Martha's 1-Ingredient Upgrade for the Best Chicken Soup

A good cook knows that as soon as someone starts to feel the least bit poorly, it’s time to put a pot of chicken soup on the stove. Not only does it have nourishing properties, it’s wonderfully comforting in its own right. The best way to give chicken soup an upgrade is to use simple yet powerful ingredients to add flavor. That’s why Martha uses an old-school French secret for many of her soups and broths—bouquet garni. It’s made by bundling fresh and dried herbs and spices, either with kitchen twine or cheesecloth, and letting the bundle steep in the liquid. It’s a quick and effective way to impart bright, fresh flavors to your favorite chicken soup recipe.

What Is a Bouquet Garni?

Bouquet garni is a French term that translates literally to "garnished bouquet." It's a bundle or cloth-wrapped package of herbs added to the cooking liquid to flavor it. The flavors you choose to add to the bouquet should complement the dish that you're making, so it can be as simple or complex as you like. Typically, the bouquet garni is made with things like parsley stems, thyme or rosemary sprigs, dried bay leaves, and whole peppercorns, but garlic cloves, sliced ginger, and coriander or fennel seeds could also be used, depending on the recipe. 

What Does It Do?

The purpose of a bouquet garni is to add the flavors you want from those herbs and spices to the soup while making it easy to remove once the recipe is finished. In other words, no need to fish each and every bit out at the end. And anything that saves us time in the kitchen is a good thing. 

How to Make a Bouquet Garni

There are two main ways to assemble a bouquet garni.

• If you aren’t using any loose spices like peppercorns or seeds, it’s easiest to gather the herbs into a bundle and tie them together with a piece of kitchen twine or string.
• If you do have small pieces like peppercorns in your herb and spice collection for a recipe, lay a small piece of cheesecloth flat on the counter and place the herbs and spices in the center. Gather the ends and tie it into a purse either by knotting the cheesecloth or by bringing the fabric together and tying it with kitchen twine or string.

Homemade vs. Store-Bought Stock

Good chicken soup always starts with a quality chicken stock or broth. One of our favorite ways to make chicken soup is by cooking a whole chicken in water with aromatics (like a bouquet garni). This method essentially makes homemade stock while cooking the meat at the same time, so the soup comes together all at once, with a rich stock at the forefront of the flavor. 

Homemade stock is also a must if you’re taking a shortcut by using leftover chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken.

6 More Ways to Elevate Chicken Soup

A bouquet garni isn’t the only way to amp up the flavor of chicken soup. 

1. Roast chicken bones: Roasting the bones for stock is one of the easiest ways to give stock a deeper and more complex overall flavor. By caramelizing the bones, the flavor and color of the stock will become even richer. You can do this with the bones from a leftover roast chicken or ask your butcher if you can purchase directly from them. 
2. Use chicken feet: Chicken feet are particularly high in collagen. Let them simmer with the mirepoix and aromatics, and they’ll give the stock a luscious texture. 
3. Add a Parmesan rind: Instead of throwing out your Parmesan rind, store it in a resealable bag in the freezer so you can add it to your next pot of chicken soup. As the soup simmers, the rind will soften and release a subtly nutty flavor. 
4. Enhance the stock with bouillon: If you’re using store-bought chicken broth, consider adding a cube or two of bouillon for even more flavor. 
5. Incorporate immunity-boosting ingredients: Add some thin slices of fresh ginger and/or turmeric to your bouquet garni to make chicken soup work even harder for your immune system. 
6. Add some umami: Miso packs a punch of umami flavor to any chicken soup recipe. It won’t overpower other ingredients, but it will enhance the overall savoriness.