You only need one pot and a few simple ingredients to make this incredible chicken soup recipe. My Grandma’s homemade chicken soup recipe is made from scratch with a whole chicken, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and herbs. It is an easy chicken soup recipe with just a few easy steps. There is no pre-cooking; just add everything to the pot and turn on the stove.
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❤️ Sandi’s Recipe Summary
The Quick Bite: My Grandma’s homemade chicken soup recipe has become a tradition in thousands of homes over the years. It is a simple chicken soup recipe to make, meaning you can just add the ingredients to a soup pot, all at once. The ingredients all cook together into a bowl of comforting hot soup.
Does your Grandma make homemade chicken soup? I remember my grandmother making this chicken soup from scratch every time we visited. The memories come back every time I make it. She would dump the ingredients into a big soup pot; magic happened as it cooked.
This classic chicken soup is what I call a “dump and go” recipe. Everything goes into the soup pot at once, and the flavors all cook together from the beginning. You can add noodles or rice, though I will recommend not to cook the noodles in the soup because they get mushy with the long simmer. Our family likes to add these Gluten-Free Matzo Balls.
While you are visiting, check out all of my delicious homemade soup recipes!
The Vegetables For Homemade Chicken Soup:
This classic chicken soup recipe has onion, carrot, and celery. Over the years, I have added parsnips, turnips, and rutabagas as well, with delicious results. In writing the recipe, I made these vegetables optional because I wanted to keep it close to my grandma’s recipe for this post.
Seasoning For Chicken Soup :
My grandmother originally created this soup without adding additional chicken broth to this soup. In the years I have been making this recipe, I found that adding chicken broth improves the depth of flavor in a shorter amount of cooking time. My grandmother simmered this soup for a whole day, adding more water as it cooked down. Today, with busy schedules, most people don’t have time to simmer a soup all day long.
This soup is full of flavor from these spices and herbs:
- Dried Thyme
- Dried Basil
- Dried Parsley – I prefer fresh parsley for the garnish.
- Garlic – I use fresh garlic cloves because dried garlic powder does not add the same flavors to the soup broth.
- Salt and Pepper
I grow fresh herbs in my kitchen window, so I always have fresh herbs to use as well.
Making Homemade Chicken Soup (Step-By-Step)
I love making my chicken soup using a whole chicken. The raw chicken cooks in the soup, adding incredible flavor! If you do not have a whole chicken on hand, you can use other chicken parts…it is best to use bone-in chicken, as the bones add a lot of nutrients and flavor to the soup while cooking.
Step 1: Add your raw whole chicken to a large stockpot. Add in low-sodium chicken broth, seasonings, vegetables, and water.
Step 2: Cover the pot and bring the chicken soup to a boil. It should take about 10-15 minutes to boil, depending on the depth of the soup pot.
Step 3: Once the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer gently for 1 hour. Turn down the heat to low and allow the soup to simmer for one more hour. It is ready, or you can simmer it longer. The flavors will also build overnight while the soup is in the refrigerator.
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Step 4: When the chicken soup is done, remove the chicken from the soup carefully to a serving dish. I use two spatulas and carefully lift and remove the chicken from the soup pot to a serving dish. It is fall-off-the-bone tender, and it may fall apart a little as you do this. You can use a slotted spoon to grab any bones that fall back into the soup.
Next, I like to remove the chicken meat from the carcass and put some of the shredded chicken meat back into the soup. You can set aside the rest of the cooked chicken to use to make enchiladas or chicken salad if you want.
Step 4: Serve the soup hot with rice or noodles.
Pair this soup with gluten free bread for easy dipping: Gluten Free Biscuits or this Gluten Free Focaccia Bread.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Most chicken broth is gluten free, but I highly encourage you to read the labels. Look for any artificial ingredients or yeast extract.
Some brands of gluten free pasta definitely hold up better than others. I like Jovial and Barilla pasta brands for chicken soup. As I mentioned above, you do not want to cook these in your soup…but these noodles will hold up to sitting in a bowl of soup for a little while.
You do not have to use a whole chicken to make this soup recipe. You can also use bone-in chicken parts. My neighbor loves using bone-in chicken thighs. You need to make sure your chicken pieces are with the bone, as the bone minerals are what make this soup so good!!
If you enjoy using your Instant Pot, I created a version of this soup that you can make in it! This Instant Pot Chicken Soup recipe has the same flavors, but it cooks in less time. Our family also loves making this Instant Pot Vegetable Soup with Chicken.
How to store leftovers:
This soup will keep fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container. You will notice the chicken fat congeals on top of the soup. You can use a spoon to scrape the fat off if you like. You can reheat it on the stove or in your microwave oven.
You can also freeze the soup. I highly recommend freezing it in Souper Cubes. These are one-cup-sized cubes that are perfect for a single serving! Freeze in the Souper Cubes, then move the frozen cubes to a freezer-safe zip-style bag. The frozen soup will keep fresh for up to 5 months.
More Homemade Soup Recipes to Try:
If you love chicken as much as we do, you will want to check out ALL of my delicious, easy Gluten Free Chicken Recipes!!
- This recipe is made without a roux and tastes amazing! Gluten Free Oyster Chowder (works well with clams for clam chowder too!)
- Another great winter soup: Turmeric Chicken Soup
- For my spice lovers, this Taco Chicken Soup is hard to resist.
- If you love wild rice, this Chicken Rice Soup is also delish!
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Grandma’s Homemade Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole raw chicken
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large onion
- 5 chopped carrots
- 3 chopped celery stalks
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 quart chicken broth low sodium
- 4 cups water
- fresh parsley is optional
Instructions
- Add 1 whole raw chicken to a large stock pot. Add 1 quart chicken broth and then fill the pot with 4 cups waterto cover the chicken.
- Chop 1 large onion, 3 chopped celery stalks, and 5 chopped carrots. Add 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 2 teaspoons dried thyme, and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Add all ingredients to the soup pot. Cover and simmer on medium-high low until the soup boils.
- Once the soup is boiling, turn down the temperature to medium for 1 hour. Stir the soup and make sure the chicken is still covered by the soup. Add more water if needed. Put the lid back on the pot, and turn the cooking temperature down to low, and simmer for another hour.
- After cooking in the soup, the chicken will be fall off the bone soft and tender. Carefully remove the chicken from the soup pot to a serving dish. Do this carefully holding two spatulas, so the chicken doesn't fall apart. Cut the chicken meat into pieces and add the chicken pieces back to the soup. Garnish with fresh parsley if you like.
- Serve hot with rice or noodles. My grandmother served it over rice, this is totally optional.
Notes
- This recipe uses a whole raw chicken. The chicken cooks directly in the soup, making the broth full of rich chicken flavors!
- If you do not have a whole chicken, you can use chicken parts. The soup will taste the best if you use bone-in chicken parts. The bone broth is what adds to the flavor.
- You can use fresh or dried herbs.
- I like to add a small rutabaga or turnip sometimes for a flavor boost. It is totally optional, but if you try this, peel the rutabaga first.
- This chicken soup is even better the next day.
- This soup will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
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SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
Awesome chicken soup. Made it especially for my mom in law that has pancreatic csncer. She said it’s the best chicken soup she has had in a very long time. Thank you:)
I am so glad you loved my Grandma’s soup recipe Justine 🙂
We raise our own chickens but skin them, can’t wait to try this recipe. What about canning it? Thinking it would make great Christmas presents.
It sounds like a delicious idea but I would think you have to do something so it won’t spoil. I know nothing about canning.
i checked out the Ball website and it sayd 10 pounds of pressure for 1hour 30 minutes for 1quart jars, definately going to give it a try.
I freeze this soup in wide mouth mason jars, let it cool then just leave a few inches of space a the top for any expansion.
I didn’t realize you can freeze mason jars like this. Thank you so much for sharing your tip Robbin 🙂
I have not made your soup yet but I was wondering if I can use just pieces of chicken instead of a whole chicken..
Hi Donna, you can use pieces of chicken but I highly recommend making sure the pieces are bone-in. There are a lot of nutrients in the bones that cook into this soup, giving it that awesome cold and flu busting benefit.
Curious, will the veggies be really mushy? I mean cooking for 2 hours seems a little much. Thank you!
Hi Jodie, the long cook time didn’t make our veggies mushy. You can cook less, we do cook on a simmer for much of this for flavor, but it isn’t necessary. You can also add the veggies in a little later.
Beat soup ever! I do the chicken boil then strain it and refrigerate the broth over night. The fat rises to the top and can be skimmed off. Then add all the good stuff~ AMAZING!!!
I am so glad you liked it!! You made my day!
Hi! How would this be cooked in a crockpot? It would be much easier for me.
Hi Andrea, this should work well in a crock pot :-). Please come back and let us know how long you cooked it for.
Hey Miss Sandi – during the simmer process do I scoop off any foam or excess fat?? I can’t wait to try this. Thanks for your help. Thanks to Grandma too!
Hi Keith, that is up to you. We tend to scrape the fat off after the first refrigeration when it has solidified at the top. During the simmer stage the flavors are still infusing with the soup. Enjoy 🙂
Once it’s done, turn off burner. Let it set a minute, then use the back of a ladel that was sitting in ice to wipe off the oil. The oil will stick to the frozen metal.
That is a great idea!!
Great and it’s only a total of 8 cups liquid mine doesn’t cover the ingredients all the way ?
Hi Mikaela, how large of a pot are you using? You can definitely add more water, you want the chicken to be just barely submerged.
When would I add the rice and how much ?
You would want to cook the rice separately and add it to your bowl and pour the soup over it. My grandmother never cooked the soup with the rice because it would make the broth starchy.
Apart from the very first bowl of soup that I tasted, I froze the first batch of soup that I made and it is so delicious that I find I cannot wait until I am sick before I devour some more! I expect it will keep the germs away anyway LOL! Well that’s my story anyway…. I have another batch cooking on the stove so I really don’t plan on running out anytime soon. I made this soup on both occasions exactly as written and it is superb. The flavour and the aroma of the soup whilst cooking is amazing and I am very happy to have found this recipe. Thank you very much for sharing your Grandma\s recipe. I did leave a comment for the first soup I made but think it may have gone astray.
You made my day. Thank you so much for coming back to tell me how much you liked my Grandma’s soup.
Second time I am making this soup – BEST recipe ever – full of flavor Thank You !!
Yay!! I am so glad you liked my grandmother’s soup, Kathy. I appreciate your coming back to let me know. If you didn’t leave a star rating in the recipe card by clicking the stars, I would be so grateful if you would so people know how yummy this recipe is.