Boost your immune system with this Healing Chicken Soup! Made with a feel-good homemade chicken stock and adaptogens, your body will be ready to take on flu season after just 1 bowl.
If you’re stuck at home feeling sick, you need this Healing Chicken Soup in your life! It’s nothing like your everyday chicken noodle soup. Instead, it’s made with healing adaptogens, homemade chicken stock, and plenty of comforting herbs and seasonings. This feel better chicken soup is also freezer-friendly so you can warm up a bowl whenever a cold strikes!
The time spent making your own chicken bone broth is so worth it. Not only does it taste better than the storebought stuff, but you can load it with all kinds of healthy, bacteria-fighting ingredients. Homemade bone broth is a staple in my house because it always makes me feel better.
Chicken broth health benefits
Just like bone broth, homemade chicken bone broth is a direct source of protein, collagen, vitamins, and minerals. It can help:
- Strengthen your immune system and aid in gut health and digestion.
- Sooth an upset stomach.
- Lower stressors in the body and help with recovery.
- Give you your daily dose of vitamins and minerals.
This chicken stock recipe is especially healing because it’s made with adaptogens such as shiitake mushrooms and astragalus. You can eat it by the bowlful or sip on the healing broth to help you feel better!
Click here if you’d like to learn more about the extensive benefits of bone broth.
What are adaptogens?
Adaptogens are plants that help the body restore energy and adapt to stress. They can increase the body’s resistance to physical, emotional, chemical, and environmental stressors and shield against acute and chronic stress. Once you incorporate adaptogens into your diet, you’ll likely feel more stable, harmonious, and rejuvenated.
Chicken soup ingredients
- Whole roasted chicken - This is the base of our chicken stock. A whole chicken is best because the bonier cuts, like chicken legs, feet, and the leftover chicken carcass will yield less chicken meat in the soup. Alternatively, you can use chicken breasts or a combination of other bones and meaty cuts.
- Soup vegetables - All you need are onions, garlic, celery, and carrots.
- Shiitake mushrooms - These can be substituted for any other type or a combination of mushrooms. Consider using adaptogen mushrooms in their place to help the body restore a healthy balance, such as Reishi, Chaga, Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, and Turkey Tail.
- Ginger - Sliced ginger root is good for settling your stomach and strengthening your immune system. It’s also loaded with antioxidants, which can help you fight diseases and viruses.
- Turmeric roots - Turmeric will not only give your broth a warm flavor and vibrant yellow color, but it will infuse its anti-inflammatory properties right into the broth. If all you have is dried turmeric at home, use 1 tablespoon for every inch of turmeric root that is required in the recipe.
- Astragalus roots - Astragalus is an herb used in broth, soups, decoctions, and infusions. It’s very beneficial for your immune system, protects against infection, and is a natural anti-inflammatory. Astragalus roots are optional but highly recommended for their healing properties!
- Herbs and seasonings - A combination of bay leaves, peppercorns, Himalayan salt, rosemary (or thyme), parsley, and lemon give the chicken stock warm and comforting flavors to help you feel better.
How to make healing chicken soup
The secret to any delicious homemade soup is a really good broth. For this recipe, we’re making our own chicken stock before finishing the soup with boiled chicken and vegetables. Yum!
Step 1: Boil the chicken. Place the whole chicken in a large pot and fill it ¾ of the way with water. Bring it up to a boil.
Step 2: Add flavor to the stock. Start adding the vegetables, vegetable scraps, herbs, and seasonings to the pot. Let the stock simmer for about 2 or 3 hours to bring out the herbaceous, healing, and flavorful properties of the homemade chicken stock.
Step 3: De-bone the chicken. Transfer the chicken to a plate and remove the bones, skin, and any other unwanted parts. Try to get as much clean chicken meat off of the bird and back into the soup.
Step 4: Strain the stock. Use a slotted spoon to remove all of the vegetables and scraps from the soup. Pass the stock through a sieve to collect all remaining solids.
Step 5: Finish the chicken soup. Transfer the clean broth back to the pot and add in the clean chicken meat and carrots. Bring it up to a simmer until the carrots are cooked. Flavor with fresh parsley and lemon juice, then enjoy!
Chicken soup add ins
Chicken soup is really flexible, so feel free to add any of these suggestions to make it as substantial as you like:
- Kale
- Spinach
- Sweet potatoes
- Pasta noodles
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Beans
Make ahead and storing
This healing chicken soup recipe can be made 2 or 3 days ahead of time. Just keep the cooked and cooled soup in a sealed container in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
The strained stock can be stored without the chicken meat and vegetables and used for soup later on. To store chicken bone broth, keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
Why is chicken broth healing?
Chicken soup, in particular, is healing because it contains amino acids to help thin mucus in your body as well as protein to give you strength when you’re feeling weak.
Is chicken soup good for a cold?
Yes! The vitamins, minerals, and other healing properties in this adaptogen chicken soup can help strengthen your immune system to fight off a cold or flu.
Can you drink bone broth?
Bone broth can be drunk on its own as a direct source of vitamins, minerals, protein, and collagen. One cup a day should be enough to indulge in all of the delicious benefits.
More feel-good soups to try
Healing Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasted chicken* fresh or leftover
- 1 white onion, quartered
- 4 cloves, garlic whole
- 4 stalks, celery chunks
- 8 carrots** (see notes)
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms halved
- 4 ginger, thick slices about 1 inch each
- 2 turmeric roots, sliced
- 4 bay leaves
- 5 astragalus roots, sliced
- 1 tablespoon peppercorn
- ½ tablespoon Himalayan salt
- 1 bunch dried or fresh rosemary or thyme
- handful fresh parsley
- water
- 1 whole lemon
Instructions
- Add chicken to a large stock pot. Fill about ¾ of the pot with filtered water. Bring to a boil
- Start to add in all the veggies and seasonings, except for the 5 carrots we are reserving for later. Use the peel of the reserved carrots as well as any vegetable scraps you might have in hand. Since all these vegetables will be later on removed from the stock, don't worry about what they look like. Our goal is to build a delicious and healing homemade chicken stock.
- Simmer on medium-low heat for 2-3 hours.
- Transfer chicken to a plate and pick through to remove bones, skins, and unwanted parts. Separate the meat from these unwanted parts as best as you can. The goal is to end up with a decent amount of clean chicken meat to be added back into the soup. Reserve meat.
- Using a slotted spoon remove all the vegetables. Once the solids are mostly removed pass the remaining broth through a sieve to collect all remaining solids.
- Transfer clean broth back to the pot and bring back to a simmer. Add the clean chicken meat and carrot slices. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the carrots are cooked.
- When done, add in fresh parsley and juice from lemon. Stir and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Leave a Reply