Easy Chicken Soup Recipe

Making chicken soup really is easy. Many people have a misconception about making chicken soup. They think “oh I can never make chicken soup, it’s too complicated. That’s something for my grandmother to make”. You don’t even have to be Jewish to make good chicken soup. Someone who used to work for me once saw my chicken soup cooking on the stove and she said that it looked so good but that she was never successful at making it. I gave her my easy chicken soup recipe and instructions how to make it and guess what? She called me about a week later and told me that she made the soup exactly how I told her to and that it was delicious. She was so happy and proud of herself. I guess that chicken soup really does have healing powers. It can even heal your self esteem if it tastes good. That incident happened about 8 years ago and anytime that i have seen or spoken to her since then she always tells me that she could never make good chicken soup until I taught her how to and she makes it all of the time since then.
 
It’s a funny thing with chicken soup. I think that the older the person and the longer that they’ve been making it the better it tastes. In my family I have eaten three generations of chicken soup- mine , my mother’s, and my grandmother’s. I remember telling my mother when I was young that her chicken soup was delicious but not as good as grandma’s. When I would tell that to my grandmother she would say that it’s not true and that my mother’s soup was just as good as hers. Then when I started making chicken soup my kids told me that mine was good but not as good as their grandma’s ( my mother’s). Now my kids make chicken soup, because they have their own homes, and they tell me that their soup is good but not as good as mine. But, I have tasted their chicken soup and I told them that it’s just as delicious as mine - just like my grandmother used to tell me.
 
My mother and grandmother always put a lot of vegetables in their chicken soup. You might think when watching them prepare it that it’s really a vegetable soup. My grandmother also used to put lima beans in her soup. It tasted very good and rich but the soup looked cloudy so I don’t put lima beans in. Another yummy option (if you can stomach it) is to put giblets in your soup. Giblets are the stomachs of the chickens. Sounds a bit gross but they taste so good. They are best if you cook them separately for a little while because they can be a bit tough. However, if you cook your chicken soup for a long time (about 3 hours)  then you can leave out that extra step and put them directly in your pot with everything else. After all this is supposed to be an “easy chicken soup recipe”.
 
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. The Easy Chicken Soup Recipe:
For an eight quart pot of soup
1. 4 carrots - the individual thick ones are better than those in a package - peel and cut into three
2. 4 zuchinnis - medium sized - peel and cut into thick slices
3. 1/2 of a leek or 1 medium sized onion - peel and cut in half
4. 1 turnip or 1 kohlrabi - peel and cut into small chunks
5. 4 stalks of celery - cut in halves
6. optional -1/2 of a rudabega (a yellow or waxy turnip) - peel and cut into medium chunks
7. 1 small sweet potato - peel it and leave it whole
Put all of these vegetables into the 8 qt pot and fill it about 2/3 of the way with tap water. Then put in 1 tsp salt and 1 tablespoon of chicken soup bullion mix ( it can be an artificial chicken bullion mix) and mix with a spoon.
Wash off the bones of 3 chickens or  8-10 chicken wings or necks (they can usually be purchased in packages) and put them in the pot. Note: I have found in some grocery stores a package of mesh or net bags called “boil n bags” . I put the chicken parts into one of these bags so that when the chicken soup cooks the chicken pieces and bones don’t fall apart and make the soup messy. But it is not a must. If you can’t find them don’t fret.
Now another optional thing is to put a small bunch of fresh dill on top of the chicken when cooking. When the soup is done you can either eat the dill or dispose of it. It gives the soup a nice flavor.
Now put the cover on the pot about 1/2 way and cook for about 3 hours until the vegetables are nice and soft but not mushy.
Good luck! Yes you can do it. And if you’re lucky enough to have a mother or grandmother who makes chicken soup give her some of yours to taste. I’m sure she will love it.