Easy, Simple, Healthy, Comforting Veggie Chicken Soup

Okay! It’s getting cold outside (depending on where you are) and it is about that time that everyone starts craving a hot, steamy cup of soup, right? I know that I am. Every year around this time, my mom makes this AMAZING Vegetable Chicken Soup and I die for it. This is the first year I have not been home (RIP coming home from college to a nice home-cooked meal) to enjoy this amazing soup cooked with love form her. It is now time for me to make my own home-cooked meals, well make my mom’s recipes at my own home. Yes, I am rambling and ya’ll are probably just like, “give us the dang recipe Sydel! We don’t care why you love it so much” but I had to put all that in there…

Oh, and let me be one-hundred percent honest with ya’ll and give credit where credit is due!

THIS IS NOT SONYA CURRY’S RECIPE! THIS IS FROM THE AMAZING PATTY LABELLE COOKBOOK! Yes, I call it my mom’s recipe knowing she wasn’t in the kitchen slaving over the stove trying to get every single measurement or flavor right, but I hate to break it with some of ya’ll, your mom’s “famous (insert favorite food)” probably isn’t an original. Not unless you’re like the daughter of Ayesha Curry (hehehe). But we call them our “mom’s famous (insert favorite food)” because there really isn’t anything like something made from mama that you absolutely adore and you can really feel the love in.

So without further ado I present: My Mom’s Vegetable Chicken Soup aka Patty Labelle’s Vegetable Chicken Soup!

Ingredients:

One 3 ½ pound whole chicken

A generous amount of salt and pepper

2 medium chopped onions

1 medium leek

8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (I always use frozen though because aint nobody got time to shuck corn all night)

3 medium carrots, chopped

one 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, with the juice

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Preparation:

Now the first thing you should do is clean off your chicken with cold water. Make sure you really wash out the inside as well since you are going to use the whole chicken. I normally talk to the chicken and let it know that I will be touching its inside and that we are about to get real intimate… After cleaning it well, you then want to season it was a GENEROUS amount of salt and pepper (S&P, I will be using that a lot in this because they are really the only seasoning you will be using during the whole cooking process). You will want to S&P the chicken inside and out. After that, put the chicken in a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring the chicken to a boil over high heat. The recipe says that once it comes to a boil you are going to want to skim off foam that rises but I have never had foam so I’ve never had to do that but I am putting this in here just in case you do! Once it’s boiled simmer the chicken until the meat falls off the bones, so about an hour and a half.

During that “down time”, CHOP YOUR VEGGIES! This is probable the “hardest” part of the recipe because there are so many veggies to chop, but it’s really not that hard. Plus, I kind of find chopping very soothing. I am weird. Chopping is pretty self-explanatory but the only thing I had to do the first time I made this was look up how to properly clean and chop a leek because that can get kind of tricky. So, there is my one piece of advice for you!

Once the chicken is done cooking, remove it, debone it, skin it, and chop it up. Once you’ve done that, add in all your veggies and simmer until veggies are tender so about 30 minutes. Return the meat to the broth and veggies, add more S&P and ENJOY!!!!

Some side notes from me:

– I sometimes add cooked rice to my personal bowl. It adds a little texture for me.

– I also add S&P during every step of the recipe. It honestly depends on how salty or peppery you like your food, me personally I LOVE S&P! So literally season to taste.

So, there it is! I hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know If you make it and how you like it! DM me on IG (@sydelcurry) or leave a comment below!!

Thanks always for the support! <3