Nourishing Tumeric Chicken Stew

I have made a few different versions of this soup this season and in previous years, and this one is by far my favorite. It’s very easy to customize as you can omit and replace anything you don’t like. All of the ingredients are seasonal to the fall as well. Here’s how I make it:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken (mine was around 4 lbs), can be frozen or thawed (see note) OR 2lbs of chicken meat of your choice (breasts, thighs, etc. This recipe is very versatile)

• 5 cups bone broth (see note)

• 1 whole onion, diced

• 2-3 large carrots, chopped

• 2 large sweet potatoes, chopped

• 4 ribs of celery, chopped

• About 10 leaves of Diono kale, destemmed and chopped

• Seasonings: Fresh Rosemary, fresh thyme, 5 cloves of garlic, dried or fresh oregano, bay leaves, salt, paprika, Tumeric, and pepper

• 1 can of full fat coconut milk or fresh cream

Note regarding broth: If you do not have bone broth already, don’t worry, since we’re potentially using a whole chicken, you can easily make some. To do this, add 5 cups of water in with your whole chicken.

Note regarding whole chicken: Your cooking time for a whole chicken will vary based on whether it’s frozen or thawed. For a frozen whole chicken, cook it for 15 mins per pound. For a thawed whole chicken, most sources say 6 minutes per pound and to allow the pressure to naturally release

Method:

1. Cook your whole chicken in instant pot: Add your whole chicken, 5 cups of water, a pat of butter or coconut oil, salt, and pepper to your instant pot. Cook on high pressure for the necessary time based on whether the chicken is frozen or not. I usually go for plain chicken flavor but if you want to make the broth more flavorful, you could add extra fresh herbs and garlic cloves. If cooking pieces of chicken and using chicken broth, follow the same instructions and cook the pieces of chicken in your instant pot using the poultry button.

2. While chicken is cooking, chop your sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and fresh herbs, set aside so they are ready when the chicken is done

3. When the chicken is done cooking, safely release pressure with the valve. You can naturally release the pressure if you aren’t in a hurry. The chicken will be falling apart most likely. Remove as much as you can from the instant pot and strain the broth with a fine mesh strainer. Set the broth aside

4. Cook rest of soup: Set your instant pot on sauté mode and sauté onions and garlic for 3 mins or until fragrant. Press cancel and add the rest of your veggies, broth, fresh herbs, dried oregano, salt, pepper, paprika, and 2 bay leaves. I measure all of this to taste, start with 1-1.5 tsp and if you feel it needs more at the end of cooking, then add more. Pressure cook this mixture on high for 7 minutes (I did 8 and i think 8 is too much for sweet potatoes, I didn’t mind that they were very soft but understand not everyone would be happy with that.)

5. While the rest of your food is cooking, prepare the rest of your chicken and the kale. Destem and chop your kale, wash and set aside. Separate your chicken meat from the bones and skin. Place carcass in the freezer in a sealed container, we’re going to make another round of broth with it (Note: this is why whole chickens are economically the best way to buy chicken, you can easily get 2+ meals and 2 rounds of broth with them). Set the meat aside.

6. When the rest of your food is done, release the pressure on your instant pot. When all the pressure is out of the instant pot, open it and add your chicken, coconut milk, kale, tumeric (I did about 2 tsp), and more black pepper to activate the Tumeric.

Give the soup a nice stir and enjoy with a little cheese on top if that’s your thing:)

To make this soup on the stovetop or in the slow cooker: If doing stovetop, cook your chicken first, remove from the pot and shred, if doing slow cooker, you can add your chicken in with the rest of the ingredients. Sauté your onions, garlic and herbs first, transfer to slow cooker if doing a slow cooker version then add the same things into your Dutch oven or slow cooker that you would your instant pot when cooking the rest of the soup. Simmer these ingredients until the carrots and potatoes are soft or slow cook for 4 hours on high. Once the base of your soup is done cooking, add your kale, coconut milk, tumeric and pepper.

Let me know if you guys try this and what you think.

:)