Soup, I would venture to say, is the ultimate comfort food. It comforts us when we are cold, tired or ill. It comes in so many varieties and flavors – it is universal. I can’t think of a culture that is without soup. At the risk of being offending the culinary-savvy, I count chowder as a soup. It seems to me to be the more-or-less the same, only thicker.
At our house, we find this chowder to be comforting any time, for any reason. It is flavorful and hearty without being too heavy. (Unless, of course, you have seconds – which is a temptation you will face.) This recipe will fill a stockpot so you can feed a crowd if need be. I end up with a meal for now, a meal in the freezer, and a couple of bowls-worth in the fridge to nibble on for a day or two. All of that with about three chicken breasts and some vegetables! Thrifty!
I have written the recipe as though you are starting with raw chicken breasts. Awhile ago, I mentioned there would be recipes following that would include cooked, shredded chicken. This one of them. If you did indeed freeze some cooked, shredded chicken, this is a good time to use it – about 3 cups or so. It will cut an hour off the cooking time. You will still need broth.
There are a couple of options. You can use the 8 cups of water and 6-8 bouillon cubes. You can use 6 cups of canned broth and 2 cups of water, or some variation thereof to suit your taste. Or – you may have frozen or canned the broth from when you cooked the chicken. Any of these options will work.
However it comes together, it is hard to ruin and easy to enjoy. Make some biscuits or grab a baguette to go along side. Dump it in a crockpot and share it with a crowd. Yum!
- 2 lbs chicken (about 3 large breasts)
- 8 cups water
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 cubes chicken bouillon
- 3 TBSP butter
- 2 cups carrots, diced I used about a pound of baby carrots cut into fourths.
- 6 potatoes, cubed I left skins on
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced optional
- 3-4 cups corn
- 1 block Velveeta
- salt and ground pepper
- Cook the chicken breasts, garlic, and bouillon cubes in the 8 cups of water (about an hour or so). I also shake some kosher salt in at this point.
- Once the chicken is cooked, remove the meat and set aside to cool.
- Strain the solids out of the broth and return broth to stockpot.
- While the chicken is cooking, chop and dice the vegetables.
- Once you have the strained broth in the stockpot, add the butter, potatoes, carrots, onions and celery and boil until carrots are near the consistency you desire, usually about 20 minutes.
- While veggies are boiling, shred the chicken.
- At this point, add the corn. I use frozen corn so I let is heat for a couple more minutes. If you use canned corn, drain before adding.
- Add the shredded chicken and Velveeta cheese. Sprinkle in salt and ground pepper until your taste buds are satisfied.
- Happy ending!
