Eating for One – 7 Meals from One $10 Chicken Part 4: From Carcass to Comfort – Chicken & Vegetable Soup

This is where the real value shows up.

Most people throw this part away…

👉 The carcass
👉 The vegetable trimmings
👉 All that hidden flavour

Chef Ian turns it into something better than anything you’ll buy:

👉 2 litres of beautiful, natural chicken stock
👉 A nourishing chicken soup
👉 And still more left for another meal

This isn’t leftovers…
👉 This is smart cooking.

Step 1: Make the Chicken Stock

Method

1. Place the chicken carcass into the Ninja cooking pot.
2. Add the onion, carrot and celery trimmings.
3. Pour over 2 litres of cold water.
4. Secure the pressure lid and cook on Pressure – High for 30 minutes.
5. Allow the pressure to release safely according to your Ninja's instructions.
6. Carefully strain the stock through a fine sieve into a clean container. Discard the bones and vegetable trimmings.
7. Allow the stock to cool promptly, then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled.
8. Once cold, any fat that has set on the surface can be lifted away if preferred.
9. Measure 1 litre of stock for the Chicken & Vegetable Soup. Reserve the remainder for another recipe.

Step 2: Chicken & Vegetable Soup

1. Prepare the noodles.
   Place the vermicelli into a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave until just softened, then drain well and set aside.
2. Heat the stock.
   Pour 1 litre of the chilled homemade chicken stock into a saucepan and bring gently to a simmer.
3. Add the vegetables.
   Add the diced celery and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, or until it begins to soften.
4. Add the frozen mixed vegetables and continue to simmer for approximately 5–8 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but still have some colour and texture.
5. Add the chicken.
   Stir through the cooked chicken and gently heat for another 2–3 minutes. Remember, the chicken is already cooked — we're warming it through, not cooking it again.
6. Add the noodles last.
   Stir through the softened, drained rice noodles just before serving and allow them to heat through for 1–2 minutes.
7. Taste the soup before seasoning. Your homemade stock already contains plenty of flavour, so only add salt and pepper if it actually needs it.
8. Ladle into warm bowls and serve immediately.

• Stock making fundamentals
• Cooking with intention
• Stretching ingredients properly
• Creating multiple meals from one cook

Don't boil the chicken to death. It's already cooked. Add it towards the end so it stays tender rather than becoming dry and stringy.

Soften the vermicelli separately. Adding dry noodles directly to the soup means they'll absorb your beautiful stock. Pre-softening them keeps more broth in the bowl where it belongs.

Taste before reaching for the salt. Homemade stock concentrates flavour naturally, and the roast chicken itself may already have been seasoned.

Save your vegetable trimmings. Clean onion ends, celery leaves and carrot peelings are flavour, not rubbish. Keep a container or freezer bag specifically for suitable stock vegetables.

Make stock when it suits you. The carcass can also be refrigerated after dinner and the stock made the following day. There is no need to tackle everything at once.

No nasties. Just real stock.

Bones, vegetables and water. That's it.

And from something that could very easily have gone into the bin, you've created the base for another family meal — with stock still left for the next one.

This makes 2 generous serves:

• Eat one now
• Save one for later
• Or freeze for a future meal

👉 Cooking once… eating twice

• Extra 1 litre of stock already done
• Use for:
  • Another soup
  • Sauce
  • Rice dish

👉 This is how you build a kitchen that works for you