Name: Polish Chicken Noodle Soup (Rosol)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 5 servings
Ingredients: 2 chicken legs or 3 thighs (without the skin); 1 medium carrot (peeled); 1 medium onion (peeled); 1 small leek; 70 g a small piece of celeriac (peeled); 15 g parsley (small bunch, plus more for garnish); 1 bay leaf; 2 allspice berries; 1/3 tsp turmeric (adds colour ); 1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt (and plenty of black pepper); 5.5 cups water; Cooked vermicelli (enough for 4-6 people)

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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 for making healthy chicken soup

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.

3 skinless chicken thighs in large pot with water.

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

Peeled carrot, leek, peeled onion, bay leaf, piece of celeriac, allspice berries and parsley on top of cutting board.

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.

Whole, peeled carrot, onion, leek and celeriac with bay leaf and parsley in large pot with water.

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.

Chicken broth with cooked whole vegetables and chicken pieces in large pot, with chopped herbs and lid on cutting board at the top.

5. Serve with vermicelli pasta (or similar).

Top down view of chicken noodle soup with carrot and parsley inside yellow-and-white bowl, on top of green cloth.

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 parsnip but Polish parsnip, but I used parsley instead as Polish parsnip is a little different than the parsnip variety 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.

Other Polish soup recipes you might like:

More Chicken Soup Recipes

Here is another simple chicken noodle soup recipe you may also like: healthy chicken noodle soup recipe. 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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