Chicken, Dinner, Food, Recipes, Soups & Stews

Caldo De Pollo

I recently posted about the endless soup options one can come up with from simply boiling down a left over chicken carcass.  Besides the chocolate custard that I made for my family on Valentines Day, I also roasted a chicken and the next day came up with this delicious and blog worthy soup.  The rain is back in Northern CA and having a warm and subtly spicy chicken soup for leftovers has been comforting and yummy!

If you do not have a chicken carcass to boil down, I would sub 4-6 cups of already cooked shredded chicken and 10 cups of chicken broth.

Caldo De Pollo
Caldo De Pollo

Caldo De Pollo

1 chicken carcass (place in a large soup pot and add enough water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours or until all the meat has fallen off the bone. Pick out the bones and discard.  Add another 4-6 cups of water to bring back to a soup-like consistency)

5 carrots, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup Salsa Verde (I like the Trader Joe’s brand)

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

After you have removed all the bones from the soup pot, add 4-6 more cups of water if needed back to the pot to bring to a soup like consistency.  Add all remaining ingredients, mix well and simmer for another 30-45 minutes.  Taste and add more seasoning if desired.  If you like it spicier kick up the cayenne pepper and cumin!!  Top with diced avocado and cilantro!

Enjoy!

Sarah Fragoso

Sarah Fragoso is an international best selling author of 6 books, co-owner of the Chico, CA based gym JS Strength and Conditioning, and founder of the Everyday Paleo franchise. Sarah is the co-host of the popular Sarah and Dr. Brooke Show podcast and she also conducts workshops and retreats on the subjects of nutrition, lifestyle and fitness.

Her message is from the heart and she carries a genuine desire to help other families looking for guidance. These attributes have contributed to her successes and provide the drive to keep the discoveries coming.

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36 Comments

  1. Danielle says:

    GREAT timing! Whole Foods has whole organic chickens on sale THIS Friday only for $1.69/lb!

  2. reshma says:

    Sorry if this is a dumb question, but when you say chicken carcass, do you mean a whole raw chicken? Or just the bones leftover on a chicken after it’s been roasted? It looks like your soup has a fair amount of chicken meat, so I just wanted to make sure I did it right.

    1. Hi Reshma,
      Yes, I’m sorry – I mean what’s left over after the chicken has been roasted! It’s amazing how much meat is often on the bird that falls off after you boil it for a while! : )

  3. Debbie S says:

    WEll I guess I am off to Trader Joe’s before I have to pick up the kids from school 🙂 This sounds delish and I so appreciate your recipes. We made the chocolate mousse stuff the other night and the family loved it!!
    Thank you

  4. I love slow cooked shredded chicken, plus homemade stock is so much healthier.

  5. Looks delicious! I just made a version of your frittata this morning for breakfast… Loved it and it was so quick. Thanks for your recipes 🙂

  6. I’m kinda new to this cooking thing. I just started (other than pre-packaged stuff) since I started Paleo last a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, what do u mean by chicken carcass? Is it a whole uncooked chicken? Or, since you mentioned the roasted chicken you cooked prior to this recipe, is the carcass just the remains of the that roasted chicken?

    1. Hi Frank! Yes, I mean the remains of the roasted chicken after you roast it. So sorry if that wasn’t clear! : )

  7. Can’t wait to try this recipe! Though if anyone’s interested, you can always call ahead to the Meat Department at Whole Foods to buy just the chicken carcasses and then roast that in the oven with the onions and carrots before throwing all that into the soup pot. 😀

    1. Thanks Daphne!!!

  8. rebecca says:

    Just wanted to say thanks for your blog! I visit here often for recipes and send my friends over as well!

    This was so easy and tasted great! I sauteed the onions, carrots and fresh garlic (subbed for powder) before tossing into the soup pot. Also, I took your advice and added extra cumin and cayenne, plus I added some fresh lemon and lime juice. Needed about a 1/2 tsp salt because I had quite a bit of chicken left on the carcass. It came out sooo good!

    Thanks again and congrats on your book!

    1. Awesome Rebecca, and thank you so much!!

  9. Made 2 huge pots of this last night for friends! Perfect, wonderful, homey! Thank you!

    1. Awesome Patti, so glad it turned out! : )

  10. Daniela says:

    Just made this for my fiance who is at home sick with a cold and he loved it! Turned out great, I added a little diced red peppers and some celery for a little thicker consistency. Great recipe! I even froze up the rest of it so I can eat it the rest of the week.

  11. Made this last night for my family- LOVED IT!!

    1. Sarah says:

      So glad you liked it Raquel!

  12. John Frazer says:

    This soup is delicious. Ours came out with more liquid than I would have liked, probably because the pot was a lot bigger than the chicken carcass. When the time came for the first night of leftovers, my wife had a brilliant solution: saute a bunch of andouille sausage and throw it in. Andouille sausage is never a bad solution …

    1. Sarah says:

      I agree, Andouille sausage is never a bad solution for sure!! LOL!

  13. Stephanie says:

    Just made this last night and had a bowl for lunch at work. Yummy! And wow, I’m impressed with how much meat one whole chicken gets you. It’s a much better deal to buy the whole chicken, you get so much more for your $ than buying breasts or thighs or whatever. Thanks for another great recipe!

    1. Sarah says:

      Yes, I love the whole chicken for that reason as well – tons of meat and not a lot of waste! : )

  14. Fantastic! We love this recipe. My family of 3 had one chicken meal from the whole chicken, then made the soup. I added in part of cabbage that needed to be used. When I reheated some leftover soup, I added some shrimp and I love to crack an egg in it at the last minute for a creamier soup. Let the white cook, then break the yolk after removing from the heat. For soup meal #3, I added some homemade pork sausage & dandelion greens.

    1. Love the idea of cracking in an egg! Thanks so much Laura!!

  15. Jaclynn says:

    Looks delicious!! Could I do this in the crockpot with chicken thighs?

    1. Sarah says:

      Yes!!

      1. Jaclynn says:

        Awesome, just put it in the crockpot…wasn’t sure how much liquid, but I’ll let you know how it comes out. Thanks for all of the wonderful recipes and information….love your blog 🙂

        1. Marisol Kusbel says:

          I was wondering how using the crock pot with chicken thighs came out for you! I want to do the same, but I’ve never used a crock pot 🙁 Can you tell me what you did?

  16. Ashley says:

    Amazing! This will be a once a week deal in my house. Roast chicken with butternut squash one night and then delicious spicy stew the next night! You wouldn’t even be able to tell this is super healthy! Thank you for the great insight.

  17. Tiffany says:

    Made this in the crock pot today. Was amazing. Perfect recipe for an ice cold day. Thanks!!!

  18. Hello, when you say “Hi Frank! Yes, I mean the remains of the roasted chicken after you roast it. So sorry if that wasn’t clear! : ) “, do you mean the remains of the roasted chicken AFTER you carve off the meat?

    1. Yes, after you carve off the meat. Whatever is left that you didn’t eat initially after roasting the bird.

  19. This was a great soup! It was -13 here yesterday and the fragrant spices warmed your soul right up! I enjoyed mine with a small amout of sour cream and had to use chicken broth and chicken breasts as i didn’t want to run out to the store…but it was delicious! Thanks so much!

  20. eliza says:

    On the stove right now! Hope is great, sounds great! 🙂

  21. Audrey says:

    Thank you Sarah for another awesome recipe. I think I might try it next time with Italian Sausage instead of chicken. I love your recipes, we must have the same taste buds, because I love your books and your recipes!

    1. Thank you Audrey! : )

  22. Missy says:

    I made this tonight and it smells so delicious and tastes even better! I was skeptical about my chicken carcasses, I used three small ones! But there definitely was a lot of meat! Thank you Sarah!!! (My hubby thanks you too!;))

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