Best 5 Mamas Chicken Soup Recipes

MAMA JEAN'S CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the chopped garlic and saute until fragrant, 1 minute more. Whisk in the flour and stir frequently until it coats the vegetables and makes a paste. Cook until it reaches a pale blonde color, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, making sure there are no lumps. Add the bay leaf, hot sauce, and Worcestershire and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes to thicken and develop the flavors.
• Reduce the heat and add the chicken and the noodles. Do not boil the chicken or it will become tough. Add the peas and the dill and simmer gently for 10 more minutes.
• Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve.

MAMA LEONE'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken breasts with salt and black pepper to taste and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
• When cool enough to handle, dice the meat and set aside until needed.
• While the chicken breasts are baking, heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt. Saute the onions and celery until the onions are translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes.
• Add the garlic, tarragon, oregano, paprika and remaining 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir until well-combined. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
• Add the tomatoes and cream. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the reserved chicken breast and simmer 10 minutes more. Just before serving, stir in the spinach.

MAMAW'S CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease sides and bottom of a casserole dish.
• Stir chicken, water, rice, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and cream of mushroom soup together in the prepared casserole dish; season with salt and pepper. Arrange butter evenly over the top of the chicken mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven until the rice is tender and the chicken is cooked through, 1 hour to 75 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before serving.

CARRABBA'S MAMA MANDOLA'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces. Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice.
• Place vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, chicken pieces, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot. Add water. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat. Skim off foam that rises to the surface; may have to skim 2 or 3 times.
• Partially cover pot and simmer 2 hours. When soup is finished, remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon.
• Let cool.Meanwhile, mash vegetables in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon or a potato masher.
• When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and return meat to soup.
• Notes: Soup is best served the day after it is made. Refrigerate and remove fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup.
• Serve soup with rice or small, stubby pasta such as pastina, tubetti or small elbow macaroni. For better flavor, cook the rice or pasta in the soup when reheating. Add freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP WITH HORSERADISH DILL MATZO BALLS

Steps:

• The day before you want to serve the soup, put the whole chicken in your largest lidded pan. Add sufficient cold water to cover by at least 1cm. Bring the water to a boil over a high heat, skimming off (and discarding) any foam with a big metal spoon. While it's boiling, halve the onions through the roots (leaving the skins on - they will add colour). As soon as it starts to boil, add the onions and remaining soup ingredients plus 1 tbsp salt. Turn down the heat to a very low simmer, partially cover the pan and leave to cook gently for 1 hr 30 mins, until you see the meat on the chicken's legs start to come away from the bone. Depending on how large your pan is you may need to drain a little water off to fit the vegetables in, so it doesn't overflow.
• Use two forks to carefully remove the chicken from the pot, leaving the veg behind. Strip the meat from the bones, tearing some of the chicken into pieces to serve in the soup (save the rest to use in salads, sandwiches or pies). Return the bones and cartilage to the pot and simmer gently for a further 1 hr-1 hr 30 mins. Strain the soup into a large container or pan. If they are still in reasonable shape, lightly scrape the peel from the carrots and slice them to go in the finished soup - keep refrigerated until needed. Discard the other vegetables and the bones. Leave the soup to cool completely then refrigerate overnight.
• By morning, the fat will have risen to the surface - skim it off, pop it in a dish and refrigerate it. This is known as schmaltz, which you'll need to make the matzo balls. (You can use what's left over to make roast potatoes.) Taste the soup to see if it has enough flavour. It may need to be reduced a little by boiling it rapidly, then seasoning.
• To make the matzo balls, use a fork to beat the eggs with ½ tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir in the schmaltz, matzo meal, 2 tbsp chopped dill, horseradish and 60ml chicken soup. Fold into the egg mixture (it will be quite sloppy). Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins to hydrate the matzo meal and firm the mixture enough to handle. Scoop heaped tablespoons of the mixture and, with moistened hands, gently roll into balls. Put them on a plate or on a tray lined with baking parchment. You should end up with 12 matzo balls.
• Fill a wide pan with cold water and season with 1 tbsp salt. Set it over a high heat to boil, then transfer the matzo balls, one by one, gently into the water. Turn the heat down to a simmer. Cover with a lid (preferably a glass one) and leave for 30 mins. Do not be tempted to peek too soon. They are done when they have puffed up and when you cut into one, it should be light all the way through to the centre.
• If including fresh carrots in the soup, slice them into 2cm-thick discs and add them to the soup pot with the chicken pieces. Simmer for 10-15 mins to soften the carrot and heat the chicken. If using the carrot from the stock, add for the last 3 mins to heat up. When the matzo balls are ready, carefully remove them from the pot using a slotted spoon and put two (or three) in each bowl. Ladle over the hot chicken soup. Sprinkle with more chopped dill to serve.