Homemade Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe

When it's cold outside or you're feeling a little under the weather, nothing hits the spot better than a fresh pot of homemade chicken soup. From the time we are very young, most of us are programmed to associate chicken soup with the type of hot and hearty comfort food that can make everything alright, no matter how icky we feel or how nasty the weather is outside. If you'd like to make your own chicken soup instead of depending on the very high sodium canned varieties, try this terrific and easy recipe idea.

Easy and Delicious Homemade Chicken and Potato Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 pounds of bone-in chicken breasts
• 3 cups of water
• 3 medium russet potatoes (or your favorite variety), halved
• 2 medium onions (white or yellow), quartered
• 1 small package of frozen lima beans
• 1 can of whole kernel corn
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme
• Salt and pepper (black and/or red) to taste

Preparation Instructions:

• Remove skin from chicken breasts.
• Place water and chicken breasts in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook over medium for one hour.

• Remove the chicken from the water (which has now become chicken broth)
• Cut the potatoes, onions, and lima beans into the broth and boil for about 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender.
• Remove the potatoes from the broth and mash them into coarse chunks.
• Return the mashed potatoes to the broth, along with the corn, tomatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper, and simmer for ten minutes.
• De-bone the cooked chicken breasts and cut the meat into chunks.
• Add it to the mixture and simmer for an additional ten minutes.
• Ladle into big soup bowls or mugs, serve and enjoy!

Serving Suggestion

This hearty soup is intended to be a main dish more so than an appetizer, although you may of course serve it however you see fit. It tastes great served with Club or Townhouse crackers, and also goes well with Texas Toast, French bread, or fresh, buttered corn muffins.

Variation

If you prefer chicken and rice soup, or chicken soup with pasta, you can easily adapt this recipe for your preferences. Simply leave the potatoes completely out of the recipe, and add cooked white or wild rice or the cooked pasta of your choice when you add the chicken in the last step.