A delicious and warm bowl of soup is a pure event of joy, not only when it starts to get colder outside. I definitely love soup and I have it at least once a week. One of my personal favourites is chicken soup. That’s why today I want to share with you my recipe for a yummy shredded chicken soup.
When it comes down to soups you distinguish between clear and thick soups. Thick soups can be classified further and the line between a thick soup and a stew can be blurry. Nevertheless, as a rule of thumb, you can say that a soup has more liquid than any given stew (I love stews, too!). My shredded chicken soup will be on the clearer side with plenty of vegetables and chicken in the broth. My soups often tend to look a little like very liquid stews, but that is okay.
Soups are very underrated in my opinion. As I like to talk about cooking and food the topic of my “slight” addiction to soups pops up on a regular basis in conversations. In too many cases people tend to react confused as they don’t see soups as a proper main dish. I can understand their point. Often people only have soup as a starter.
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Those soups tend to be light, like a consommé. It is obvious that even in a large quantity you wouldn’t feel very satisfied with them as a main course. A perfect counter-example to demonstrate that a soup can easily be the main dish is ramen. Ramen is my favourite (read more, even more) kind of soup (this will be discussed in detail another time). They have everything a dish needs in them. They are tasty and won’t let you leave starving.
As I don’t have a freezer the option to prepare huge quantities and freeze them away for another day is not for me. While I was still living with my parents this was a habit and doesn’t take much more time in preparation. The reward will be a quick dinner or lunch (Make a bento out of it and bring it to work!). You should avoid adding any kind of pasta to the soup when freezing it, though. Should you plan to have pasta with it, prepare the pasta separately. This way you won’t face any problems with your pasta and it will be al dente.
I prefer homemade frozen soups much more than their cousins: canned and dried soups. They obviously have their legitimacy. The main problem I have with them is that they are packed with food additives more often than not. You recognize food additives by looking for the “E numbers” if you live in Europe or at numbers in general, in case you live outside of Europe. Those additives are either used to preserve flavour or enhance either taste or appearance. I don’t think we need any unnecessary additives in our food, especially in cases where we can easily prepare them ourselves. For the sake of clarity: vinegar, salt, etc. are technically additives, too, as they preserve food. I don’t see any harm in this technique, but I personally try to avoid additives which are artificial in origin. As with everything: consume in moderation.
In case you haven’t noticed, this recipe is without any carbohydrates as macronutrients. A few of the ingredients contain of course a few carbs, but overall the dish is considered “low-carb”, and fits perfectly in my low-carb diet.
Whenever I serve soup (other than ramen) or stew I prefer smaller bowls instead of a traditional western soup plate. In my opinion, it looks much prettier and you can be more creative with plating. Once I’m done with it I often add some decorations on top. Those decorations are not only for the eye, but intent to enhance the taste. Fresh spring onions or herbs are a great addition. As are roasted nuts or seed mixes. Give it a try and let me know what you think of my shredded chicken soup! I’m looking forward to your feedback.
- 2 onions
- 150 gramms brown mushrooms
- 1 sweetheart cabbage
- 500 gramms greens
- 100 gramms broccoli
- 400 gramms chicken bones
- 500 gramms chicken breasts
- fresh chili (to taste)
- 50 ml cider vinegar
- water
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
- Clean all the vegetables and the chicken.
- Cut the vegetables in small chunks, roughly the size of a thumb nail, the cabbage in thin stripes.
- Heat up a big pot and then add some olive oil. Add the onions and the chicken bones.
- Once everything slowly starts to get a sear add the greens and the cabbage and cook for +/- 3 minutes.
- Now deglaze the pot using the cidear vinegar and stir until you receive a small reduction of all the juices.
- Add the chicken breasts. Next you fill the pot with water, season it and let it cook on medium-high heat.
- After around 25 minutes (depends on the size of the breast) the chicken is ready to be shredded. Take them out of the pot and pull it apart.
- Meanwhile you can add the mushrooms and the chilis. Let it cook for another 5 minutes and add the shredded chicken to the pot.
- Enjoy!
Depending of the quality of the chicken bones and the exact vegetables used, I recommend to taste the broth regularly and adjust the seasoning. It might be that the ingredients "eat up" all the salt or that the bones add more or less flavour. This way you won't over- or underseason the soup.
You can add some chopped fresh chili and a few nuts or seeds on top of the soup to make it taste even better.
This sounds like a treat! I ought to try and see how it turns out 🙂
You should definitely give it a try. Let me know how it turned out for you! It is very easy to make and the soup really warms you up 😀