Grandma MOE’s Homemade Chicken Soup

Whenever my boys are feeling a little under the weather, I turn to my mother’s chicken soup recipe. It is a tried and true comfort food that helps boast our immune system, our hydration and digestion, because it is packed with good ingredients. After my mother passed away, I wasn’t sure I would ever make her famous recipe again, but I am extending her love by making it for my boys and my husband. Like many family recipes, this one has been placed in the family recipe box, and never shared to the public. But times are tough right now, and everyone could use some extra comfort. I know if my mama was alive, she would be sharing it with the world, and so, that is what I am doing now.

Labour of Love

Chicken soup is a simple recipe, but it requires many steps when making it the old-fashioned way. To make this recipe like my mama taught me, you need time, patience and love. While the soup only needs to simmer for about an hour, the steps to prepare take a bit of time, and the final step takes the most patience. It’s a great recipe to have going while you know you will be home all day, so you can take your time and enjoy the process.

What you will need:

• 6-8 chicken wings
• 1 potato
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 celery
• Fresh or dry parsley
• 1 tspn of salt
• Canned tomatoes or tomato sauce (the secret ingredient!)

It doesn’t matter if you have ugly veggies or pieces of leftovers, in the soup will be delicious!

Skimming the top removes some fat and makes the soup clearer.

Steps:

• Cook chicken wings in a pot of boiling water and skim the top
• Dice all the vegetables (to the size of your liking) and add to the pot
• Add salt and parsley
• Take some juice and 2 tomatoes from the can, cut the tomatoes and add in (if you use a bottle of tomato sauce, it is approximately ¼ of the bottle)

This is what it will look like to start. But in an hour it will be beautifully combined and delicious.

• Let simmer on low/medium for about an hour.
• You will know when it is ready by the smell of comfort filling your home and when the chicken begins to separate from the bones.

And there you have it!

Comfort in a bowl, thanks to my mama.

Now, here is the part of this recipe that requires patience. My mother used chicken wings for two reasons; they aren’t too expensive, and they give the most flavour to the soup. But, as you know, chicken wings don’t have a ton of meats and lots of bones. So, to make this recipe kid-friendly, and just nicer to eat, the final step is to take out all the chicken wings and debone them and remove the skin. It takes some time, but the soup is so much more enjoyable without picking around and removing those pieces at the dinner table.

*This recipe serves four people, but it is very easy to double the recipe and make enough for more people or to freeze for later.

We have been having this meal on rotate every week now, because it is real comfort food and really good for you. My boys help me prepare it, so it becomes a family project. One of my sons asked me while we were having this meal “so there is no broth in here?” as in, no boxed broth from the store. I explained we made the broth with all the ingredients.

If you have little ones, a great story to read to them before prepping this meal is Stone Soup. Do you remember that story? Where a stone is just the beginning of a soup for a village, and one by one they add to the soup with what they can spare. In the end, all their individual ingredients come together to make a hearty soup for everyone. I see this story as one of love, just like this recipe.

Enjoy, friends!

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