Polish Chicken Noodle Soup (Rosol)

This nourishing Polish chicken soup (rosol) is a traditional recipe, the perfect healthy comfort food to enjoy on a cold day. It requires few ingredients, no chopping and is super easy to make.

Polish chicken soup (rosol) was an integral part of most Sunday lunches throughout my childhood.  These days I tend to cook more vegetable based soups and make chicken soup only occasionally, but whenever I do I am the best mum in the world!  What is it about chicken soup that appeals to children so much? (And not just my own!)

Equipment you'll need 

• Kitchen scale/measuring cup
• Cutting board and knife
• Large pot and spoon
• Saucepan for cooking the pasta and strainer

How to make Polish chicken soup: step-by-step

This recipe for chicken noodle soup is a low-fat, simplified version of the soup I ate as a child.  I used chicken thighs but without the skin.

This rosol soup is also simple and doesn't require any chopping or blending, so it's not labour intensive.  Which is not very common for a dish that's made completely from scratch!

1.To make Polish rosol first place the chicken in a large pot, add half the water, bring to a boil and skim off the white residue.

2. In the meantime prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3. When the soup starts boiling place all the ingredients in the pot, cover, bring to the boil again, then simmer gently, partly covered, for about 50 minutes.

4. Use either broth or enjoy this soup chunky - remove the chicken and vegetables from the pot, chop up and place back in the pot.

5. Serve with vermicelli pasta (or similar).

Enjoy this old classic on a cold rainy day (we've had plenty of those recently!) with cooked vermicelli and plenty of black pepper.  Don't forget to garnish generously with parsley.

I usually don't add stock cubes to my dishes and this chicken noodle soup from scratch is no exception.  The combination of the chicken, vegetables and herbs used in this soup creates a tasty stock, so there is no need to add anything else. I used a bit of turmeric for colour but you don't have to.

Top tips for making rosol recipe

• Do not allow the soup to boil too rapidly as it may become murky. Simmer it gently.
• Traditional rosol soup recipes usually include parsley root (not the same as parsnip), but I used parsley instead as parsley root is hard to find outside of Poland.
• I added a little turmeric for colour but you can omit it if you prefer.
• You can serve just the broth with the vermicelli or with chunks of chicken and vegetables. Once the soup is ready take the chicken and vegetables out of the pot, chop them up and place back in the pot.
• If you prefer to serve just the broth you can add the chicken into other dishes, such as chicken quinoa salad or easy lemon chicken potato bake.
• Add the pasta to individual portions - it will become too soft left in the soup.
• Freeze portions for up to 3 months.

You might also like

• Simple Borscht Recipe (Vegetarian Barszcz)
• Polish Sauerkraut Vegetable Kapusniak Soup
• Polish Dill Pickle Soup (Ogorkowa)
• Beet Greens Vegetable Soup
• Polish Chicken Meatball Soup

More Chicken Soup Recipes

Another simple chicken noodle soup recipe you might like is chicken zoodle soup.  It is made with less wheat vermicelli and includes veggie noodles.  Check out also curried sweet potato chicken mulligatawny soup with spinach as well as chunky chicken and potato soup with vegetables. You might also like Polish krupnik (barley) soup.

Check out also this collection of 13 healthy easy one pot chicken recipes. You might also enjoy this collection of over 12 creamy vegan soups.

Keep in touch!

Have you made this Polish chicken soup? I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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