Caldo de Pollo

Name: Caldo de Pollo
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 3 lb chicken (leg quarters, bone-in, skin on); 10 cup water; 1 unit onion (halved); 4 clove garlic (smashed); 2 unit bay leaves; 2 ½ tsp salt; 2 unit corn (2 ears, cut in rounds); 3 unit carrots (big chunks); 1 lb potatoes (halved); 1 unit chayote (wedges — or zucchini); 1 unit cabbage (green, in wedges through the core); 2 cup rice (cooked, for the bowls); ½ cup cilantro (chopped); 2 unit lime (quartered — non-negotiable)

Soups & Sauces · Latin American & Caribbean

14 ingredients · 90 minutes · 6 servings

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707kcal53.5g protein20g fat77.7g carbs*

Nothing flagged in the ingredient list. The label is still the last word.

Restrictions

Diets

No porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

3 lb	chicken (leg quarters, bone-in, skin on)
10 cup	water
1 unit	onion (halved)
4 clove	garlic (smashed)
2 unit	bay leaves
2 ½ tsp	salt
2 unit	corn (2 ears, cut in rounds)
3 unit	carrots (big chunks)
1 lb	potatoes (halved)
1 unit	chayote (wedges — or zucchini)
1 unit	cabbage (green, in wedges through the core)
2 cup	rice (cooked, for the bowls)
½ cup	cilantro (chopped)
2 unit	lime (quartered — non-negotiable)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 unit

serrano (minced, at the table)

Steps

Simmer40 min
chicken + water + onion + garlic + bay + salt, skimmed
the leg quarters from cold water to a gentle simmer, foam skimmed in the first ten minutes — bone-in and skin-on because the bones ARE the broth; this is stock-making and soup-making in one pot, which is the caldo tradition's whole economy
Simmer25 min
hard vegetables in: corn, carrots, potatoes
the big chunks into the pot in descending order of stubbornness — the size is identity, not laziness: a caldo bowl is navigated with spoon and fingers, corn round lifted and eaten from the cob, and dicing the vegetables would make it a different (lesser) soup
Simmer12 min
chayote and cabbage last
- chayote
- cabbage
the quick vegetables until just tender — the broth stays clear and gentle throughout, seasoned only with salt, because the loudness is about to be added bowl by bowl
Top4 min
the service: rice in the bowl, then soup, then the table
a scoop of rice in each bowl, a piece of chicken ON the bone, vegetables and broth over — then the table takes over: lime squeezed with intent (the caldo without lime is unfinished, every abuela agrees), cilantro, minced serrano for those who want the fire; the build-your-own bowl is the dish