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Big ol’ Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Well,it’s that time of the year again. The days are shorter, the nights are colder,and winter is right around the corner. When the weather starts to turn cold, Icrave comfort food and my grandmama’s chicken and vegetable soup is my all-timefavorite. It’s thick, hearty, and quite satisfying. I like to make a big pot,freeze it in quart size containers, and eat off of it all winter.

You’ll need a great big stock pot.

I start by cooking the chickens and use the broth as the base of the soup. I boil2 chickens in a large stock pot along with some fresh herbs and garlic to givethe stock great flavor.

I tie the herbs with kitchen twine so I can easily fetch them out of the pot.
Gotta have a good flavorful base for a good flavorful soup!
Use a fine mesh strainer to get the herbs & garlic out.

Next is the vegetables. Some people would justthrow them in to boil in the broth, but I like to sauté some of them instead. Ithink it gives them a real boost in flavor.

Every summer my family puts up an entire freezerof corn, butter beans, and all kinds of other vegetables that my dad grows onour farm. It’s very hard work, but to have home grown veggies all year long isamazing! I like to take several ears of corn, boil them, and then cut thekernels off the cob to use in the soup. I also use our butter beans as well.Something about using fresh vegetables makes this soup so much better. If youdon’t have the time or means to use fresh vegetables, froze of canned worksfine.

There’s nothing better than fresh farm grown corn!
Take the sharp end of the knife and cut the kernels off.
Then take the back of the knife and scrap the juices out of the cob.

As you can tell, this makes a lot of soup and itcan be time consuming to make, but it’s totally worth it. There’s just nothingbetter than having homemade soup on hand on a cold night after a long day.

All stocked up and ready to go!

And just FYI, fried chicken goes amazingly wellwith this soup, but then again, what doesn’t fried chicken go good with?!

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Chicken Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

  • 2 whole chickens
  • 1 head garlic cut in half + 2 cloves, minced
  • Several sprigs of fresh Rosemary Thyme, & Dill
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion chopped
  • 4-5 carrots chopped
  • 3 celery stalks chopped
  • Half a head of cabbage shredded
  • 4-5 potatoes medium diced
  • 2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
  • 4 cups cut corn fresh or frozen
  • 4 cups butter beans fresh or frozen

Instructions

  1. In a very large stock pot, bring chickens, garlic head, herbs, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to a boil and cook for approximately one hour. Remove chickens and set aside. With a fine mesh strainer, scoop out herbs and garlic from the pot. Save the stock. When the chickens are cooled enough to handle, debone and shred into pieces.
  2. In a large sauté pan, add olive oil over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook until soft and tender, approximately 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute and remove from heat.
  3. Add the chicken, sautéed vegetables, cabbage, butter beans, and cans of tomatoes to the stock pot and bring to a boil. Cook for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, and cook for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Turn the heat down to medium and add corn. Cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste to see if any more salt and pepper need to be added.

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