What could be better than preparing some delicious Hearty Chicken Soup, Chicken Stew, Chicken Chili Recipes along with a tasty chicken salad sandwich on a cold dreary day? Is a soup and sandwich too heavy? Then try a soup and salad instead.

How Do You Make Homemade Chicken Soup?

Making this soup is actually quite simple. All that is required is to boil chicken parts and their bones in a large pot of water, with various vegetables (such as carrots, onions, celery) and some simple seasonings. After cooking, the broth is strained through to another pot and the vegetables are discarded. You can then cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, add them to the broth with fresh cut up vegetables and simmer on the stove for a short while.

You can also add noodles, dumplings, rice, barely, or other such ingredients to make your chicken soup more filling and hearty.

Keep your chicken broth for your homemade soups or for your next chicken fondue party. Feel free to learn more about other types of fondue such as chocolate fondue and buy the appropriate fondue equipment at Best Fondue.com.

What Are the Benefits of Making Your Own Chicken Soup Recipes?

It is well known that homemade chicken soup seems to have many benefits to the body. It has gained a reputation as a folk remedy for easing the symptoms of a cold or the flu - in fact, it was used in Ancient Egypt to cure the common cold! It is nutritious and it is very easy on the digestive system. It can also be a wonderfully low-fat meal when you take the time to refrigerate the broth and skim the congealed fat from the top.

Modern science has discovered that the particular blend of nutrients and vitamins in homemade chicken soup seems to slow the activity of certain white blood cells, providing an anti-inflammatory effect that can temporarily ease symptoms of illness. It can also help clear the sinuses somewhat, not to mention that it's a wonderful comfort food!

Chicken Soup Terminology

There are several terms that tend to be used to describe chicken soup, which can be somewhat confusing. Here is an explanation of the terminology:

Chicken Stock:

- This is the liquid part of the chicken soup after the gelatin-like fat is skimmed off. Broth can be served as is or used as a stock base for chicken soup recipes. Chicken meat, vegetables, noodles, rice, and other ingredients are usually added to the broth to make a thicker soup.

- This term actually comes from the phrase bouillon de poulet which is the French term for chicken broth. In other words bouillon and broth are the same thing. Commonly used in making chicken soup, chicken stews and chicken chilies.

- This is a refined chicken broth that has been strained to a better clarity, and then reduced to concentrate it.

Chicken Stew Recipes & Chicken Chili Dishes

Try some of our heart warming, stick-to-your-ribs chicken stew recipes and chicken chili dishes.

Chicken stews are very filling and delicious on a cold winter's night. The ingredients in a chicken stew can include any combination of meats, vegetables, spices... even fruits! Water is often used as the cooking liquid, but other options for additional flavor are meat and/or vegetable broths, wine, beer, juices, and liquors. The liquid is then thickened with either flour or cornstarch. The addition of seasonings give stews a wonderful flavor as well.

Typically, chicken stews are cooked at a low temperature on the stove for a few hours. However, you can also prepare stews in crock pots as well, since they are so well suited to slow cooking. Brunswick Stew is one of the best known poultry-type stew recipes around.

Chicken chili, on the other hand, is usually a spicy one-dish meal made with kidney, Lima or other such beans and meat. White Chili is the name of a dish made with turkey or chicken meat and uses white beans and green chili peppers rather than a red tomato-sauce base. The resulting dish appears white when cooked.

Do you have a favorite recipe to contribute? Perhaps you have some comments regarding recipes on this site - if so, please feel free to send me your opinions, as well as your favorite chicken soup recipes.