Homemade Hungarian Chicken Soup is the ultimate comfort soup made with root vegetables, fresh parsley and often served with homemade egg noodles.
CHICKEN SOUP is the ultimate classic, most comforting and delicious soup! This version is my Mom’s Hungarian Chicken Soup we grew up with and during the colder seasons Mom would have a pot simmering every Sunday and once the soup was cooked, she would take the whole chicken and roast it in the oven and we would enjoy it as the main meal. I continue to make it as often as I can, as it is the best chicken soup and it not only comes from me but anyone who has had this soup has said the same!
If you are able to get fresh garden vegetables, it really can make a difference in the flavour of the soup, but as we know, once the winter season sets in, it becomes more difficult, so we purchase our vegetables in the grocery stores or markets and the outcome is flavourful and so worth your time and effort.
WHAT MAKES THIS SOUP SO DELICIOUS?
- It’s doesn’t require a lot of ingredients to get a delicious, nutritious and comforting soup.
- This soup has been in my family for generations and it is the best chicken soup I have had, and you may think I am bias, and maybe I am but I have tasted other chicken soups, and it doesn’t compare.
- What makes this soup a little different is the root vegetables, onion, and carrots of course, but whether you choose parsley root or parsnip root, they both offer rich and flavourful soup
- We always like to add a little heat to this soup, by adding a small slice Hungarian hot pepper, it gets those sinuses going, and the heat isn’t overwhelming that you can’t taste the flavours. (at the end of summer, I freeze slices of this pepper so I have it year round) You can find hot pepper in different varieties, just keep in mind you don’t want to create a spicy hot soup.
- Choosing a chicken or chicken pieces are important. Mom would always say, ‘you must use a hen or mature chicken pieces, they give you the most flavour’ and she was right! Avoid young small chicken pieces as they will not give you the flavours you hope for in this soup.
- Chicken soup is so healthy and nutritious for us!! We have all heard it, that it will help cure a cold or the flu, well it does help a lot!! If you refer to my nutritious facts, I outline the benefits of chicken soup.
SIMPLE INGREDIENTS
CHICKEN: choose fresh mature chicken pieces with skin-on and bone-in or better yet a whole chicken if you are so inclined to make a huge pot. I recommended organic or hormone and antibiotic free chicken, for better flavour and beneficial nutrients, to avoid any hormones or antibiotics and as well in the food they are fed.
CARROTS: adds flavour and sweetness, it’s the only vegetable that doesn’t lose it’s nutrients when cooked
PARSLEY ROOT: has such a lovely flavour, adding sweetness to the soup, another alternative to parsley root is parsnip
CELERY: has a mild salty flavour that has anti-inflammatory benefits
ONION: gives the soup an earthy, pungent flavour
HOT HUNGARIAN PEPPER: it can add some heat and spiciness to the soup and I tend to remove it halfway of the cooking time; the hot pepper isn’t required and the soup flavours are still there to enjoy
PEPPERCORNS: again giving the soup some heat and pungent flavour
SALT: to bring all of the flavours together and I like to use Himalayan sea salt
NOODLES: I like to add noodles specifically for soup and we would always add a thinner, and lighter noodle. Often time, we would make our own homemade egg noodles for soups.
HOW TO MAKE THIS DELICIOUS SOUP
COOKING SOUP: Add the chicken and water into a large soup pot, and while you are waiting for it to come to a boil, prepare your vegetables.
HINT: removing the foam that rises to the top when the water begins to boil, will result in a clear soup. Once you have removed all of the foam, add the vegetables and simmer for about an hour and half. If you are using a whole chicken, then an hour and half is needed, but using chicken pieces will require a minimum of an hour. Just to note, the longer you simmer the soup, the more flavourful it will be. If there is any leftovers, I have to say I have enjoyed the soup the next day, just as much.
You will notice our soup is clear compared to some other chicken soups. Mom would say, that she learned from Grandma to remove the foam once the soup starts to simmer with the chicken pieces/bones at the beginning of the cooking process. By doing this, it creates a clear soup which we have only known and prefer.
The Hungarian’s would add homemade egg noodles as shown here or a fine noodle as shown on the other photos. Throughout the fall and winter months, Mom would make large quantities of egg noodles, cut them in various sizes and dry them to store to use throughout the winter months. Whenever my Mom could she would have my sisters and I gather around the table and spent a couple of hours rolling dough. Such good memories that seems like yesterday, but yet at the same time, it seems like a life time ago.
STORING SOUP
First remove the whole chicken from the soup and store it that way. Most often we would remove the chicken or chicken pieces from the soup and eat them on it’s own or break pieces off and add it to the soup just before serving. Place the soup and chicken in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and freeze up to 3 months. Often times, I would drain the chicken and freeze the stock for later use in my soups and sauces.
Hungarian Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole organic 4-5 lb hen chicken (chicken breast or thighs with bone-in and skin-on are optional)
- 3-4 quarts water
- 4 whole organic carrots, sliced
- 3 whole parsley root, sliced (parsnip is an option)
- 2-3 organic celery ribs, sliced
- 1 onion, cut in half
- 1 small slice hot Hungarian pepper (optional)
- 1 handful parsley greens, loosely chopped
- 2 tbsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp peppercorns
- 450 g package fine thin noodles (homemade noodles are an option)
Instructions
- Cut chicken into pieces, and place into large soup pot and add water.
- While you are waiting for the water to come to a slow boil, wash, peel, and slice the vegetables.
- Once all foam is removed, add carrots, parsley root or parsnip, celery, onion, hot pepper, parsley greens, salt and peppercorns.
- Cook at a simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender.
- Fill a pot 3/4 full of water. Once it comes to a boil, add 1 tsp salt and add noodles. If using fine thin egg noodles follow the instructions on the package. If using homemade noodles, add to boil salt water and once noodles rise to the top, remove with sieve or pour into a colander and rinse in cold water.
- Serve soup and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
There are many options to the type of noodles you can add to chicken soup. I am accustom to what I grew up with and I believe most people are when it comes to cooking food. These are typical noodles you would see in chicken soup, and as mentioned below, we, as a family would often make our own and store them for soup. One of the ways to use the cooked chicken is cut up pieces and add it the soup.
Made this soup for my family as I was going to be away for a couple of days and was told it was the best soup I had ever made! So will make this recipe a keeper♥️
Hi Julie,
Thank you so much for your comment and rating! I am so happy your family loved the Hungarian Chicken soup! It is a family favourite and Mom would have a pot on the stove every weekend grown up, and now I try to do the same.
I agree, this recipe is a keeper!
Rose xo
I use half water and half chicken broth and a chicken cube. I also add ( separately) motza balls along with noodles.
Hi Julie,
Thank you so much for your comment and rating! I always love to hear what other people do to make a recipe their own and this sounds wonderful!
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Rose
I am not a cook! But in my old age I like to use a frying pan, IP, Cuisinart pot, and lots of wonderful spices and roots. I’m making this recipe from scratch, not as big by volume because my wife is not a soup lover. This soup while cooking smells heavenly. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Eugene,
You are so welcome! I am so happy you decided to make my Hungarian Chicken soup. It was my Mom’s recipe and I agree, it smells heavenly and it tastes heavenly too!
Thank you for the comment. I would be grateful if you could rate the recipe. Thank you! 🙂
Sincerely,
Rose
I scoured the internet for a Hungarian chicken soup reminiscent of my grandma’s and great-grandma’s. This hit the mark. Thank you!
Hi Cathy,
I am sooo happy you found my Mom’s and Grandmother’s recipe!!
You are so welcome!
Rose xo
Same recipe my mom taught me many decades ago, I like to add a potato or too as well, they taste great after cooking in the broth for so long and add a bit more to the bowl with the noodles and carrots.
Hello,
That is a great addition to a chicken soup, sounds delicious!
Thank you for your rate and sharing,
Rose
Same as my mother’s recipe. Excellent…. I put a quarter of fresh chopped piros paprika for a little sweetness. I’ll try your one chili version. Should be nice to have a little heat.
Thank you!
Katalin
Hi Katalin,
You are very welcome! I agree, it is such a delicious soup and the BEST in my opinion. Dad grew a lot of the Hungarian hot pepper and Mom would sneak in a slice or two in many of our dishes. Just enough to create a little heat and we thoroughly enjoy it! So now, I continue on with the tradition. You will have to let me know once you try it.
Thank you so much for your comment and rating!
Rose
At what point do you remove the bones. do you remove the skin too?
Hi Kelsea,
You can remove the chicken pieces just before serving, that way it’s easier to serve the soup. If you are asking when to remove the meat from the bones, I would do that just before serving the soup as well. I hope this answers your question.
Feel free to comment back.
Rose
Thankyou so much. This soup is one my beautiful hungarian grandmother would cook every week. I found this out last night when I cooked it. Tasted exactly like the one she would make with thin egg noodles. God bless her. It brought back so many memories for me and my family.. Thankyou. I will be making this once a week as a continual memory of her.
Nutritious and delicious !!
Hi Nadia,
I was so touched reading your comment. Thank you so much for sharing such loving and special memories of your Grandmother. I am so happy you will continue on with her memory this way!
When you have moment I would very much appreciate it if you could rate this recipe as well.
Thank you again for your beautiful comment.
Sincerely,
Rose
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Good morning,
Thank you so much for including my Hungarian Chicken Soup recipe on your website! What a wonderful surprise, it is such a privilege to be included with so many talented cooks.
Sincerely,
Rose