Granny’s Chicken Soup

My Granny with my parents ~ Lifeofjoy.meMy dad’s mom was Slovak. When I was little we lived in Ohio and she and Grandpa lived in Virginia. We would take turns spending Thanksgiving at their house and my mom’s parents’ house in Ohio; then we would spend Christmas at with the other grandparents.

I don’t remember many of the meals Granny fixed but I remember her chicken soup. She served it in courses. First she would bring out the cooked vegetables: potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. Of these veggies each person selected the ones they wanted and the quantities they wanted and mashed them in their soup bowl. She would then take your bowl to the kitchen, add very fine cooked egg noodles, and the broth and return it to you. (I only ever remember anyone taking the potatoes and carrots. ;) )

After everyone finished their soup, Granny would bring out the next course. All I remember is the chicken and applesauce. There may have been bread and butter too but I don’t remember it.

On cold winter days and when breaking a longer fast, I like to make this soup. Because of the way Granny served this meal, I don’t eat chicken in my soup, I eat it on the side as I near the end of my bowl. Mike and Tiffany, on the other hand, like to add the chicken to their soup.

One might think that I would also serve the applesauce with it but Granny’s applesauce was homemade and chunky, very different from what I purchase so it still wouldn’t be the same. I remember loving her applesauce. It was chunky and sweet and cinnamony. I suspect that I will try my hand at it in the future because we are planting apple trees this year.

Well, I digress . . . today I share Granny’s wonderful chicken soup recipe. Well, recipe may be overstating it. This is another of those some of this and some of that recipes. ;) But the ingredients are very simple.

Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meThese are not the right noodles but I no longer have access to the right noodles. This is angel hair pasta broken up, which is no where as good as fine egg noodles since this pasta is eggless but we make do.

Without further adieu, here are the directions to make a really yummy chicken soup.

Scrub carrots, wash celery, and peel potatoes and onion.

Cut the carrots into chunks. I cut them into chunks that will cook in about the same time, so the tips of the carrot are larger chunks than the end near the top.

Carrots ~ Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Chop the potatoes into chunks a bit larger than the carrots. I have found that they cook faster than the carrots.

Potatoes ~ Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Cut an onion in half and the celery into about thirds.

Onion and Celery ~ Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me Place all of these veggies in a large pot with a whole chicken. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a low boil/simmer, depending on how much water you used, and cook until the chicken is cooked through. This takes about an hour to an hour and a half.

I used way too much water the last time I made this and had to cook it longer in order to get the broth rich enough. Also, Mike turned the heat down and so it took longer for my chicken to get done.

When the chicken is nearly done, you want to cook your noodles in a separate pot. I like to use some broth or boil the neck and innards, remove them and use that broth for the noodles.

When the chicken is done, remove it from the pot, I put it on a rimmed cookie sheet, and remove the meat from the bones. I then remove the onion and celery and toss those because I only include them for flavor.

Fish out the potatoes and carrots and place in a serving bowl, so each person can get what they want.

Mash the veggies in your bowl to your desired consistency.

Mashing Veggies ~ Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Then carefully add some noodles and ladle in some broth and CAREFULLY carry it back to the table and enjoy. OH! You’ll need salt! This is one dish I don’t salt as I cook it. I add salt on top of my veggie before I add the noodles and broth.

Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Mike and the kids add the chicken to their soup.

Chicken added ~ Granny's Chicken Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Granny’s Chicken Soup

Ingredients

  • Whole Chicken
  • About 4 pounds of potatoes
  • About 1 pound of carrots
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 yellow onion
  • Extra fine egg noodles or angle hair pasta

Instructions

  1. Ensure the chicken is thawed. Remove the innards and rinse it out. Place in the pot.
  2. Scrub carrots and cut in chunks. Add to the pot.
  3. Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Add to the pot.
  4. Wash celery stalks and cut into thirds. Add to the pot.
  5. Peel a med-large yellow onion. Cut in half and add to the pot.
  6. Cover with water, a couple of inches above the chicken.
  7. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a low boil or high simmer.
  8. Cook until chicken is cooked through, 1-2 hours.
  9. Cook innards in water, then remove innards and cook noodles in the broth or just use water.
  10. Remove chicken from pot and remove the meat from the skin and bones.
  11. Discard onions and celery, if you don't care to eat them.
  12. To serve:
  13. Put the desired number of cooked potato and carrot chunks in your bowl. Mash with a fork. Add some noodles and then the broth. Add salt and pepper as desired and enjoy.
https://lifeofjoy.me/grannys-chicken-soup/

I hope you’ll enjoy this easy and economical soup!

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

One thought on “Granny’s Chicken Soup

  1. I usually use thighs and legs , since that is what dad prefers, so I just take a thigh and put that in a pan for the noodles——for those who just get parts instead of the whole chicken. Also, keep a carton of 100% chicken stock in ur cabinet so that if u have too much water u can just get more chicken flavor through that. It’s a quick fix.

    Luv u, Mom

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