I don’t know about anyone else, but I am kind of over the summer…

That probably sounds terrible but if you know me, you know that my favorite season is autumn and I love Halloween, crisp leaves, hot apple cider, horror movies, and everything else that goes along with the season! In honor of my longing for the fall, I decided to make some homestyle chicken soup today and watch a b-rate horror flick. In all honesty though, my family makes soups all year long. Even if I wasn’t missing my favorite season, I’d probably still be whipping up a big pot of soup at least once a week.

One of my favorite soups to make is classic chicken soup. First, it’s super healthy and loaded with protein-packed chicken, delicious fresh veggies and herbs, and is also relatively low in calories. I also swear that chicken soup is a medicine! Whenever I have sinus issues, allergies, colds, etc., I always feel a bit better after having some of this soup. Secondly, it’s very easy to make and I usually have everything I need right in the pantry.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs chicken (Whole chicken, legs, thighs, breasts; whatever you have works! If you plan on shredding the chicken into your soup once it is done cooking, I do recommend white meat.)
• 2 onions, peeled and diced
• 1 parsnip, peeled
• 1 turnip, peeled and cut in half
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 tomatoes, quartered (I use Roma tomatoes, but any work!)
• 10 sprigs parsley
• 4 sprigs dill
• 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 1 tbs kosher sald
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 4 quarts water

Directions

Place your chicken at the bottom of a large pot. Add the onions, parsnip, turnip, tomatoes, parsley, dill, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, and thyme into the pot. Fill with the 4 quarts water. Bring to a rapid boil, and lower to a simmer for two hours. 30 minutes before the soup is done, add the diced potatoes. I add the potatoes last because I find that when I add them in too early, they melt and make the soup very starchy.

That’s it. I do not add much salt because not everyone likes a lot of salt. Plus, I like trying to limit my sodium intake. The thing that I also like about this soup is that you can really make it your own. Don’t like dill? Don’t add it. Wish there were more thyme? Add it! Don’t have a turnip handy? The soup will survive. My favorite noodles to add with this soup are either wide egg noodles or mini farfalle.

Enjoy!