There are lots of ways to make chicken soup. I recently came across this method in the Cooks Illustrated Best Recipe book (a recommendation from a board member and really awesome book). I adapted it slightly since they recommend cutting the legs and carcass into 2 inch pieces and I don't have a knife that can do that safely. Need some kind of heavy cleaver and a thick wooden cutting board, I guess. Anyway. . .

Basically .. you take a whole chicken, seperate the breasts and make broth out of the legs and carcass (same way you would make stock). You make the soup the normal way from there . .ie . .

1 Onion, diced
1 celery, diced
1 carrot, diced

Sautee the vegetables in butter or oil until softened. Add broth and bring to a boil, add chicken breasts and quickly back off the heat to simmer. Poach chicken breasts in the broth for 20 minutes, take em out, shred em up and add back in. Salt, pepper, thyme. Viola.

I really like this method but kind of feel bad about using the legs to make broth. Seems a waste. The results are good, though, so I'm torn. Would you sacrifice the chicken legs to make a better broth? I considered that you can still eat the chicken leg meat after the broth is done but, after trying it, I would say it isn't worth it. The meat is mushy and flavorless, obviously having given up it's best qualities to the broth. Wouldn't even use it for chicken salad.

My old method involved making the stock from only chicken backs and necks. I like that, too, but I think this method gives a richer soup.

How do you make chicken soup? Do you start with a whole chicken, parts, canned stock (gasp . .the horror!), or what?

I start with a roasted chicken remove most of the meat then reroast for about 30 minutes to brown up the bones a little more- then it goes into a pot of water with skin, drippings, everything really- throw in whatever is around- onion, potato, celary, carots, left over herbs- I add bay leave, Italian mixed dry herbs, whole black peppercorn, red pepper flake, bring to a boil then reduce heat- and reduce volume of stock by half

then I pour the soup through a colender(sp) and put back on the stove-If at this point more water is needed that is fine- then simmer a little longer-strain through a fine strainer thingy- depending on the fat content of the soup either let cool and skim fat off or dice up your vegetables and add into the broth while simmering(usually 45 minutes) I pick the bones clean and add to any carved off meat and throw that all in the pot for the last 30 minutes (of the 45)

add this to your recipe Vinny ... http://www.soupsonline.com/p-343-chicken-base.aspx

I always have that stuff in my fridge in both chicken and beef versions. It's impossible for me to have fresh chicken stock in my fridge at all times (because my priorities are out of whack) so I use this stuff quite a bit. I use it mostly for sauces, though, have never tried it as the base of a soup. You've used it to make chicken soup with good results?

Vinny, I always chuckle when I see any sort of "fancy-schmancy" recipe for Chicken Soup. I don't understand why some folks want to make it complicated. It really isn't.

Watching my Gram and also my Mom make Chicken Soup was one of my earliest memories. I never even needed a recipe until I started teaching cooking classes, and of course, I had to provide a recipe for those who had never made it before.

My Gram taught Mom how to make her style of soup, which consists of:
A Chicken. If you can get an old fowl, great, but most folks can't and both Mom and Gram used a "regular" fryer (about 3 1/2 pounds).
A Large Onion. Peeled, with the root end left on, and poked all the way through with a knife. (This will be removed at the end.) These days, I like to stick that onion with 2 whole cloves.
3 stalks of Celery, with the leaves. This is getting harder to find, because in most grocery stores, they've stripped the celery of the leaves, but if you can find any leaves, use them. The flavor they add is wonderful.
3 large Carrots. Trim them and scrub, but don't peel. If you want to eat them later, the skin slips off easily.
A Parsley Root. If you can't find one (it looks like a parsnip, but is not the same thing at all) you can sub out a bunch of flat leaf parsley wrapped in some cheesecloth so it doesn't get "green nougies" into the soup. Scrub the parsley root.

Put all the above in a very large pot (at least 6 quarts) and cover everything with COLD water. Put in a big handful of Kosher salt.

Bring to a boil and immediately lower the heat. Simmer (don't boil!) partially covered for a couple of hours. Remove the chicken from the pot and strain the soup into either a clean pot or back into the one you used. Return to the heat and simmer for another 3/4 hour to reduce the stock some.

We always have served clear broth with whatever adds we want. Like matzo balls, noodles, kreplach, or mondlen.

And that's really all there is to it!

Wifes family makes it just like ChefJunes- for my wifes taste and mine we use our roasted method- just a richer soup- def not a clear broth style. We make ChefJunes style for Matzah Ball Soup

I gotta have noodles in my chicken soup.

ChefJune's recipe has my vote. makin me hungary!

In our family we had Noodle Soup and Chicken. Which means there was a whole roasted chicken and noodle soup served with it. I haven't had it since I was a teenager, but my dad may have made it when I wasn't at home. I'll have to find out how the soup was made.

it's not the base of the soup, simply an add to the soup while it's simmering away for a few hours... as for good results, it's the best chicken soup in NYS ...

My wife too is fanatical about the noodles- She even insists I get noodles for the Matzah ball soup from the city

I have to have noodles and chicken meat in mine. If you look at the CI version I posted in the first post, it's a variant on ChefJune's method except you remove the breast so you can have the meat in the soup. It's hard for me to get onboard with using a whole chicken to make nothing but broth . . . . I'm too cheap!

I make chicken salad out of the chicken, Vinny!