Introduction: Healthy No Waste Chicken Soup

About: I am a graduated furniture maker from the Netherlands.

In this instructable I am going to show you how to make yourself a healthy 'no waste' chicken soup

Gather all the required ingredients:

  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Canned peeled tomatoes
  • Parsnip
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Celery leaves
  • Bone in Chicken

and of course basic seasonings like salt, pepper, seasoning cube and olive oil

Step 1: Roast the Chicken

Start with roasting the chicken in the oven at 220 Celsius (425 Fahrenheit). Glaze the baking tray with some olive oil and roast the chicken until it's nice and brown. However, make sure to undercook it a bit since we will be putting the chicken in the soup to cook it further. Get your chicken out of the oven and put it aside.

Step 2: Prepare the Vegetables

Peel and cut all the ingredients according to your preference. As for me, I like to cut my vegetables into big bite sizes. If you want to dice it like the French do then go ahead. But be careful not too overcook it.

Don't throw away any of the peels or skin from the vegetables. This is what you're going to need to make yourself a broth.

Step 3: Making the Broth

To make the broth that we have to put the peels in a pan and fill it up with water. Let it simmer for as long as possible. The longer it simmers the more flavorful it is. We will add this 'water' to the soup later.

Step 4: The Base

Now we are going to make the base of the soup. Get yourself a pot and put some oil in it.

When the oil is hot enough, add the onions, and shortly after the garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic since garlic tends to burn easily.

Next, add the other vegetables and fry for about 2-3 min. Now add the canned tomatoes. If you like tomatoes, like me you can add the whole can but if you don't then add just one tomato or two. But remember, you really need that earthy flavor. Steer for another 2-3 minutes.

Now it's time to add the broth you made. But before that, put some water in it if necessary till you have half a liter of broth. I like to add a seasoning cube to the soup now.

Step 5: Adding the Chicken and All the Flavors

Put the chicken in and let the soup simmer for like 30 minutes.

Now you have some time to do the dishes but look at all the flavors stuck on the baking tray. Get a wooden spatula, add some water to soften it up and scrape all the brown bits from the tray and then, add this to your soup.

Step 6: Finishing Up

After it has simmered for half an hour, get all the chicken out and let it cool down. When it has cooled down, you can use your hands or a fork to pull the chicken apart. When this is done, put the chicken back into the soup and heat it up again. This should only take like 2 minutes (don't cook it)

Don't throw away the chicken bones but put them in the same pot as the vegetable peels and let this simmer for the rest of the evening. After this you can sieve it and save this wonderful stock for later.

Get yourself a bowl and enjoy your healthy chicken soup.

You might have a lot of soup left after you've had your meal. Simply get yourself some containers and serve the soup in portions. These can be frozen for up to one month.

I hope you guys like this chicken soup as much as I do. Please let me know if you tried it and what you thought of it.

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