Today we’re preparing a simple yet satisfying (and delicious!) chicken soup. The soup starts off with richly herbed oven roasted chicken, prepared with a vegetable stock and schmalz broth (more on that below), to which we’ll be adding our vegetables, along with plenty of garlic, herbs, and red pepper. While I’m serving today’s soup over orzo, you can substitute in your favorite soup noodle.
Now, without further delay, let’s make some soup!
Why You’ll Love This Soup
1) A delicious use for leftover chicken. Chicken sandwiches and salads are great, but sometimes you want to make a truly delicious and satisfying ‘second meal’ out of that leftover chicken, and during these wintery nights, what better way to do that than a warm bowl of soup?
2) Super Simple. Apart from roasting the chicken, today’s soup is simply a matter of combining the ingredients in a soup pot at the proper intervals and then letting it simmer for the prescribed amount of time. Couldn’t be easier.
3) The Soup Keeps. Today’s soup keeps nicely in the fridge for several days, and heats up beautifully at a low simmer.
Ingredient Notes and Tips
1) The Solidified Chicken Fat – Schmalz. The science is in, and it declares that fat is flavor, plain and simple. In fact, this may come as a shock, but muscle tissue has ‘almost zero’ in the way of flavor-giving compounds. Instead, virtually everything we humans perceive as ‘flavorful’ in meat, be it fish, pork, beef, or poultry, comes directly from ‘fat.’ So when you’ve got left over chicken (or any leftover meat), all of the ‘fat’ that’s solidified at the bottom of the container is (quite literally) the meat’s natural flavor. This ‘fat is flavor’ concept is the idea behind using lard and chicken fat (schmalz) as an ingredient – and the schmalz from today’s leftover chicken is no different. Without it, the soup will be missing a lot in terms of flavor.
2) Bay Leaves, what are they anyway? This particular herb (or range of herbs, there are many varieties) gets something of a bad rap in modern culinary circles, having a reputation ranging from articles calling them the “Dryer sheets of the kitchen,” to respected food critics stating flatly “What does a bay leaf taste like? Nothing.” The mere fact that food critic Alex Delany had to defend the bay leaf’s existence is proof in and of itself that the bay leaf is both woefully misunderstood, and sorrowfully underappreciated. That said, they are the key ingredient in Old Bay seasoning, and feature prominently in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American cuisine, where they are used to add sharp pungency and herbal bitterness to already ‘rustic’ flavor profiles, such as in marinara, adobo, and mole sauces, and that ‘sharp pungency’ is precisely what we’re hoping to achieve by tossing one or two into today’s soup.
3) All Purpose Seasoning. To put it bluntly, all-purpose seasonings are a “busy cook’s secret weapon”, used more or less as a time saver. However, the key to a good all-purpose seasoning is “Know thyself,” simply because ‘your’ all-purpose seasoning probably won’t be ‘my’ all-purpose seasoning, either because our palette’s are different, or because we cook different foods regularly, or because we don’t season our foods in ‘quite’ the same way. In other words, know what you like, then pare that down by what you prepare the most, then figure out what combination of seasonings you use most in those recipes, and ‘that’ is your ‘best’ all-purpose seasonings. Or skip all of that find a store-bought all-purpose seasoning that you happen to like.
What do I use? Personally, I use a store-bought Vegetable Seasoning, and I use this in soups, sauces, and pretty much any savory dish that I’ll be putting over heat. The primary ingredients are dried vegetables (carrots, parsnips, onions, potatoes, and parsley), seasoned primarily with black pepper and nutmeg, among other assorted spices. This works wonders in stews, soups, sauces, and on meat.
More Delicious Soups from Living the Gourmet
1) Spinach and Meatball Soup. One of my favorite soup recipes ever. The meatballs give the broth a ‘thick’ texture and ‘meaty’ flavor, while the veggies and herbs keep the sound grounded. I really can’t recommend this one enough.
2) Roasted Gazpacho. A‘very’ kicked up Gazpacho, with grilled peppers, sliced jalapenos, and plenty of herbs and garlic. The end result is a gazpacho that’s earthy and smoky, courtesy of the charred peppers, and just a tad spicy, but also cooling and refreshing, courtesy of the mixed herbs.
3) Spicy Sweet Potato and Chicken Soup. Another sweet potato favorite, but this one is pleasantly spicy, featuring jalapenos and red pepper, with earthy tones like carrots and onions, and herbal notes such as oregano and garlic. All of this comes together beautifully to create a seasonal collage of flavors perfect for grey winter days or chilled nights.
PrintLeftover Chicken Soup
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 4 - 5 cups of left-over roast chicken - with the jelly - shredded
- 2 tomatoes - diced
- 3 stalks celery - chopped
- 2 carrots - diced
- 2 sweet onions - sliced
- 6 - 8 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tsps. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 inch piece of Romano or Parmesan cheese - chopped
- 2 tsps. Vegeta - all-purpose seasoning
- 8 cups of water
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 1 lb. of Orzo
Instructions
- In a large soup pot place the tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, garlic cloves and olive oil.
- Let the veggies simmer until the onions are translucent.
- Add the seasonings and bay leaves.
- Add the shredded left-over chicken, be careful to check for bones, and any jelly that may have formed around the chicken after refrigerating. This adds much flavor to the soup.
- Add the water and Vegeta seasoning. If you do not have Vegeta you may use chicken bouillon.
- Taste for seasoning.
- Add the Romano or Parmesan cheese pieces.
- Let the soup simmer on a gentle heat for at least 45 – 50 minutes.
- Prepare the pasta as directed.
- Serve with extra grated Romano or Parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
Keywords: soup, chicken soup, roast chicken, leftover chicken, easy recipes, comfort food
Yeah Lifestyle says
I do love making a sandwich with leftover chicken but sometimes it is much better to have a delicious wholesome meal such as this
★★★★★
Adventure Awaits Us at Home says
My husband was sick recently and canned soup just wasn't doing the trick. But I have only made homemade soup once and it wasn't a great success. This recipe sounds delicious and love that it is "super simple." I also appreciate all of the tips because I know I will need them.
Katherine says
I've been trying to come up with creative ways to use our leftover chicken and this soup sounds incredible. I love that you use orzo too!
MELANIE EDJOURIAN says
This sounds like a lovely hearty and warming soup for the cold weather. I love that you can use leftover chicken to make it.
★★★★★
Lisa says
What a perfect recipe for using leftover chicken. We always have some in the fridge and sometimes I run out of ideas. I’ll try this out!
★★★★★
Talya Stone says
This is one of my favourite things to make with leftover chicken. So comforting and nutritious!
★★★★★
Carleen says
I almost always make soup with my leftover roast chicken. This looks like a good recipe.
Malaika Archer says
There's nothing quite like a quick and simple recipe. This will come in handy for a quick dinner. Looks delicious.
Heather Castillo says
YUM! I have to make some soup tomorrow for my sick child, she would love this.
DAVID J MYERS says
Catherine, Chicken soup is my wife's favorite among all soups...except besides a top notch lobster bisque. Your chicken soup looks amazing! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Lavanda Michelle says
That looks delicious and like it'll warm me up this winter. I'll definitely try to make this on the weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Marysa says
This looks great, and perfect for our cold wintertime weather. I haven't made a good chicken soup in a while, and I love orzo in soup as well.