Jewish holiday, Friday night dinner, feeling under the weather or just because – Chicken Soup is always our family favorite! Just like my grandma used to make, this homemade chicken soup recipe,with Matzo Balls and Egg Noodles, is easy enough for even the most cooking challenged!
There are tons of recipes that promise a great soup in half of the time to make it, but be warned, you will trade time for quality. Authentic chicken soup takes some time to make, but the rich and savory taste will make it worth the wait. Don’t be afraid to make chicken soup from scratch – it isn’t as hard as you think and the taste is worlds better than canned soup!
Listen, I am all about short cuts, but not when it impacts the taste. This is simply the best chicken noodle soup you will ever make. You will never eat chicken soup in a can again after you taste the rich and tender chicken broth and oodles of egg noodles, vegetables and matzo balls. Make extra and freeze it! It warms up like a dream!
Nothing cures a cold like a home remedy of a bowl of traditional Jewish chicken soup. My Grandma Lee had the best Jewish penicillin chicken soup recipe. This was a staple on Friday night Shabbat dinners, Rosh Hashanah, Passover or just for a weeknight dinner. She would often make a big Tupperware full of chicken soup and matzo balls for me to take up to school (she wanted to make sure I ate well when I was away!)
How to Make Homemade Chicken Soup
Many people claim a homemade chicken noodle soup recipe, but they use canned or boxed chicken soup in their recipe. Trust me….there IS a difference! If you want that true homemade chicken soup taste, read on!
My sister, Julie, got her famous recipe right from my Grandma Lee over the phone.As most of you know, I am not the cook in the family….. that’s my sister, Julie. So, while I would ask my grandma to make it for me, Julie had the foresight to ask her to teach her how to make it.
She talked her through the whole thing. She never wrote it down, but we did! Below is our best approximation of the basic recipe she taught us.
Everyone likes their chicken soup a bit different. Grandma strained hers so it was clear and then added the pieces of carrots back in. We like a few more bits in it so I don’t strain it. Sometimes we chop up the onions and celery and leave them in as well. We never make it exactly the same twice. We throw in a bit more a bit less, but somehow it always comes out tasting just like it’s supposed to!
How long can you keep homemade chicken soup?
Chicken soup can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Beyond that I would recommend freezing it in either a container or heavy duty freezer bags. Either way, I usually keep the noodles and matzo balls separate and put them in the soup when I am ready to warm it up.
They say that chicken soup helps to clear the nasal passages and it acts as an anti inflammatory which helps with the cold symptoms!
Chicken Soup Recipe
4.78 from 18 votes
Jewish Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
Author — Jennifer Fishkind
Serves — 8
Jewish holiday, Friday night dinner, feeling under the weather or just because – Chicken Soup is always our family favorite! Just like my grandma used to make, this homemade chicken noodle soup,with Matzo Balls and Egg Noodles, is easy enough for even the most cooking challenged!
Place the chicken and the onion in a large stock pot
Fill with cold water
Bring to simmer
Skim fat from the top before adding in remaining ingredients
Add in carrots, celery, dill salt and pepper
Simmer partially covered for at least an hour to an hour and a half
You will know when it is getting close when the chicken begins to fall apart
Cook for another 1/2 hour after that
Remove the chicken, onion, celery and dill from the pot
Add in egg noodles and cook as directed on the package
Remove the chicken from the bone and add it back to the pot if desired
*The secret of the perfect Matzo Ball: Use the packaged stuff. Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix. I have had many a homemade matzoh ball in my day, but the best ones come straight from the box. They have it proportioned perfectly, so I never bother with trying to figure it out myself. Save yourself the aggravation, follow the directions on the box and make the perfect ball!
Chicken soup has been a popular home remedy for the common cold since at least the 12th century. Eating chicken soup while you have a cold will not do you any harm, but it will not cure your cold. Drinking warm liquids, such as soup, may give you relief from your symptoms for a short time.
In this case, however, the lemon provides more of a flavor undertone that enhances other seasonings like thyme, parsley, and turmeric. According to trained chef Leetal Arazi, who spoke with Real Simple, you can bring a "zesty flavor" to your soup simply by adding lemon.
“Studies have shown that a hearty bowl of chicken noodle soup may help clear nasal congestion and ease cold symptoms,” says BIDMC clinical dietitian Sandy Allonen, RD. “It's all about the ingredients.”
Go green: Add some spinach or chopped kale or pesto. Get zesty: A squirt of lemon juice or zest could brighten up an otherwise flat soup. Starchy things: Homemade croutons, crushed tortilla chips, or oyster crackers. Clean out the fridge: got cooked beans or rice, a dollop of sour cream, or a splash of heavy cream?
Chicken is especially rich in a compound called carnosine, and it's this that studies suggest helps reduce that stuffy, congested feeling in your nose and throat. It's thought that carnosine minimises inflammation in the upper respiratory tract by stopping the migration of white blood cells.
It may sound a bit strange and unusual for some, but vinegar is a common ingredient in some soup recipes, and there is a good reason for it. If you think about it, vinegar is really a flavor-enhancer (umami). That's why it is so often used in cooking, sauces, and salad dressings.
For clear, brothy soups, stock is your most important ingredient. If you want to make a good soup, you need to use an excellently flavored stock — otherwise, the entire pot could be tasteless.
"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says. The choice of ingredient depends on the recipe, though.
Bone broth serves as a great way to replenish the fluids that you're losing, while also providing your body with valuable electrolytes from the sodium in the broth. These electrolytes will also help you absorb the water more easily.
The bottom line. Think of chicken soup as supportive care—meaning it's one thing you do to make you feel a bit better while your body fights the virus—not a cure for it. As the CHEST study notes, potential antiviral benefits vary widely between brands, says Parikh.
The best chicken soup recipes are chock-full of veggies like carrots, celery and onions — all of which are rich in vitamins C and K, not to mention other antioxidants and minerals. Vitamin C is a nutrient your body needs to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and collagen in your bones.
For a deeply flavorful chicken soup, get some boneless, skinless chicken thighs, season them, brown them in a skillet, then finish them in a 375 F oven. You can refrigerate them until you're ready to make the soup, then simply dice them up and add them to the soup at the very end.
Add Acid. Arazi likes adding a touch of preserved lemon paste to her chicken noodle soup, which she says adds “zesty flavor” as well as a punch of umami. Alternatively, just squeeze some lemon juice into your soup, which will brighten everything up and round out the flavors.
When chicken cooks in soup, an amino acid called cysteine is released.Cysteine thins mucus in the lungs, aiding in chest decongestion and faster healing. Chicken also provides a great source of protein that is particularly helpful to muscles when your body feels weakened and drained during illness.
“In particular, chicken is an excellent source of the amino acid cysteine, which has been shown to help thin mucus and help you manage cold and flu symptoms.” The broth that serves as the base of chicken soup can also provide fluids and electrolytes that help the body fight off infections, Collier noted.
Chicken contains an amino acid cysteine which has been shown to reduce and break up mucous congestion in the lungs. Garlic- Garlic is a must in a chicken soup as nature's best natural antibiotic and antibacterial agent to help your body fight infection and get better quickly.
Chicken broth is highly nutritious and healing. In fact, the health benefits are so extensive that it can be used medicinally. People traditionally used the broth for various digestive issues and chronic or acute illness recovery. The broth has a rich flavor profile that finds its use in many traditional cuisines.
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Introduction: My name is Amb. Frankie Simonis, I am a hilarious, enchanting, energetic, cooperative, innocent, cute, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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