from-scratch chicken soup with homemade broth, carrots, celery and acorn squash

Most people have never bought a whole stewing hen, let alone simmered one for hours until the meat pulls easily off the bone. It takes real time, most of an afternoon if you let it, and on the elimination phase, when so many days already feel long, spending one more afternoon in the kitchen can be a hard sell. Choose it anyway, once. You will end up with real broth in your freezer for weeks, not just one dinner tonight.

The long, slow simmer is where this soup earns its collagen, drawn gradually out of the bones and folded back into a broth your gut lining can use directly while it mends. Acorn squash and carrots hold the deep orange pigment your body turns into vitamin A, a nutrient a compromised gut barrier needs on hand to keep functioning as a defense, not just a passage for food.

A whole bird gives you the chance to use nearly all of it: the meat shredded back into the soup, the bones already spent into the broth, almost nothing wasted. That is worth a real moment of gratitude before you sit down, not a performance of one, just an honest acknowledgment that an animal fed you well today.

Ingredients

• 1 stewing hen or rooster, 4 to 5 pounds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large or 2 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
• added salt to taste

(No AIP swaps needed. This ingredient list is AIP Core and seed-free as written.)

Method

Place the whole hen in a large stockpot and add the chopped onion, the bay leaf, the garlic cloves and the tablespoon of salt. Cover everything generously with water and bring it to a gentle simmer. Let it cook low and slow until the meat is fully cooked and pulls easily from the bones, skimming any foam from the surface as it rises. (Simmer time was not given in the source; a stewing hen is older and tougher, so plan on a long, patient simmer of a few hours and judge it by how readily the meat releases from the bone.)

Lift the hen out and set it aside to cool enough to handle. Strain the broth if you like, then keep it warm. Pull the meat from the bones, shred it, and discard the skin and bones (or save the bones for another batch of broth).

While the meat cools, warm the coconut oil in the pot or a separate skillet and brown the chopped carrots, celery and cubed acorn squash, stirring so they pick up a little color and sweetness. Return the broth to the pot with the browned vegetables and simmer until the squash and carrots are tender. Stir the shredded chicken back in, warm it through, and taste, adding salt as needed before serving.

Instant Pot variation

Add the hen, onion, bay leaf, garlic and salt to the Instant Pot and cover with water up to the fill line. Pressure cook on high, then let the pressure release naturally; the meat should pull cleanly from the bone when it is done. Remove the bird, shred the meat, and use the Saute setting to brown the carrots, celery and squash in the coconut oil right in the pot. Add the broth back, simmer on Saute until the vegetables are tender, then stir in the shredded chicken and season to taste. (Pressure-cook timing not given in the source and untested here; a whole stewing hen needs a long high-pressure cook, so verify the meat is fully cooked and pulling from the bone before moving on.)

*Adapted from autoimmunewellness.com*