Best chicken soup recipe for a clear vegetable broth
The best chicken soup recipe depends on what you want in the bowl. For a clear broth and plenty of vegetables, this one-pot method is a practical choice. It adapts the Canadian food guide’s chicken and spring vegetable soup, without claiming that one recipe is objectively best.
Cut the carrot thinly so it softens alongside the broccoli. This is a vegetable-rich soup with a modest quantity of chicken, rather than a concentrated bone stock or a noodle soup.
Ingredients
Step 1
Bring the water to a boil in a lidded pot. Add onion, peppercorns, bay leaves and lemon juice, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
Step 2
Lower in the chicken. Partially cover and poach for 5–7 minutes, turning once. This is an initial poach, not the final doneness test.
Step 3
Remove and discard the bay leaves and peppercorns with a slotted spoon. Add cabbage, broccoli, carrot and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Step 4
Check the thickest part of the chicken with a food thermometer: it must reach 74 °C/165 °F. Continue cooking if necessary. Lift onto a clean board, slice and return to the pot.
Step 5
Warm gently for another 4 minutes. Taste, add salt if needed and divide into four bowls.
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