Some of My Favorite Chicken Recipes

This past week, I had the chance to sit down with Force of Nature to discuss the nutrient density of pasture-raised chicken. They just launched their new chicken parts and we have been loving it in our house! You can use code WILDANDWELL to save 10%.

Pasture-raised chicken tends to be higher in iron, higher in Omega 3s, has a lower Omega 6:3 ration and higher Vitamin E, A & D. Vitamin A plays an important role in supporting good vision, cell division and growth, a strong immune system and skin health.

Pastured chicken is also loaded with collagen (in fact 15% more than conventional chicken). Collagen is a fascinating protein and is essential to joint support, bone density, skin health and wound repair. Recent studies also show that Collagen also appears to stabilize blood sugar levels and regulate blood pressure. Pasture raised chicken also contains higher amounts of amino acids, including glutathione, which is so beneficial that many people take it in supplement form to reduce inflammation, aid in detoxification, and increase energy, just to name a few benefits. Pastured chicken tends to have 4 to 5 times as much glutathione than convention chicken.

These are a few of my favorite chicken recipes to share with clients and friends:

Instant Pot Chicken + Rice Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons ghee

1 small yellow onion diced

1 shallot diced

5 carrots peeled and diced

5 garlic cloves minced

2 lbs chicken thighs boneless & skinless

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 bay leaf

4-5 fresh thyme sprigs

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon oregano

1 cup jasmine rice

5 cups chicken bone broth

1 1/2 cups filtered water

1/2 lemon juiced

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Press the "sauté" setting on your Instant Pot and add ghee. Let this melt slowly. Dice the chicken and set aside. Add onions, shallot and carrots and let that sauté for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and chicken and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add bay leaf, thyme and spices and cook until the chicken is almost cooked through.

Add rice and stir everything well. Add all liquids and close lid. Set Instant Pot on pressure cook “high” for 4 minutes. Let it naturally release for 12 minutes. Open the lid and stir in lemon and add any additional salt & pepper to taste.

Nourishing Lemon Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

For Broth / Chicken -

1 Whole Chicken

1 Celery Stalk, Cut into Chunks

1 Onion, Quartered

Salt and Pepper

8-10 Cups Filtered Water

For Soup -

3 Celery Stalks, Chopped

3 Carrots, Chopped

1 Onion, Chopped

2 Lemons

3 Cloves Garlic, Minced

1 Cup Organic Elbow Pasta

10 Cups Homemade Chicken Stock or Bone Broth

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Eggs

2 Cups Fresh Spinach, Chopped

Salt + Pepper

Optional: Dill

Directions:

Take whole chicken out of packaging and rinse well and then pat dry. Put whole chicken in the InstantPot and add celery, carrot and onion. Add filtered water and completely cover chicken carcass and the added ingredients. Add salt and pepper (and any herbs you might have laying around!). Put the InstantPot on Manual High Pressure for 40 minutes.

In the meantime, chop onion, carrot, celery and mince garlic for the soup and set aside. Once the InstantPot is done, release pressure and carefully take chicken out of the broth. Remove all meat from the carcass and shred and set aside - this should give you about 2-3 cups of chicken to add to the soup. Strain the broth from the InstantPot so that all of the vegetables are out and set this aside as well.

Add olive oil to your dutch oven and add in the carrots, celery, onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes or so. Once everything is softer, add in the stock from the chicken (this should be roughly 10 cups). If not, you can always add in extra chicken stock if you have that on hand. Let this come to a simmer and add in the elbow pasta and let that cook. Once the noodles are done, stir in cooked chicken and remove from heat.

Using a lemon juicer, juice the two lemons and then whisk in 3 eggs to this mixture. Add a little salt and pepper. Add one cup of the warm soup mixture to the egg and whisk very slowly! You want to go really slow here so that you’re not making an egg drop soup. We want the soup base to be creamy but not have pieces of egg in it. Once the egg mixture feels warm (you may need to add a little more of the soup to the mixture if it isn’t warm enough with the single cup). Begin slowly adding this to the soup - just a 1/2 cup at a time. Once that is well mixed and complete, stir in spinach and add salt and pepper to taste! If you would like to top with Dill, you can do that before serving!

Congee

Ingredients:
3/4 Jasmine rice
6.5 Cups of a combination of water and broth as preferred.
1 Tbsp sliced fresh ginger
4-5 Chicken Drumsticks
A generous pinch of sea salt
Bonus if you have it: Kombu or Wakame flakes as they provide many different nutrients, vitamins and minerals to support and restore balance for mamas in their recovery.

After soaking the grains, rinse in cold water by gently scrubbing the rice with your fingertips in a circling motion. Pour out the milky water, and continue to rinse until the water is clear, then drain well.

Add ginger, 4-5 chicken drumsticks and 6.5 - 7 cups of cold water and broth in Instant Pot. 

Pressure cook at High Pressure for 30 minutes + Natural Release (10-20 minutes). The congee will look watery at this point. Heat up the Instant Pot using the Sauté function. Stir the congee until desired thickness & consistency, then season with salt. Use tongs and fork to separate the chicken meat from the bones, then remove the chicken bones and skin (if desired). If you like, you can shred the chicken. 

Add more salt as needed, scallions, wakame flakes, chicken, or nothing at all! We added extra baked chicken thighs to add a little flavor (and more protein). Just add a little olive oil, lemon, turmeric and garlic salt and bake for 45 minutes at 375!

Bone Broth - Chicken 

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken feet
1 whole chicken carcass
1 onion 
1 whole garlic
2 celery stalks cut in half
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
2 carrots
1 piece of seaweed
Handful of fresh herbs

Add all ingredients to pot and cover with filtered water. Bring pot to a boil and after boiling lower to a light simmer for 48 hours. If water starts to evaporate, add filtered water back in during the first 24 hours. After it has lightly simmered for 48 hours, strain out all ingredients over a mixing bowl.

Divide broth among glass mason jars and store in the fridge for up to 8-10 days! Look for the nice gelatinous broth and heat over stove daily and enjoy!

Chicken Stew

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

1 large onion halved and sliced

4 cloves garlic minced

2 large carrots cut into 1 ½-inch chunks

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken bone broth

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 springs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

6 yellow potatoes halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil over medium heat and add chicken thighs to pan to brown. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes on each side. When they’re done, move to a plate and set aside. Add in onion, and garlic and cook until translucent.

Sprinkle 3 tbsp all-purpose flour and stir for a minute. Then add in bone broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. Add in carrots and then chicken on top/ Add herbs and bay leaves and cover and cook for 40 minutes. The chicken should not be submerged in the broth.

Next, add in potatoes in the liquid and return to oven covered for 30 minutes. Once that’s finished, remove lid and return to oven on broil for 5 minutes or until chicken skin is nice and brown!