Chicken Verde Soup
Who doesn’t love a bright green dish of food to ring in the new season? Herald spring with this deep, Mexico-inspired bowl of hot Chicken Verde Soup. It will warm you up during chilly spring weather without weighing you down.
The flavors are loosely inspired by my youth growing up in Southern California, deep in the heart of a Hispanic community where chicken soup in its many variations was a staple comfort food.
Now, living in Texas, I try to fit my beloved childhood meals into the gentler palate of my Midwestern husband. This Chicken Verde Soup brings some of those bright, familiar flavors to our table in a hearty bowl that’s especially wonderful when the weather can’t quite decide whether winter is actually over.
Chicken Verde Soup
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Line baking dish with foil and spray with cooking oil to keep meat from adhering to the metal. Dust with a teaspoon of salt and arrange chicken the same way it is in the package, skin side up. You will want skin on chicken for the extra flavor it imparts and to keep your chicken from drying out.
- Dust top of chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt to make the skin crispy, which adds additional flavor.
- Place in a cold oven and turn on to 450f. (If oven is preheated, chicken will burn. Reduce oven to 425f and cooking time to 45 minutes if preheating oven.) Bake for an hour or until done, while prepping soup base.
- In your stock pan spray the bottom with cooking spray and dust with a teaspoon of salt. Sautee onion, celery, and garlic until onions begin to caramelize, or turn brown on the edge.
- Add in 6 pints of water and 2 tablespoons of bullion, or 4 pints of chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
- While waiting for pot to come to a boil, wash green onions and cilantro and gently dry them. Gently slice green onions, set aside. Mince cilantro, set aside. Slice limes into wedges, set aside.
- Add both bags of frozen vegetables to soup base and gently break apart. Bring vegetables to a simmer.
- While waiting for pot to come to a simmer, check on chicken. It is done when skin is brown and crispy and broth is completely golden and clear.
- Pull out of oven and pull one piece out, if you can easily break the meat from the bones, its perfect. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- If your family is like mine and is completely squeamish about seeing bones and skin in their food, gently deskin and debone the chicken using tongs and chop up meat, feel free to dump the freshly chopped chicken in the simmering pot as you go or all at once.If you are like me and dont mind picking around your chicken bones as you eat, slice thighs in half along one side of the bone and simply dump in to soup. Stir pan gently until all ingredients are well mixed.
- Dump in the chicken broth from the baked chicken into your soup too. (Save bones and skin in a zippered bag for stock later).
- Add in half to a whole jar of salsa verde. (Stir and taste. Add in more if desired.)
- At this point also add remaining salt and more bullion to your preference. Reduce heat to lowest setting.
- Ladle immediately into bowls over rice or pasta (if desired) and top with shredded cabbage, sliced green onions, creme fresh, cilantro, and pepper as desired. Squeeze a fresh lime wedge over the dish and serve. (Optionally dust with crushed tortilla chips.)
- Store remainder in the fridge directly in the pan or divide into lunch containers, top with fresh ingredients, and freeze for quick hot meals later.
Notes
- Feel free to substitute the water and bullion for equal amounts of chicken stock.
- And feel free to substitute the cooking spray with butter, lard, or coconut oil.
- The salsa Verde can be substituted with fresh tomatillos and jalapeno peppers blended to a sauce, or any other Verde sauce. I find our family likes the bright fresh flavor of this salsa over other Verde options. And fresh tomatillos are hard to find in our area.
- Consider also topping it with Creme Fresh when serving for a bit of extra creaminess.
Bright Verde Flavor for a Chilly Day
The wonderful thing about a verde soup is the contrast. It’s warm and comforting like the chicken soups I grew up with, but the bright green flavors keep it from feeling heavy.
That makes this one especially nice during those awkward weeks between winter and spring, when you’re ready for fresh flavors but the weather still calls for something hot.
Make Your Bowl Your Own
One of my favorite things about soup is letting everyone finish their own bowl at the table.
Serve your Chicken Verde Soup just as it is, or add whatever toppings work for your family. Crunchy tortilla chips make a wonderful contrast to the hot soup, while leaving them off keeps the bowl simpler.
You can also serve the soup with rice or pasta when you want to stretch the meal farther or make it especially filling.
A Soup Made for Sharing
This is not a timid little cup of soup. The recipe makes a generous batch, which makes it useful for feeding a family, serving a gathering, or putting away portions for another meal.
Like so many of my favorite comfort foods, it’s the sort of recipe that belongs in a big pot in the middle of a busy kitchen.
And for me, that’s part of what makes it special. Food has a funny way of carrying pieces of all the places we’ve lived. This bowl has a little Southern California childhood, a little Texas kitchen, and just enough compromise for the Midwestern husband sitting at my table.
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