Hearty Chicken Soup
If you don’t listen to anything else you hear today, listen to this: make this Hearty Chicken soup ASAP! We recently had a dear friend come and stay with us for a couple of weeks, and luckily for us, she is a fantastic cook! One night, she made this soup for us, and my husband, a soup lover from the get-go, proclaimed it the best soup he’s ever had—very high praise.
Within a week of her departure, Terry was already clamoring for me to make this Hearty Chicken Soup, and lucky for you, his clamor led me to make and share this recipe with you today. It’s one of those soups that tastes like home. It fills your kitchen with a smell so good your family starts hovering around the stove, asking when it will be ready. A crisp salad and a fresh loaf of bread, and you have one of those dinners that fill your soul as much as your tummy.
What makes it special is also what makes it simple. You’re roasting a chicken — which the oven does for you while you prep everything else — and then building a soup around that chicken and every last drop of juice it leaves behind. Those drippings go into the pot, and that’s where the magic lives. No fancy techniques, no special equipment, no hard-to-find ingredients, just good, simple cooking that results in a bowl of soup that tastes like you spent all day on it. (You didn’t, but there’s no reason anyone needs to know that.)
The other secret is the potatoes. Instead of leaving them in chunks, you use a potato masher right in the pot to partially break them down into the broth. They essentially dissolve into the soup, giving it a thick, creamy, hearty body — no cream required.
Table of Contents
A quick note on time: this soup takes about two and a half to three hours from start to finish. The bulk of that time is the chicken roasting in the oven, which requires nothing from you except occasionally enjoying how good your kitchen smells. While the chicken is roasting, you can wash and chop your vegetables and get them sweating on the stovetop, so by the time the chicken comes out, your vegetable base is already done. Once you shred the chicken, you’re really only about 20 to 30 minutes away from dinner.
Tips for Success
- Roast, don’t poach. The roasted chicken is the heart of this soup’s flavor. Poaching would give you a lighter broth-y soup — perfectly fine, but not this soup. The caramelization from the oven and those pan drippings are what give the broth its depth.
- Don’t skip the drippings. Those golden juices left in the roasting pan are concentrated flavor. Scrape up every bit and add them to the pot.
- Mash with purpose. The potato mash is what transforms this from a basic vegetable soup into something hearty and satisfying. You want some potatoes to dissolve almost completely into the broth and some to stay in small chunks. That combination is what gives the soup its signature creamy texture.
- Low and slow on the sweat. Resist the urge to turn up the heat to speed things along. Properly sweated vegetables — soft, sweet, no browning — make a noticeably better base.
- Lemon at the end. Always add the lemon juice right before serving, not while the soup is cooking. Heat diminishes its brightness.
Ingredients and Substitutions in this Hearty Chicken Soup
- Chicken: A rotisserie chicken works in a pinch and saves you time, in a pinch. Just shred the meat and use the carcass and any collected juices. You will lose a bit of depth compared to roasting your own, but it is still a very good soup.
- Leeks: Two medium yellow or white onions can stand in for the leeks. The flavor will be a little sharper and less sweet, but it works well.
- Zucchini: Yellow squash, parsnips, or celery are all good swaps. Celery in particular adds a nice savory note.
- Carrots: Parsnips bring a slightly sweeter, earthier flavor that is lovely in this soup.
- Potatoes: Yukon Golds are ideal because they mash easily and have a naturally buttery flavor. Russets work too and will make the soup a little thicker. Avoid waxy potatoes like red bliss — they hold their shape too well and won’t give you that creamy body.
- Parsley: Fresh dill or fresh thyme at the finish are both delicious alternatives.
- Lemon: A small splash of white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar will give you a similar brightness if you are out of lemons.
Storing and Freezing this Hearty Chicken Soup
This hearty chicken soup keeps well in the refrigerator for four to five days in a sealed container. Like most soups and stews, it actually gets better on day two once everything has had a chance to sit together overnight. If anything, the broth gets a little richer and the flavors deepen, so don’t be shy about making it ahead.
For freezing, let the soup cool completely before transferring it to freezer-safe containers or heavy-duty zip-top bags. I like to freeze it in single-serving portions as well as larger family-sized portions, so I have options depending on what I need. Frozen, it keeps well for up to three months.
Food Storage Favorite
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I’ve been using Souper Cubes Freezer Storage Cubes and Pods for years! We use the 1 cup, 1/2 cup, and two tablespoon trays.
The 1 cup is perfect for lunch portions of soup, chili, and beans.
The 1/2-cup size is great for freezing buttermilk and cream. We also portion out 1/2-cup portions of our seasoned meat for our weekly nachos.
The 2-tablespoon trays are an excellent size for tomato paste and chipotle in adobo.
When you’re ready to eat it, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, then gently reheat it on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. You may find the soup has thickened up quite a bit in the freezer — that’s the potato starch doing its thing — so add a splash of chicken broth or water to loosen it back up to the consistency you like. Wait to add the fresh parsley and lemon juice until after it’s reheated, since those are best fresh.
One thing worth knowing is that this hearty chicken soup freezes better than most potato-based soups because the potatoes are partially mashed into the broth rather than left in chunks. If you’ve been burned before by frozen potato soup that thawed out grainy and watery, this one will be a pleasant surprise. The texture holds up remarkably well, and it tastes just as good coming out of the freezer as it did the day you made it.
Hearty Chicken Soup
Equipment
- Potato Masher
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4-5 pounds whole chicken
- salt and pepper
- 2 leeks, white and pale green parts
- 1 pound zucchini
- ½ pound carrots
- 1½ pounds Yukon Gold or russet potatoes
- 8 cups chicken broth
- fresh parsley half a bunch
- 1 lemon
Instructions
Roast the chicken
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190℃)
- Pat the chicken dry, rub it all over with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 1½ to 2 hours— figure roughly 20 minutes per pound — until a meat thermometer reads 165°F (74℃) in the thickest part of the thigh. Remove from the oven and let it cool enough to handle.
Wash the leeks
- Leeks hide grit between their layers, so they need a proper wash.
- Trim off the dark green tops and the root end, leaving the white and pale green parts.
- Slice them in half lengthwise, then fan the layers open under cold running water, working from the top down so the grit flushes out rather than settling deeper. You can also slice them into half-moons first, then submerge in a bowl of cold water, swish them around, and let the sand sink to the bottom before lifting the leeks out.
Prep the vegetables
- Dice the leeks, zucchini, carrots, and potatoes into roughly 3/4-inch chunks. Keeping everything a similar size means everything cooks evenly.
Sweat the vegetables
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add all the vegetables, stir to coat in the oil, cover the pot, and let them cook low and slow for 15 to 20 minutes
- You are not browning anything here. Sweating draws out the vegetables' natural moisture and sweetness, and gently softens them. Lift the lid to stir every 5 minutes or so, and if anything starts to color, lower your heat. Test the potatoes. When they are soft, remove the pot from the heat.
Shred the chicken
- Pull the meat from the cooked chicken. Discard the skin, but save every bit of juice that collected in the roasting pan — those drippings are liquid gold for this soup. Shred the meat into generous pieces.
Add broth and mash
- Once the potatoes are soft, pour in the 8 cups of chicken broth.
- Use a potato masher right in the pot to mash the vegetables — focus on the potatoes, which will dissolve into the broth and give the soup a thick, creamy body without any cream at all. Leave some texture; you are not going for a puree.
Add the chicken and simmer
- Stir in the shredded chicken and all the reserved roasting juices. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer and let everything come together for about 10 minutes
Finish and serve
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
- Just before serving, stir in a good handful of chopped fresh parsley (about half a bunch) and squeeze in the juice of the 1 lemon. The parsley and lemon brighten the whole bowl and balance the richness of the broth.
Nutrition
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