Caldo de Pollo, Mexican Chicken Soup

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Caldo de Pollo

There’s nothing like a hot, pleasant soup to keep you warm on a cold day. While the plain old chicken soup is always the first candidate for the cold, the Mexican chicken soup, Caldo de Pollo, is a little different.

What’s Caldo de Pollo, and how is it prepared?

Caldo de Pollo is a healthy and nutritious Mexican soup made with chicken and vegetables. It’s chunkier than the regular chicken soup since the veggies are in heartier cuts. It includes a whole range of veggies, depending on the taste, and it can be hot and spicy or bland and cold-friendly.

In the rest of the article, we’ll go through this satiating soup’s features and ingredients and how to make one of Mexico’s most famous soups.

What’s Caldo de Pollo?

Caldo de Pollo is the Mexican version of chicken soup, which translates as “chicken broth.”

Of course, it’s not broth; quite the contrary, it’s a full-blown soup loaded with vegetables, spices, and naturally, meat.

The Spanish-speaking people worldwide use this hearty soup as a cure for the common cold.

For the rest of us, chicken soup is a regular watery food just like any other plain soup.

Caldo de Pollo is similar to chicken soup in ingredients: chicken, onions, potatoes, and carrots.

What makes the difference is how you cut and prepare them.

All the veggies have a heartier cut, with potatoes cut in halves and whole cabbage leaves.

Caldo de Pollo Ingredients

The main ingredient for Caldo de Pollo is chicken. While you could use shredded rotisserie chicken as a shortcut, it’s not the authentic “chunky” one.

You could use a whole chicken, chicken tights, or breasts. Don’t overcook the breasts as they’re not as juicy as thighs and get tough.  

Every Spanish speaking family has its special recipe for Caldo de Pollo.

But the primary ingredients, apart from the indispensable onion and garlic, are the following:

  • Carrots: Cut them into ½ inch (1.27 cm) slices.
  • Jalapeno: If you want your soup spicier and hotter add the famous Mexican pepper. However, if your kids don’t like the hot taste, you can skip it and add some hot sauce to your plate. You could also use cayenne pepper to add more taste and flavor.
  • Potatoes: Cut them into big chunks. Waxy potatoes such as Yukon are better than russet potatoes because they fall apart.
  • Green chiles: This is to add a pleasantly tangy flavor. Don’t get the hot type, and go for the mild one instead.
  • Celery: Cut into ½ inch (1.27 cm) slices.
  • Chayote: It’s also known as Mexican mirliton squash. It’s a delicious avocado-shaped squash with green skin that tastes like a mixture of baby squash and sweet corn. Dice it into ½ inch (1.27 cm) cubes or bigger, if you like.
  • Tomatoes: While you can go for any kind, the fire-roasted diced type is perfect for adding a smoky flavor. Tomatoes give your soup a slightly sweet and tangy flavor and the classic reddish color of Caldo de Pollo.
  • Corn: You can use all kinds of corn, including on the cob, off the cob, and drained canned sweet corn. However, Mexicans cook authentic Caldo de Pollo using fresh corn on the cob and cut it in half or thirds.
  • Cilantro: Both in the soup and on top to add an earthy and zesty flavor.
  • Rice: White long grain or brown.

Caldo de Pollo Seasoning

Most traditional Caldo de Pollo recipes don’t include seasoning.

However, you have a wide range of options to give your soup a satisfying taste.

Salt and pepper, dried oregano, cumin seeds, smoked paprika, chili powder, and ground coriander are ideal candidates to give the latin soup a dynamic and satisfying flavor.

Caldo de Pollo Recipe

Mexican Caldo de Pollo
Mexican Caldo de Pollo

Like most kinds of soup, Caldo de Pollo is pretty easy to make.

However, there are some secrets to making the soup juicy and delicious:

  1. Bring water to a boil and add chicken, salt, and garlic to it. Alternatively, sear the chicken to develop more flavor and seal in the juices. 
  2. After adding the ingredients to the water, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a separate pan and fry the rice in it until golden brown.
  4. Add chopped onions to the rice and stir until translucent.
  5. Add tomatoes and cook for several minutes.
  6. Put the rice mixture in the soup.
  7. Add the other veggies, let them boil, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Add the seasoning here.
  8. Remove the chicken, shred the meat, and return to the soup (optional).
  9. Add the cilantro and lime juice 5 minutes before the cooking is over.

You could use any other vegetables of your choice, including zucchini and cabbages.

Serve with avocado slices and lime wedges. 

How To Serve Caldo de Pollo

Traditional Mexican Caldo de Pollo Soup
Traditional Mexican Caldo de Pollo Soup

Like any other Mexican soup, the topping is important in serving.

The following toppings are all possible.

You can use any one of them you want, or you could go with all of them.

  • Tortilla chips. You could use them as tortilla strips or coarsely crushed chips. It gives both a salty flavor and a crunchy texture to your soup.
  • Pico de gallo. It goes perfectly with all Mexican soups. This type of salsa gives your soup a juicy and citrusy touch.
  • Hot sauce. If you want your soup hotter, that’s the way to go.
  • Cheese. Going for cheese depends on your preferences since many people find Caldo de Pollo not a cheesy type of soup. Queso fresco and Monterrey perfectly go with the taste.

Cilantro, radishes, lime juice, tomatoes, and sour cream are other toppings that compliment each other’s taste and that of the soup.

You could also serve this soup with tortillas, chips and salsa, fruit salad, and even churros.

Plus, You could omit the rice from the ingredients and serve the soup on hot rice in a bowl.

When To Cook Caldo De Pollo

You could prepare the ingredients ahead of time and put them in a fridge for later use.

Make sure to keep them in an airtight container to prevent them from going bad.

The cooking time should take less than an hour, but it depends on the chicken and vegetable size.

The chicken should be tender enough for you to pull off the bones easily.

The vegetables should also be fork tender.

You could also cook the soup ahead of time since it tastes better if you leave it overnight.

However, if you use rice, it may get mushy or soggy, so it’s better to serve it fresh.

Make sure to add some water or broth when reheating because the vegetables absorb the broth.

Keeping Caldo de Pollo in the Fridge

You can keep this soup in the fridge for 4-5 days if you store it in an airtight container.

It’s also possible to freeze the soup in a freezer-safe container or plastic bags.

To defrost, take it out of the fridge and leave it overnight, then reheat it.

Caldo de Pollo Health Benefits

Like any other chicken soup, Caldo de Pollo is one of the healthiest dishes you can enjoy when you have a cold or on regular winter nights.

It’s loaded with nutritious vegetables and chicken. So, you’ll get plenty of fiber, protein, potassium, beta carotene, and antioxidants.

You could make it gluten-free, dairy-free, and also grain-free. Lime juice is an excellent source of vitamin C to help you with the cold.

Final Caldo de Pollo Thoughts 

Caldo de Pollo
Caldo de Pollo

While Mexico is known for many popular dishes, Caldo de Pollo is a Mexican chicken soup that adds an exotic and extravagant touch to the regular chicken soup.

It contains large chunks of vegetables and whole chicken pieces, such as legs, breasts, and thighs.

That’s the main difference between Caldo de Pollo and the plain old chicken soup.

It’s served with a wide variety of tastes and toppings.

Avocado, hot sauce, sour cream, lime juice, and cilantro are popular toppings.

It also goes on the side of rice and tortilla chips.

Sources

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