Easy, DELICIOUS Homemade Chicken Soup Recipe

This soup in the picture above is made with chicken that I smoked on my offset smoker AND I made a chicken stock with those bones. The result was amazing!

This is a 2 for 1 recipe. I will show you how to make a fresh, homemade chicken stock as well as the soup. This is a really delicious recipe that you can easily make at home.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

Meat from 2 whole chickens

15 small gold potatoes

1 shallot

1 to 2 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

• For the stock:

3 garlic cloves

5-6 qts chicken stock

5-6 las chicken bones

1 lb mirepoix

3 stems fresh sage

Small handful black peppercorns

2 whole cloves

Tools needed:

Sharp knife

Cutting board

Large stock pot

Ladle

Mason jars for storage

How to make it:

The following is for making your own chicken stock. The recipe is based off the amount of ingredients I used to make the stock resulting in a perfect ratio of ingredients in the soup.

When I make a chicken stock, I normally go with a simple ratio for the amount of water, chicken and mirepoix that is really bullet proof. This will give you a flavorful, fresh chicken stock every time. It’s easy to remember if you base the weight of the ingredients off the weight of the water. 100 % water, 50 % bones, 10 % mirepoix. If 1 gallon of water weighs about 8.3 lbs, then each qt will weigh roughly 2 lbs. See the following table for what I normally go for. This is a ratio that I learned years ago and I also found the information later on in a text book for when I was in culinary school.

Water 5-6 qt. (this weighs roughly 10-12 lbs)

Bones 5-6 lbs

Mirepoix 1 lb

In the table above, the water weigh is 10 - 12 lbs, 50 % of that is 5-6 lbs. That is the amount of bones needed.

You don’t have to be exact. However, using this ratio will lead you in a good direction.

Clean, peel the carrots and chop the carrots into large rough dice. I don’t like to use the root ends, peelings, paper coverings on the onion/garlic and I don’t like to use the leafy ends on the celery. Your stock will only taste as good as the ingredients you put into it. The root ends and paper coverings I found will make your stock taste like dirt. I want a stock that has a good yet fresh tasting clean flavor.

For the chickens, I seasoned them and smoked them on my offset smoker. I use a temperature range of 225 to 250 F for about 3 to 3-1/2 hours. I use lump charcoal as the heat source and oak wood for smokey flavor. When the chickens are done, I remove the skin as I don’t want the stock getting too salty. The chicken has to get seasoned since it’s getting used in a recipe later on. Add the ingredients for the stock in a tall stock pot and keep below a simmer for about 3-4 hours. I skim the top of the stock as it cooks to get rid of the nasty foamy stuff that develops on the top (impurities). Offsetting the pot slightly on the burner will help the the nasty bits and fat go to one side of the pot making it easier to skim. I recommend not simmering the stock so that the fat doesn’t emulsify into the stock, clouding the stock. Keep it on a temperature that is low enough to keep it below the point of a simmer, but still hot.

After the stock is done cooking, I use a ladle to get the stock out of the pot. I do this so that I don’t cloud the stock and avoid getting any undesirable bits in the stock.

If you don’t have a smoker, you can do the same method with oven baked whole chickens. Typically, I bake the chicken at 400 F for about 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until the temperature of the deepest part of the thigh is 175-180. The breast should temp at 165 F. This is a little higher temperature on the brown meat since it breaks down better when cooked to a higher temperature. For best overall even cooking, I recommend you truss the chicken.

With the chicken being done and you pull off all the meat from the carcass (cool the chicken enough to comfortably handle it), we can now start the prep for the soup.

Cut the ends off the butternut squash, stand upright and cut the rind off. Scrape the seeds out and break the squash down into a rough large dice.

Finely chop the shallot and garlic.

Get a large stock pot, put over medium low heat and add 1 tbsp oil. Add the shallot with a pinch of salt. Sweat the shallot until translucent. Add the garlic and sweat for about 1 minute to cook off the rawness.

Quarter the potatoes.

Add the squash, chicken, potatoes, chicken stock and black pepper to the pot. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for about 30 minutes to thoroughly cook the potatoes and squash.

Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired.

When fully cooked, serve the soup in your favorite bowl with a nice slice of buttered bread. I like to use sourdough.

Portion the soup into mason jars and place into the refrigerator to cool. You want the soup to cool to 40 degrees within 2 hours. Once cooled, keep a tight fitting lid on the jars and eat up the soup within 4 days of it being made.

Enjoy

Logan