Chicken Soup Polish Recipe

Polish Chicken Soup is my all-time favourite soup recipe for cold, wet winter afternoons.  I grew up eating chicken soup which my grandma made from scratch, she would choose and kill one of our chickens, then I always loved helping her pluck the feathers and I would watch wide-eyed as she gutted the chicken. Life in the 50's was simple! My grandparents grew their own vegetables, fruits and chickens for eggs, they had rabbits for eating as well as pigeons. For me growing up in this environment was magical!

Chicken Soup recipe has been handed down from generation to generation and even though it is a simple recipe for me it is the best tasting and most satisfying soup. My grandma would make the noodles for this soup, and my sister and I were always there to help spread the noodles and sneak a few raw noodles and eat them. They were sooooo tasty! (I don't make the noodles, just buy fresh egg noodles (pasta) from the deli).

May you enjoy it as much as I do !

CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 x brown onions
3-4 x carrots
2 x parsnips
2 x sticks celery or some celeriac
handful of sliced or whole dried mushrooms (optional)
1/4 green cabbage (optional)
1-3 cloves garlic
1 x bay leaf
10 x black peppercorns
Sea salt
Dash of olive oil
2-3 organic chicken stock cubes
Fresh or dried Parsley
Fresh or dried Dill
Whole large chicken or chicken pieces eg. 4-6 chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks

METHOD

Into a 4-5 litre stock pot, add a dash of olive oil, add the onions cut in half cut side down. Brown the onion - this adds some flavour to the soup. Add peeled carrots and parsnips cut in half. Cut the celery sticks into 5in pieces and add to the pot. Place the lid on and saute for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces or if using a whole chicken cut it up into pieces leaving the carcass intact. Add enough cold water to cover all the ingredients. Add the garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, a pinch of sea salt, stock cubes, parsley and dill. Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat.

Allow the soup to bubble away slowly for approx 1.5 - 2hrs. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve with best egg tagliatelli or make your own homemade noodles. Sprinkle some fresh cut dill before you serve.

In our house, we don't have starters so this Chicken Soup is served as the main course. We serve the soup in a large soup bowl with the noodles, a piece of chicken, vegetables from the soup - carrot, parsnip, mushroom, onion and cabbage. 

Please note: Although you can make this soup without the dried mushrooms and cabbage, they do add a subtle background flavour which rounds off the chicken soup flavours deliciously.

Did you know that Polish Chicken Soup is not only delicious and filling but also "the best remedy" for first stages of a cold or flu? We have always made chicken soup when anyone in the family is coming down with a cold or is feeling a bit under the weather. It is guaranteed to make you feel much better!

SMACZNEGO!