Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 10 cups Cold water
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large Yellow onion, diced
- 4 large Carrots, chopped
- 3 stalks Celery, chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 Zucchini, quartered and chopped
- 2 Yellow squash, quartered and chopped
- 1/2 bunch Kale, stems removed and chopped
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 2 Bay leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt, to taste
- Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
Make a Quick Chicken Broth
Place the chicken thighs and bay leaves in a large stockpot and cover with 10 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer for ~30-40 minutes.
Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
This is just protein solids and removing it will give you a clearer broth.
Once the chicken is cooked through, use tongs to remove it to a cutting board to cool. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or another pot.
Sauté the Base Vegetables
In the now-empty stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for ~10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Add the minced garlic and cook for one minute more, until it becomes fragrant.
Simmer the Soup
Pour the strained chicken broth into the pot with the vegetables. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
While the soup comes to a simmer, shred the cooled chicken, discarding bones and skin.
Add the shredded chicken, zucchini, and yellow squash to the pot. Cover and simmer for ~20-30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Finish with Kale and Lemon
Stir in the chopped kale during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking. You just want it to wilt into the soup.
Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
The lemon juice brightens all the flavors of the soup.
Hearty Chicken Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 10 cups Cold water
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 large Yellow onion diced
- 4 large Carrots chopped
- 3 stalks Celery chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 Zucchini quartered and chopped
- 2 Yellow squash quartered and chopped
- 1/2 bunch Kale stems removed and chopped
- 1/2 Lemon juiced
- 2 Bay leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt to taste
- Black pepper freshly ground, to taste
Instructions
- Place chicken thighs and bay leaves in stockpot, cover with cold water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer covered 30-40 minutes.
- Remove chicken to cool, strain broth through fine-mesh sieve.
- Heat olive oil in stockpot over medium heat. Sauté onion, carrots, celery 10-15 minutes until soft.
- Add garlic, cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Pour strained broth back into pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat.
- Shred chicken, discarding bones and skin.
- Add shredded chicken, zucchini, squash. Simmer covered 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
- Add kale, cook 5-10 minutes until wilted.
- Stir in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper.
