Postpartum Chicken Soup
This is my favorite chicken soup. It’s nourishing, filling, and so easy! These are the recipes that I use for roasted chicken, bone broth, and chicken soup.
My first meal after giving birth to my daughter at home was a bowl of homemade chicken soup that I happened to have in the fridge. I was losing just a bit more blood than expected, and needed something to boost me up. Having one of my midwives spoon feed me my homemade soup, while I nursed my new baby was one of the most grounding and precious memories I have of that experience. This soup is my favorite thing to soothe my sick babes, my bowl of peace and comfort! Here is the recipe from the chicken to the bowl!
Roasted Chicken
1 whole organic chicken (save giblets)
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 Garlic cloves, smashed
3-4 peppercorns
1 teaspoon paprika
Dash of Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Lemon zest from 1 lemon, save lemon for inside chicken
Butter
Preheat oven to 425°
Combine salt, garlic, paprika, herbs, onion powder, and lemon zest in mortar. Grind and mix together.
Dry the chicken off.
Put rub on the chicken, under the skin and inside the bird.
Place butter on top, and in the crook of the wings.
Cut lemon in half and put both halves into the bird.
Roast for 45 minutes and check for doneness. May need another 15 - 30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Save the drippings for bone broth, I usually just continue the broth in the same dutch oven so I don't need to clean anything in between.
Tip: Pull on the drum stick to check if it's done, if it pulls off easily, it's ready! If there is resistance it needs more time.
Add-on: Sometimes I roast vegetables around my bird, I just put the potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, and parsnips around the bird with a little extra butter. The chicken drippings do the rest! You can add all of that to your soup if you'd like too!
Homemade Bone Broth:
Chicken bones
Chicken feet (optional)
Giblets
1 Onion (you can keep some skin on)
3-4 Garlic cloves (your can keep some skin on)
1-2 Carrots, you don't need to peel just wash off first
1-2 Celery sticks
1 Bay leaf
4-5 Peppercorn
Salt to taste
Dash of Turmeric
Dash of Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary
Water to fill pot
In the same dutch oven that you cooked your chicken (with the drippings still in it) cook up the giblets
Once cooked add in your bones, chicken feet, and water.
Add the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil.
Lower temperature and let simmer for 4+ hours (you can even let it sit overnight, but I remove the lemon if that was still in your bird, after a few hours).
Strain and jar.
I freeze my broth if I'm not putting it into a soup. You can get freezable mason jars, or they make silicone mild in various cup sizes that you can use to freeze before transferring to a bag for storage.
Chicken soup
Shredded Chicken (preferably from the bird you roasted)
Chicken broth
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Oregano and thyme
Pasta or rice
Add everything except the pasta/rice to a pot, bring to a boil and then let simmer. Cook pasta or rice separately and add to soup.
Serve with bread or grilled cheeses if you'd like!
