Ultimate Flu-Busting Chicken Soup

Tweeky's Note:

This chicken soup is good for your soul and your health. Made from scratch, it's packed with ingredients to boost your immune system and ward off the illness. What it's not packed with is fat and empty calories. Reasearchers at the University of Nebraska found that homemade Chicken soup really does make you feel better when your sick. It reduces congestion and inflammation by limiting the movement of white blood cells that produce infection-related mucus. The result? Fewer sniffles. This version also harnesses the healthy power of tomatoes, potatoes, and garlic. Published in our local paper.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 cups

• 3 chicken breasts (skin on and bone in, about 2 lbs.)
• 2 stalks celery, cut in half
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 medium yellow onion, cut in half
• 2 cups baby carrots, cut in half
• 1 sprig fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (about 4 Tsps.)
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano leaves
• 1 1/2 lbs red potatoes or 1 1/2 lbs purple potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 2 cups)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Put chicken, celery, 2 cloves garlic, 1 cup carrots, the oregano sprig and half the onion into a large pot. Fill pot with cold water, 2 inches above ingredients; put over high heat. When water boils, cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer 1 hour.
2. Set aside chicken to cool and discard all veggies and herbs. Strain broth into a large bowl, skim fat from top, and set aside.
3. Put oil, jalapeno, the chopped oregano leaves, 2 remaining garlic cloves (minced) and the remaining half onion (chopped) into a large pot. Cook at medium heat until vegetables are just soft, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to high; add broth, potatoes and remaining carrots. When broth boils, reduce heat to medium. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Remove skin and bones from chicken. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken, tomatoes, salt and pepper to soup. Cook until warm.

Reviews

[Resilient]

Healing, Delicious, and Easy! I love this soup so much that I make it about twice a month with enough leftovers to last two people for a week! I have made it with and without jalapeno pepper and have noticed no difference. I use 8 whole chicken legs with the skin cut off (because when I don't cut off the skin the broth congeals in the fridge) and find the meat to be more juicy than straight breasts. I had made it without potatoes or tomatoes a few times, but I found that they are critical to the flavor of the soup. My secret for making this taste absolutely amazing is to cook the fresh onion/fresh garlic/oregano/jalapeno mixture on very high heat, stirring frequently until the bottom of the soup pan has a dark golden brown coating. It gives the broth a rich dark color and a fantastic flavor! I eat this soup all of the time, but especially when my stomach/intestines are feeling inflamed and when I am fighting a cold or flu. It makes a huge difference in how well I feel!

[Seeprats]

Great recipe!!! Tried it when DH got hit by some nasty flu bug. He had a giant smile on his face after a big bowl of piping hot soup.

I did make a few changes though...I used 10 pieces of chicken drumsticks(without skins) and upped the # of garlic cloves to 7 (3 to make the broth and 4 in the soup itself), and used only 2tomatoes. It was bursting was flavor thanks to all the fresh ingredients (oregano, onions, potatoes, etc etc.....using fresh ingredients makes a HUGE difference!!!)

Thank you so much Tweeky!!! :)

[Katanashrp]

I love that this soup was made from scratch, just like my Mom used to make for me, but I must admit that it was lacking flavor. It did reduce my congestion, and after adding some Maggi, and Vegeta seasonings the flavor improved tremendously. Thank you for helping me fight my cold in a natural and healthy way. :-)