Description
This lemon chicken couscous soup is such a simple, comforting dinner recipe. Making homemade stock on a weeknight can be daunting, but this recipe keeps it easy!
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in (skin-on) chicken thighs
- Water
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 4 ribs celery with leaves, trimmed and diced
- Cancale seasoning salt to taste (or garlic pepper, lemon pepper, herbes de Provence)
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- ⅓ cup fresh dill, roughly chopped (plus more for serving)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dukkah, oyster crackers, or saltines for serving
- Extra virgin olive oil for garnish
Instructions
1. Place the chicken thighs in a 3.5-quart pot. Season all over with salt and place the parsley sprigs on top. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.
2. After 2 hours, remove the cover, remove the chicken from the pot, and transfer it to a bowl. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a large bowl. Discard the parsley sprigs, wipe out the pot, and return it to the stove.
3. Remove the skins from the chicken thighs and discard. Pick the chicken from the bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces. Transfer the meat to the bowl of broth. Discard the bones.
4. Heat the olive oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes until it softens. Add the Cancale or your favorite seasoning salt and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
5. Add the pearl couscous to the pot and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock and chicken. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the couscous is tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
6. Add the fresh dill and lemon juice to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with dukkah or oyster crackers and serve with fresh dill scattered on top. Drizzle each bowl with a touch of extra virgin olive oil. Enjoy!
Notes
You can substitute Cancale seasoning salt with your favorite blend like lemon pepper or herbes de Provence.
For a lighter broth, skim off excess fat after straining the stock.
This soup stores well and tastes even better the next day as the flavors develop.