love it when I make this if they're not well. So something like:

1 pack chicken thighs/drums.
Bulb of fennel
Clove of garlic (whole)
Leek (or 2)
Celery
Carrots
Big handful fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Basically put chicken to pan, add sliced celery, leeks, fennel, cover with water and bring to the boil - simmer for 30 mins or until chicken cooked and comes of bone. Set aside chicken too cool. Add carrots and any other veg you want to add at this point to retain a bit of bite, and herbs. Remove skin and bone, chop up cooked chicken and return to soup.
To make a more Asian style soup I add some pieces of ginger, sweet corn, mange tout and slug of soy sauce.

[MotherOfNations]

My Dc's love lemon chicken soup.
Chicken stock
Carrots
Celery
Chicken (obviously)
Rice(around 4 deserts spoons)
Spring onions
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Parsley or coriander
Toasted almonds to garnish
It doesn't sound like much bit it is gorgeous served with a buttered sesame seed roll.