Canja de Galinha — Portuguese Chicken Soup

A comforting chicken and rice soup, fragrant with mint and finished with lemon.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1h
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Very Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 whole small chicken (about 1.3kg) or 4 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks
  • 2 litres water
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 2 carrots, peeled
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 100g long grain rice
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Small bunch fresh mint, leaves chopped
  • Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

  1. Put the chicken, water, onion, carrots, bay leaf and 1 tsp salt in a large pan. Bring to the boil, skim, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

  2. Lift out the chicken and shred the meat, discarding skin and bones. Remove the onion and bay leaf, and slice the carrots.

  3. Add the rice to the broth and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes until tender.

  4. Return the chicken and carrots to the pan and heat through. Add the lemon juice and season to taste.

  5. Serve with the mint scattered over and lemon wedges on the side.