Four Comforting Chicken Soup Recipes for When It’s Cold or You’re Under the Weather

When the temperature dips, you’re feeling poorly, or you just crave a hearty, warming meal, few things are more restorative than a bowl of chicken soup. For centuries it’s been considered a culinary elixir to common ailments such as the cold, and it’s even been called “Jewish penicillin” for its all-encompassing healing properties. While these three recipes all centre around the star ingredient, chicken, they’re slightly different to one another, but all super tasty and importantly when you’re not feeling great, simple to make.

Emma McCaskill’s roast chicken noodle soup

This soup – which is designed to be simple, adaptable and replenishing – is by Adelaide’s Emma McCaskill, the former head chef of Sparkke at the Whitmore, Sydney’s Tetsuya’s and Melbourne’s now-closed Ezard. The best bit is it’s ready in 40 minutes because she uses roast chicken from a charcoal chicken shop or a supermarket rather than cooking it from scratch. It’s also a choose-you-own-adventure soup as you can pretty much throw in any root vegetable you want and use up unloved veggies you have in your crisper.

Matt Moran’s chicken soup

“Whenever I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, or just want something light and wholesome to eat, I make this chicken soup,” celebrity chef Matt Moran tells Broadsheet. Moran, from Sydney’s fine-dining Aria and farm-to-table restaurant, Chiswick, likes this recipe because it hits all the hearty, comforting notes that a chicken soup should. “It’s satisfying, warms you up and makes you feel better.” We also like it because you get sweet pops from the corn, and the use of risoni pasta ensures you feel full and satisfied.

Eftichia’s avgolemono

Avgolemono is a deeply comforting and nourishing Greek chicken soup with plenty of lemon juice – so it’s a super zesty fellow. This recipe also has the double warming factor of being from Yiayia Next Door: Recipes From Yiayia’s Kitchen, a collection of traditional Greek recipes and a tribute to the simple acts of kindness people experience through food. The book was written by Melbourne brothers Daniel and Luke Mancuso, who lost their mother Teresa to domestic violence, and neighbour Nina, who helped them by passing home-cooked meals over the fence. The brothers began documenting these acts of culinary generosity via a dedicated Instagram account, @yiayianextdoor, which now has more than 100,000 followers. It grew into a social enterprise with a community of fans. This version is by Eftichia, and her granddaughter says, “My yiayia was an extraordinary woman who died at the age of 99... My yiayia, Eftichia, and thea [aunty] Angela would always have a pot bubbling away for me on their hotplates whenever I visited either of them.”

Dak gomtang (Korean chicken soup) by Sang

Korea’s dak gomtang deserves a place in your chicken soup line-up. This version comes from Sang, one of Sydney’s most-loved Korean restaurants, which recently released its debut self-titled cookbook. “Dak gomtang is much easier to make than other Korean chicken soups,” writes chef Kenny Yong-Soo Son – and he’s right. The recipe goes back to basics: a whole chicken cooks in a pot of water for one hour, before you add in spring onion and garlic to simmer for another 20 minutes. The shredded chicken is returned to the clean broth, topped with a punchy combo of garlic chives, sesame oil and gochugaru. Serve it alongside rice and kimchi, and you have your new cold-weather staple.

With additional reporting by Callum McDermott, Che-Marie Trigg and Daniela Frangos.

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