Roasted chicken soup
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This is the best chicken soup recipe! The broth is made by roasting chicken, vegetables, onions, and garlic and then slowly simmering it into an amazing roasted chicken soup.
This method creates such amazing flavor! It’s pretty simple as well, you need about 5 lbs of chicken with the skin and bones, some vegetables, herbs, and aromatics.
You can use a whole chicken, a chicken that is sold cut up with all the skin and bones, or even just a few chicken breasts or thighs with the bones and skin. If you are looking to cook and store extra broth, see my chicken soup recipe for the additional instructions.
Steps to make roasted chicken soup
- Roast the chicken with garlic, onions, and carrots along with some olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Add the roasted chicken and vegetables to a large pot with additional spices, celery, white wine (optional), and herbs, and fill with water.
- Bring to a light boil, reduce to a simmer, and let the pot simmer continue to simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hrs.
- Cook desired pasta per package instructions and set aside.
- Remove the chicken and set it aside to cool while you strain the broth.
- Remove the chicken meat from the chicken, cut it up into chunks, and place it back in the pot with the strained broth.
- Add additional vegetables and salt and pepper to taste.
- Simmer on low until the vegetables are soft.
- Add cooked pasta to the soup, serve and enjoy.
Roasting the chicken tips
Use a roasting pan or any good pan that has enough lip on the side to hold liquids but enough space to lay the chicken, garlic, and onions on a single layer.
Roast the ingredients at 400 degrees F. – 425 degrees F. for about 30-45 minutes. You want a good crisp browning on everything. I could have left the chicken in the image a bit longer to crisp up even more.
Can you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken?
Yes, you can use a store-bought roasted rotisserie chicken and simply skip the first step. Using a store-bought roasted chicken can save you lots of time. You can still roast some vegetables, onions, and garlic if you wish, or simply use raw.
You may want to take note of what seasonings are on the rotisserie chicken and adjust your soup accordingly.
what other vegetables can be added to roasted chicken soup
For this roasted chicken soup you can add any vegetable you may like. Mushrooms taste good in this recipe and actually ended up in this batch of soup for the photos. Spinach, squash, parsnips, or even potatoes are all great additions.
I only roasted the carrots since I wasn’t sure how celery would roast. If you were to add more root vegetables you could roast them with the others and the mushrooms as well. If you are adding any greens such as spinach I would add them at the end.
Let the broth simmer on low for at least 1 1/2 – 2 hours, giving the chicken time to cook and the flavors to build.
While the roasted chicken soup is simmering prepare the pasta. Use whichever pasta noodles you like for this soup just make sure not to overcook them, no one likes soggy noodles. Al dente works perfectly since they will soften more once they are placed back in the soup before serving.
Once the chicken is cooked and removed, and the broth has been strained, you can add the reserved vegetables, and season to taste while simmering.
I love the flavor that the white wine gives to the broth. Choose a dry white wine that you enjoy drinking especially since you will have leftovers. 🙂
Adding wine is an optional step, since it is acidic it can help pull the nutrients from the chicken bones into the broth. If you don’t want to use wine you can add a tablespoon or two of vinegar, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, or omit this step.
Can you make this roasted garlic chicken soup recipe ahead of time?
Yes, if you are making ahead, cook as instructed omitting the pasta. Store soup in an airtight container and refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Cook and add fresh pasta when you are ready.
How to store extra leftovers
Do NOT store pasta in with the soup. Storing leftover pasta in a separate container will prevent the noodles from absorbing all of the broth and a soggy mushy leftover soup.
Any leftovers can be packaged up in an airtight container once cooled and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days, or placed in the freezer for 3 months.
Can you freeze leftover soup?
Yes, this soup can be frozen airtight in the freezer for 3 months. As it says above, I would avoid storing leftover pasta with the soup. You can freeze the soup for later use, but I would recommend making fresh pasta.
Roasted Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 5-6 lbs. whole chicken with bones and skin on
- 3 heads garlic sliced in half
- 2 yellow onions cut into quarters
- 2 tbsp olive oil for roasting pan
- 3 celery stalks with leaves
- 3 carrots cut into thirds
- 5 sprigs thyme or 1 -2 tbsp dried thyme
- 3 sprigs rosemary or 1 tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 handful fresh parsley leaves or 2 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp salt Add a tsp at a time and add more or less as needed.
- 2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine *optional
Reserved ingredients for the final broth
- 3 carrots sliced
- 3 stalks celery sliced
- 2 cups mushrooms sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the chicken in a roasting pan drizzled with olive oil.
- Add carrots, garlic, and onion to the roasting pan with the chicken coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place the roasting pan in the oven and roast at 400 for 30-45 minutes, or until the top of the chicken is golden brown and everything has caramelized.
- When roasting is complete remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes.
- Grab a good size large soup pot, place the whole chicken along with everything else from the roasting pan with all the drippings and juice in the bottom, and add the wine, herbs, and celery.
- Fill the pot with enough water to cover the chicken leaving at least a few inches of space between the water line and the lid. Turn the heat to medium and bring the liquid to a simmer.
- Once the liquid is simmering, lower the temperature to low and continue to let lightly simmer.
- Monitor the soup while it simmers and scoop out any foam that rises to the top of the liquid.
- While the chicken soup is simmering, prepare the pasta you choose to use per package instructions. Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and set aside.
- After the soup has been simmering for at least 1 1/2 hours you can start to check the temperature of the chicken to ensure it is cooked through. You want a temperature of 165 degrees F. in the breast.
- Once the chicken is done you can turn off the heat, remove the chicken from the broth, and set it aside to let it cool.
- Using a spider strainer or slotted spoon, scoop everything else out of the broth and discard.
- Return the pot with the strained broth to the burner, add the reserved ingredients, and turn the temperature to medium/low heat, and bring to a simmer.
- While the vegetables are simmering, remove the chicken meat from the chicken, chop it up, and add it back to the pot of simmering broth.
- The soup will be done when the vegetables are soft and the flavor is right.
- While the soup is simmering, do a sample taste and add additional seasoning, salt, and pepper if needed.
- Once the flavor is to your liking, add the pasta, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
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Roasting a chicken before simmering made such a huge difference in flavor that it is now my new go-to method for soup. Drop a comment below and let us know what you think. 🙂
