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Cabbage soup with chicken

Shchi — Fresh Cabbage Soup with Chicken

The tastiest, lightest fresh soup for summer! Shchi made with fresh cabbage and chicken is a very fragrant, low-calorie soup of fresh vegetables and chicken. Adults and kids alike will love it, and it's ideal for anyone watching their figure.

Zhemchuzhinka

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Chicken

600

Cabbage

700

Potatoes

600

Onion

Carrot

Tomatoes

400

Vegetable oil

Bay leaf

Dry spices

Sugar

Water (or a little more, to taste)

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 27 % 3 g

Fats 36 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 36 % 4 g

63 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make shchi with fresh cabbage and chicken? First, gather all the ingredients from the list. Use a whole chicken or any parts of it — backs, thighs, wings, and so on all work well for the broth.
Step 2:

Put the chicken in a pot, cover it with water, and set it on the stove. Bring it to a boil over high heat, salt it, and skim off the white foam that forms. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the meat until done — this takes about 30–40 minutes.
Step 3:

Meanwhile, prep everything else. Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage. Peel the potatoes, garlic (if you're using it), onion, and carrot. Rinse all the vegetables and herbs in cold water.
Step 4:

Chop the onion finely and grate the carrot on the coarse holes.
Step 5:

Cut the tomatoes into small cubes. If you like, peel them first — I usually don't.
Step 6:

Heat a little refined oil in a skillet. Add the onion and carrot to fry. Sauté the vegetables, stirring, until the onion turns translucent.
Step 7:

Add the tomatoes to the sauté and stir. Reduce the heat to medium and cook everything together for about 7–10 minutes.
Step 8:

Cut the potatoes into medium-sized cubes or sticks.
Step 9:

Shred the cabbage into medium strips — don't cut it too thin, so it holds its shape during the long simmer.
Step 10:

Take the chicken out of the broth. Add the potatoes to the pot and cook until tender (about 20 minutes).
Step 11:

Turn up the heat. Add the cabbage, bay leaves, and the sauté to the broth. Add more salt if needed, along with the sugar.
Step 12:

Pull the slightly cooled chicken off the bone and add it to the pot. Once it comes back to a boil, turn the burner down to the very lowest setting (on an electric stove, set it to 1), cover the pot, and let the shchi simmer for about an hour. If you used an older head of cabbage rather than a young one, leave it on the stove for up to an hour and a half.
Step 13:

Sprinkle the finished shchi with finely chopped fresh herbs and add the garlic. Take it off the heat and let it rest for 5–10 minutes.
Step 14:

The most fragrant and delicious fresh-cabbage shchi is ready! Serve it hot, sprinkled with ground black pepper.
Step 15:

The shchi is very tasty with a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy!
Important! Whether or not the recipe specifies an amount of water, it's best to go by your own preference (whether you like a thick or a thinner soup), as well as the size of your pot and the ingredients you're using. Keep in mind that the author has their own idea of how much meat, potato, grain, and so on should go into the soup, which may not match yours. In practice, that means if you're making it for the first time, don't cook a whole pot at once. Make a tasting batch — for one or two people. Reduce all the ingredients to 1–2 servings, and figure the water at roughly one cup per serving for a very thick soup, up to 1.5–2 cups for a thinner one. Don't forget that some of the liquid boils off during cooking. After tasting a small portion, you can adjust both the amount of liquid and the proportions of the ingredients to your liking. Down the road, like most experienced cooks, you'll be able to pour in the water and add the ingredients by eye.
You can swap the chicken for turkey or any other meat you like. Just keep in mind that the cooking time and the calorie count will change.
An easy way to peel tomatoes: wash them, score a cross in the top with a sharp knife, and drop them into boiling water for 1–2 minutes. Take them out, cool them slightly, and slip off the skins.