Food & Cooking Recipes Soups, Stews & Stocks Soup Recipes Spicy Chicken-and-Lime Soup By Shira Bocar Shira Bocar Website Shira is food editor at large for Martha Stewart Living. Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 9, 2019 Print Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Marcus Nilsson Prep Time: 35 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 10 mins Servings: 6 With a fresh and spicy homemade broth and an array of colorful and crunchy toppings, here's a soup to warm up even the chilliest of evenings. This recipe uses a whole bird, making it not only a satisfying meal, but an economical one too. Starting with a cut up whole chicken helps prevent meat from overcooking. Ask your butcher to cut it into parts or follow our guide. Ingredients 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 8 parts 1 onion, skin on, cut into quarters 2 carrots, scrubbed and cut into thirds 6 cloves garlic, skins on 2 jalapeños, 1 halved lengthwise, 1 thinly sliced 10 cilantro sprigs, plus ⅓ cup chopped leaves and stems Kosher salt Vegetable oil, for frying 4 corn tortillas, cut into ¼-inch strips 2 medium tomatoes, diced 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 avocados, thinly sliced, for serving 2 radishes, thinly sliced, for serving ⅓ cup crumbled cotija, for serving Directions Fill a large pot with 14 cups water; add chicken, onion, carrots, garlic, halved jalapeño, cilantro sprigs, and 1 tablespoon kosher salt and bring to a boil. Skim foam, reduce heat, and gently simmer until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer all chicken pieces except backbone to a cutting board; continue simmering broth while you remove and discard skin and remove meat from bones. Cover meat and refrigerate; return bones to pot and simmer until broth is reduced by half, about 1 hour. Strain broth through a fine‐mesh sieve; discard solids (including bones). Skim fat; transfer broth to a clean pot. (You should have 8 cups; if you don't have enough, add water.) Heat 1 inch oil in a pot over medium‐high until it reaches 375 degrees on a thermometer. Add one‐third of tortilla strips and cook until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper‐towel‐lined plate; season with salt. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips. Shred cooled chicken into 3 cups of bite‐size pieces (reserve remainder for another use). Add to broth along with sliced jalapeño, chopped cilantro, tomatoes, and lime juice. Heat through, about 2 minutes; season with salt. Serve topped with avocados, radishes, cotija, and fried tortilla strips. Cook's Notes For a less spicy soup, remove the jalapeno seeds before using and add a few seeds back in at a time to taste. This recipe will make a little extra chicken than you need; use it up in a stir-fry or this quick quesadilla. Print