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Soup with corn grits and chicken

Chicken Soup with Corn Grits

A soup with corn grits to shake up your weeknight menu! Swapping out a single ingredient can completely change a dish — and that's exactly what happens here with a soup that's usually made with rice. Trade the rice for corn grits and you get a brand-new, delicious first course. You'll love this corn soup from the very first spoonful!

Maria

Recipe author

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Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Water

Potatoes

300

Corn grits

100

Green peas (frozen)

Chicken leg

Onion

Carrot

Celery stalk

Bay leaf

Ground black pepper

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 38 % 3 g

Fats 13 % 1 g

Carbohydrates 50 % 4 g

36 kcal

GI: 50 / 0 / 50

Cooking method

Step 1:

Gather your ingredients. To make chicken soup with corn grits you'll need: 3 quarts (3 liters) of water; 300 g potatoes; 100 g corn grits; 40 g frozen peas; 1 chicken leg (I also added a wing and the neck for richer flavor); 1 onion; 1 carrot; 1 celery stalk; 1 bay leaf; ground black pepper; and salt.
Step 2:

Rinse the corn grits thoroughly until the water runs clear.
Step 3:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium cubes.
Step 4:

Peel the carrot and grate it on the coarse side of a grater.
Step 5:

Rinse the chicken leg. Put the leg, the whole onion, and the celery stalk into a pot.
Step 6:

Pour in 3 quarts (3 liters) of water. Set the pot over medium heat, bring to a boil, and simmer the broth for about 35 minutes, skimming off the foam. At the end of cooking, remove and discard the onion and celery.
Step 7:

Remove the chicken leg and separate the meat from the bones.
Step 8:

Strain the broth and return it to the heat.
Step 9:

Add the grated carrot and the corn grits to the broth. Bring the soup to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring.
Step 10:

Add the potatoes and frozen peas. Cook for about 20 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender.
Step 11:

Return the chicken meat to the pot and add the bay leaf. Season the soup with salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes more.
Step 12:

Remove the finished soup from the heat, cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then ladle into bowls. Enjoy!

After making corn tortillas, I had half a package of corn grits left over, and I quickly found uses for it: a delicious corn bread made with kefir (I'll share that recipe here soon) and this soup. It was my first time using corn grits in a soup. I usually make these soups with rice, sometimes millet or buckwheat. Corn grits give the soup a completely different flavor — not what you're used to, but very pleasant. Just be sure to rinse the grits very, very well to wash out the starch; otherwise the dish can taste a little bitter. To keep the broth clear, I not only rinsed the grits but also boiled them separately in hot water for about 3–4 minutes. That removed all the cloudiness, and the broth came out nice and clear.