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La Piña en la Cocina

Embracing my Mexican heritage and sharing all the wonderful flavors, colors and foods I grew up with. Join me on this journey as I also learn new foods and cooking techniques. Dedicated to my parents Ramiro and Blanca.

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Home » Chicken~Pollo » Mexican Chicken Soup- Caldo de Pollo

Mexican Chicken Soup- Caldo de Pollo

April 30, 202311 Comments

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Mexican chicken soup, caldo de pollo. Quite a few months back I was chatting with my sister, Nancy, and of course we always end up talking about food. Mom’s recipes of course. We happened to be discussing caldo de pollo, Mexican chicken soup that day. She mentioned how she remembered mom’s recipe to be very simple with just minimal vegetables. I remember she used drumsticks and thighs, probably because it was economical for a family with eight kids. Really, it was the best. There were no written recipes and anything we try to recreate is simply from memory.

Mom’s and Abuela’s Recipes Will Always Be The Best!

If I only knew how important those moments in the kitchen with mom and my abuelita would have served me today, I would have paid more attention! I hear comments like this from followers every day. My excuse with my abuela is that I was too young and not interested in cooking then. When I was finally old enough, she was elderly and didn’t cook anymore. With mom, I did pay more attention, but I feel like I didn’t ask enough questions. If you are lucky enough to have your mom or abuela cooking for you, ask questions about the recipes. Write them down. It’s so important.

Fancy Is Nice! But Simple Is More Delicious!

Maybe it’s all the nostalgia I feel when I am recreating one of mom’s recipes, but I feel such a sense of joy and satisfaction when I eat them. I am a foodie, through and through! Thrilled and excited when I have had the opportunity to enjoy high end gourmet Mexican dishes. But, more thrilled when I could sit down with family and enjoy a simple plate of food that was prepared with their own two hands, with love. That’s way more important and the memories that will stay with me forever.

The Bog Is A Way For Me To Share.

Not just share recipes, but many times the stories behind the recipes. What inspires you to walk into your kitchen and recreate dishes that remind you of home, of your childhood? Maybe it that feeling of love and security. I know it’s not like that for everyone. I truly feel like I was blessed with the best parents. They both expressed their love through the foods they shared with us. Whether it was a simple plate of scrambled eggs with beans or caldo de pollo.

Great Things Are Coming!

I have not shared my news officially on my blog, but I am currently writing cookbook #2! I am excited, thrilled, blessed, stressed, anxious and some days overwhelmed with the whole process. How do you fill your whole food life story in one small book? Lol! The recipes will speak for themselves and I hope the love comes through and you browse through the pages of my favorite home style Mexican recipes. Of course many of the recipes are inspired by mom’s recipes, the foods I experienced growing up and some of my favorite recipes. The title is to be determined, but hoping it will be out early this summer! Stay tuned!

Big Or Small Vegetables?

In many Mexican soup recipes that include vegetables, you may see them in big pieces. The size is really up to you though. For this chicken soup recipe, I decided to slice them all into bite size pieces. Leave room for those big drumsticks!

chicken soup in a bowl

Mexican Chicken Soup- Caldo de Pollo

There is nothing morecomforting than a big bowl of this chicken soup on a chilly evening. Warm corntortillas and a squeeze of fresh lime!
4.67 from 6 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 lbs chicken drumsticks, about 8-9 pieces washed
  • 2 ½ quarts water
  • 1 white onion, 95 gr
  • 6 cloves of garlic, 22 gr peeled
  • 4-6 bay leaves
  • 2 tsps. Salt plus more as soup cooks
  • 1/3 tsp. black pepper
  • 3 sticks of celery, 5 oz
  • 2 carrots, 8 oz
  • 1 russet potato, 8 oz
  • 1 chayote squash, 9 0z
  • 12 sprigs fresh cilantro
  • 2 ripe roma tomato, 132 gr
  • 1 chile serrano, 6 gr
  • 1/2 c long grain rice
  • 2 tsps oil

Garnish

  • Lime wedges
  • chopped cilantro

Instructions

  • Wash the chicken under cool water. Set it aside. Pour 3 quarts of water into a large pot set at medium heat. To the pot, add ¾ of the onion all the garlic, bay leaves, chicken, and 2 tsps. of salt. Bring up to a boil. Reduce heat slightly. Skim the foam that comes to the top as needed. Simmer for 25 minutes.
  • Peel the carrots and chayotes. Chop washed vegetables into bite size pieces. Set it aside. After the chicken simmers for 25 minutes, add the vegetables and cilantro. Prepare tomato sauce and fry the rice while chicken and vegetables cook.
  • In a skillet, at medium heat, add the quartered tomato, remaining onion, and sliced serrano pepper. Drizzle in 2 tsps. of avocado oil. Sauté for 6 minutes. Transfer to the blender. Pour in 1 cup of chicken broth from the pot into the blender jar. Season with 1/3 tsps. of salt and 1/3 tsps. of pepper. Cover blender jar, holding lid firmly with a kitchen towel. Blend on high until very smooth.
  • At medium heat, in that same skillet you sautéed tomato, pour in ½ cup of long grain rice. Drizzle in 1 1/2 tsps. of oil. Fry and toast the rice for 5 minutes, stirring as needed.
  • To the pot, mix in the tomato sauce and fried rice. Stir well to combine. When it comes up to a boil, reduce heat, taste for salt, and continue cooking until rice cooks through. Check rice for doneness after 15 minutes.
  • Garnish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and finely chopped cilantro. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Notes

Tips- Frying the rice will add more flavor, but you can still add it without frying. Any small pasta like fideo would works as well.
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

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Filed Under: Chicken~Pollo, Soups~Caldos, Traditional Mexican Recipes Tagged With: Caldo de Pollo, Chicken Soup, Traditional Mexican Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mathew

    May 1, 2023 at 11:49 am

    Wow that looks exactly like the chicken soup in the farmers market in San Diego, I have not seen it anywhere before now. I always had a bowl, great for hangovers to.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      May 1, 2023 at 12:41 pm

      Yes, Great for hangovers, lol! Thanks for stopping by Mathew!

      Reply
  2. Elisa

    December 1, 2023 at 6:58 am

    This sopita was absolutely delicious! I didn’t use the rice but still made the sauce and put it in The soup. It was so good! My first time making a chicken soup from scratch. Wanted to make a sopita for my boyfriend who was sick and he loved it! He felt a lot better after eating it. Nothing like a homemade Mexican soup when feeling under the weather.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 1, 2023 at 7:55 am

      Hi Elisa! I am so happy that you tried the recipe and that your boyfriend enjoyed it as well. Thank you for taking the time to write!

      Reply
  3. Caitlin

    December 4, 2024 at 7:49 pm

    Really really good! I found a chayote growing over our garden wall from the neighbor’s yard. I’ve never cooked with chayote before but a friend said Caldo is always a sure bet. Google brought me here… and dinner was great!

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 5, 2024 at 4:12 pm

      I love chayotes ! I am so happy you enjoyed the caldo recipe!

      Reply
  4. gip

    December 20, 2024 at 9:27 am

    Glad to see an authentic recipe for Mexican soup! So many out there but not authentic!

    Reply
    • Sonia

      December 20, 2024 at 2:19 pm

      The most wonderful Mexican dishes are simple and not full of fluff! Thank you for writing.

      Reply
  5. Peter Kuhn

    February 1, 2025 at 4:57 pm

    Thanks so much for your website, I love your photos and recipes! I am lucky to live in Berkeley, where we have a fantastic store, Mi Tierra, but please help the poor Canadians, including my older son, who live in Canada and have trouble finding ingredaments–maybe some links for the non US folks north of our border? Maybe to sources in Mexico?

    Reply
    • Sonia

      February 1, 2025 at 7:11 pm

      To be totally honest Peter, I have friends that live in Canada and they express to me all of the time how difficult it is to find Mexican ingredients, even online. Sometimes, it’s just not possible unless you get creative and find substitutions for the more traditional ingredients. I will ask my Canadian friends.

      Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, my name is Sonia Mendez Garcia. My parents Ramiro and Blanca Mendez moved to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico in 1963. I am first generation Mexican American born in Los Angeles, California. Cooking has always been one of my passions in life. This is my journey and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Read More…

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