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Rosol is a traditional Polish Chicken Soup. It’s usually served on Sundays and for special occasions (like weddings, christenings, etc). It’s also a traditional remedy for anyone who feels under the weather, as it’s believed to have ‘healing power.’ The chicken broth is super clear and it’s poured over the noodles with some chopped carrots, parsley, and pieces of chicken sprinkled in. Read more to learn how to achieve the superior taste and clarity of Polish Chicken Soup.
Rosol (Polish Chicken Soup) Served to Celebrate or Heal
I’m not quite sure where this tradition of serving Rosol on Sundays and for fancy gatherings, like weddings, came from. Maybe because it looks fancy, with its super clear broth, or maybe because it needed to cook for a significant period of time, so it couldn’t be a quick weeknight meal. Whatever the case, it is unequivocally delicious.
Admittedly though, when I was growing up I wasn’t a big fan of chicken soup. I was a very picky eater and I could have gone without the food for significant periods of time. Look at me now! Who would have thought it? Had anyone in my family been told back then that I’d one day be a ‘foodie,’ they’d surely have laughed out loud.
But when I grew up, I developed a huge appreciation for Rosol. I couldn’t imagine a Sunday without it. And now, whenever anyone shows signs of a cold in my house, I’m immediately running to the store to buy all the ingredients to make Rosol. It’s believed to have a healing power (especially when the soup is made with bones) and personally, I don’t think it’s just an old wive’s tale. I always feel better right away after one hot bowl of this amazing Polish Chicken Soup.
What Makes Rosol a Unique Chicken Soup
You would think that chicken soup is chicken soup, so what’s so unique about Rosol? Well, there are a few important things to remember when making Rosol:
- You have to use chicken on the bone (it can be a carcass, whole legs, thighs, drumstick, or breast; the important part is that it’s on the bone);
- You have to add a small amount of beef or veal bone (for extra flavor), but you can’t add pork bone, otherwise, your broth won’t be clear;
- You should use a tablespoon of vinegar (apple cider or otherwise) to extract more of the healing power from the bones;
- You don’t chop your vegetables. Rather, they’re peeled and cooked whole, or just cut in half;
- You cook it for an extended period of time (about 2 hours) without boiling (it needs to simmer!);
- You need to skim whatever fat accumulates on the top a few times during the cooking process;
- You don’t add any starch to the soup (like pasta or rice). Rather, you boil the noodles separately and then run the cold water over them, to remove starch, and add to serving bowls;
- When the soup is done, you’ll remove some of the carrots and chicken pieces, chop them up and add them to your serving bowls;
- You’ll pour the broth over your noodles with chicken and carrots, through a meshed strainer, to ensure your broth is super clear. Then serve it with freshly chopped parsley. See a few easy steps in the next paragraph….
How to Make Rosol
Making Rosol is very easy. You do most of your work at the beginning, and then during the cooking process, you just need to watch so it doesn’t boil and skim what’s accumulate on a surface a few times. But let’s start from the beginning.
Prepare your ingredients for Rosol. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chicken pieces on the bone (I used 5 chicken drumsticks)
- 1 small piece of beef bone
- 4 -5 Carrots
- 1 -2 Parsnips
- Celery root
- Leek
- 2 yellow onions
- 1/4 of Cabbage head (either savoy or green)
- Parsley
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 5 Allspice
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- Salt and Pepper
- Optional: chicken broth cubes, “Magi” (popular in Europe and South America) or “Vegeta” type of seasoning (Vegeta is very popular in Europe and I see it in stores in the US now too). But again all of these are optional to enhance the flavor but are not required. Salt and pepper should be sufficient.
Steps to Make Rosol:
Step 1: Gather all your vegetables. Peel carrots, parsnip, and celery. Clean and trim your leek and wash your parsley. Heat up a skillet and add unpeeled onions in to get some burn marks. The yellow onion skins help with the nice color for the broth. If you get some burn marks it even intensifies the color.
Step 2: Place chicken pieces, beef bone, allspice, and bay leaves into a large pot.
Step 3: Add vegetables and fill the pot with water.
Step 4: Set it on medium to low heat. Do not boil it! Let it simmer for two hours. A few times during the cooking, skim off anything that accumulates on the surface.
Step 5: Boil the noodles separately, according to instructions. Once cooked, rinse with cold water to remove starch. Add noodles to a bowl. Remove a carrot and piece of chicken from the broth, cut it up and add it to your bowl. Ladle the broth into your bowl; first letting it pass through a with a meshed strainer. Add chopped parsley and serve.
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- Gather and peel your veggies
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- Add chicken, beef, bay leaves and allspice to the pot
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- Add veggies to the pot
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- Add water and start simmering
Other Famous European Soups To Try
- Polish Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogorkowa)
- Polish Borscht (Barszcz Czerwony)
- Hungarian Mushroom Soup
- Instant Pot Bean Soup with Spinach and Pesto
- Greek Lentils Soup (Fakes)
- Greek Chickpea Soup (Revithosuoupa)
- Chunky Potato Leek Soup
Rosol (Polish Chicken Soup)
Ingredients
- 5 Chicken drumsticks or other chicken parts on the bone
- 1 Small piece of beef bone
- 4 Carrots large or 5 small
- 1 Parsnip large or 2 small
- Celery root
- Leek
- 2 Yellow onions
- 1/4 head Cabbage either savoy or green
- 6 springs Parsley plus more for serving
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 5 Allspice
- 2 Bay leaves
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 8 cups Water
- 1/2 lbs Thin noodles cooked according to instructions
Instructions
- Gather all your vegetables. Peel carrots, parsnip, and celery. Clean and trim your leek and wash your parsley. Heat up a skillet and add unpeeled onions in to get some burn marks.
- Place chicken pieces, beef bone, allspice, and bay leaves into a large pot.
- Add vegetables and fill the pot with water. Add vinegar and about 1-2 tablespoons of salt (you will finish seasoning once the broth is cooked)
- Set it on medium to low heat. Do not boil it! Let it simmer for two hours. A few times during the cooking, skim off anything that accumulates on the surface.
- Check for seasoning, add salt and pepper to your liking or chicken cubes, magi or Vegeta (see recipe notes).
- Boil the noodles separately, according to instructions. Once cooked, rinse with cold water to remove starch. Add noodles to a bowl.
- Remove a carrot and piece of chicken from the broth, cut it up and add it to your bowl. Ladle the broth into your bowl; first letting it pass through a meshed strainer. Add chopped parsley and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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This looks so incredibly comforting. That’s so interesting that all the veggies are cooked whole before being cut up. And that you don’t boil it. I might try this with some of the other soups I like to make at home too!
Try it and let me know how it came out 🙂
At last – a rosół recipe (almost) the way my Mamuśia made it! She used thyme in hers, whole peppercorns instead of allspice, and sometimes left out the beef/veal bones – but she always, always charred the onions’ skins: it really does add a slight golden tint to the broth (we also used onion skins to dye eggs at Eastertime), as well as a subtle savory flavor. But instead of charring the whole onions in a pan, she would simply place them directly on the stove’s burners – works with both gas or electric stoves; the only thing you needed to be careful of was that sometimes a burning bit of skin might detach from the onion and gaily float up towards the ceiling – kind of like the way after-dinner Amaretti cookie wrappers do when you roll them into a cylinder and light them. She’s gone now, but happily she taught her recipes, standards and methods to her three daughters; I’m so happy to see that you are sharing ‘real’, traditional prewar dishes and techniques with a modern audience. Smacznego!
Thank you so much Marta! I really appreciate your nice comment 🙂
Never heard of this recipe before but I must admit it looks so good. And sunday isn’t far, a fair excuse to try it out! 😉
Try it and let me know how you liked it.
I love soup in cooler weather and it is just starting winter in Australia so I can’t wait to try this out. The step with photos look great, thanks for sharing!
I hope you will like it.
My polish grandmother would make this soup for me when I was little. I don’t have her recipe, so I can’t wait to try yours!
I’m happy I could help 🙂
Such a comforting meal!
Thank you.
Looks so hearty and delicious!!! YUM
Thank you!
I’m very surprised to read of rosol being eaten only on Sundays and special occasions… growing up we ate rosol EVERYDAY. My mom would cook a big pot, using a whole chicken, every two to three days.
We’d get home from school and get served a bowl the moment we came in the door, and it was served as a starter/soup course before every evening meal. Her recipe is a little different, celery instead of celery root, she always burnt the onion and I never saw her use cabbage, but the result was the same… the warm golden taste of home.
Rosol was for Sundays and special occasions because, in the not very distant past, the daily diet of Polish peasants consisted almost entirely of potatoes and cabbage. A whole chicken was a special treat and so the soup became associated as a special treat!