Homemade Mexican Chicken Soup, Served with Avocados, Cilantro, Tortillas, Jalapeños and Mexican Cheese

There are very few things better for you than homemade chicken broth filled with fresh vegetables. There is so much you can do with the broth once you have made it. I like to make a large stockpot of it every week and keep in the refrigerator for adding to sauces, or whipping up a variety of different soups from an Italian wedding soup to a minestrone, or a fresh bean soup to an asian chicken soup and many others. If you do not want to make the homemade broth and want a simple alternative, just buy pre-made broth and add all the spices, lime juice and goodies to it. This recipe simmers for only 2 hours, but I like to simmer mine for two days to get the best bone broth for the best health and benefits. You can make it easy. Just simmer the bones for the two hours in this recipe or cook it for 12 hours one day, take it off while you sleep and put it right back on the stove the next day for another 12 hours. I also like to defat the broth, so I stick it right into the refrigerator on the second night to let the fat separate and rise to the top to scoop off the next day after simmering for 24 hours. But you do not need to do this. It is just my preference. Obviously, simmering for two hours is a lot less time consuming than cooking for two days and refrigerating overnight. You need to have two days and two nights for that. The soup is just as good simmered just two hours. Or even easier, if you use a purchased broth. Just skip the broth recipe and add all of the Mexican ingredients.

Prep Time Homemade Broth: 15 minutes

Cooking Time Homemade Broth: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Prep Time: Toppings and additions to soup: 10 minutes

Serves: 6

Homemade Chicken Broth

Ingredients:

1 whole organic chicken

1 large onion, quartered (skin on is ok)

3-4 celery stalks

3-4 carrot stalks

1 small bunch parsley, rinsed

5 bay leaves

1 Tbs whole allspice seeds

1 Tbs whole black pepper seeds

3 garlic cloves

1 Tbs salt

Approximately 20 cups of water

Directions/Chicken Broth:

Rinse the chicken and place in a very large stockpot. Cover the chicken with water. Cover. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 hours. Add water if necessary to always have the whole chicken covered. Remove the chicken from the pot after 2 hours. Let the chicken cool a bit. Remove the meat and shred the chicken. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Strain the liquid into a new clean pot. At this point you can add all of the other ingredients and serve it or you can refrigerate the broth overnight to defat the next morning as the fat will rise to the top and solidify. Cool the soup before you put it in the refrigerator.

As in the description above. I like to make bone broth. So I simmer the chicken two hours. Remove the meat from the bones. Refrigerate the meat and continue to simmer the bones. 12 hours one day, 12 hours the next day. Then I refrigerate the broth and de-fat it. This is not necessary, two hours is sufficient unless you want the added benefit of a bone broth made from scratch. It is really medicinal and prevent a lot of diseases and helps facilitate healing from the flu or cold.

Ingredients for Mexican Chicken Soup:

2 cups chopped onion (1 very large white onion)

1 cup shredded carrot (I buy the pre-shredded to save time. You may just chop it)

1 cup thinly sliced celery

8 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

1 cup corn kernels

½ cup cooked chickpeas

1 ½-2 Tbs ground cumin

Reserved meat from the 1 whole chicken reserved and shredded

1 ½ Tbs fresh lime juice

1 Tbs salt

1/2 Tbs fresh ground pepper

Soup Toppings/To serve on the side or to top your own soup:

Fresh cilantro leaves

Sliced jalapenos

Chopped Avocados

Sour Cream

Sliced Radishes

Lime Slices

Tortilla chips

Cotija cheese

Directions:

Add the chopped onions, celery, carrot, tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper to your broth. Simmer for 20 minutes.Adjust the seasonings. Add more salt, more pepper or more cumin if desired.

Stir in the fresh lime juice. Sprinkle with the cilantro. Serve with the radishes, sour cream, lime slices, avocado, cheese and tortillas on the side so that your guests or family can choose whatever they want.