Description

A whole chicken, vegetables and rich broth.

Scale

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (about 4 to 5 pounds)
4 large carrots, sliced
2 1/2 cups of chopped celery with leaves
2 medium onions, chopped
6 cloves of garlic
1 pack of fresh (or freeze-dried) poultry blend herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme)
Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
4 tablespoons of butter
6 cups of water, brought to a slow simmer
2 large bouillon cubes

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and add the onions and celery. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
Arrange half of the sautéed green vegetables on the bottom of the crock pot.
Place whole chicken over the vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the rest of the vegetables around and over the chicken.
Pour hot water over the chicken and vegetables. Add the herbs and bouillon cubes.
Set the crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours. Cover and walk away.
About 3 hours into the cooking time, check the chicken. Remove from the crock pot to a platter. Allow to cool so you can de-bone. Chop the meat into small pieces. Return to broth and vegetables. Adjust seasonings.
Give yourself time to bake the rolls and dinner is ready!
Bon Appétit

Notes

I used a 6 1/2 quart oval crockpot to make the soup. The chicken was just over 5 pounds.

Along with the ingredients listed in this recipe, the crock pot was quite full – within an inch of the top. As a result, I did have to watch it carefully.

I recommend a smaller chicken… say closer to 4 pounds than 5 pounds.

Add cooked rice or pasta for variations on the basic Chicken Soup. Kids would love alphabet pasta!

You could add the raw rice or uncooked pasta to the crockpot during the last 30 minutes of cooking. However, both the rice and the pasta will “drink up” a considerable amount of your broth during the cooking process.

To prevent this, I prepare rice/pasta on the stove top – separately from the soup.

When ready to serve, add a portion of the rice (or pasta) to the bottom of the soup bowl and ladle the soup over the rice.

Try long grain white rice, a wild rice combination, soup size pasta such as Stelline (the tiny stars), Ditalini or even orzo.

Keywords: chicken, soup