Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)
A whole chicken simmered gently with onion, garlic, celery and cilantro, then carrots, potatoes and chayote, served in big bowls over white rice with avocado, chopped onion, cilantro, serrano and lime, and warm corn tortillas on the side.
Caldo de pollo just means "chicken broth," and in Mexico it is a whole meal. Wikipedia describes it as whole chicken pieces cooked with large cuts of vegetables, next to caldo tlalpeño, a version garnished with avocado, cheese and chipotle. It's the soup for a cold day and for a cold.
This recipe is Mely Martínez's, from Mexico in My Kitchen, her site of Mexican home cooking. She keeps it simple on purpose: chicken, water, onion, garlic, celery, carrots and cilantro, with other vegetables such as zucchini, chayote, green beans or potatoes if you like. She notes that cooks in southern Mexico prefer perejil ranchero (country parsley) or culantro to cilantro, and that cumin and allspice are rarely added to chicken soup in Mexico. The rice is cooked separately and spooned into each bowl so it doesn't go mushy, and everyone garnishes their own.
Why it works the kitchen science
A gentle simmer
Keeping the pot just below a boil, as Martínez insists, keeps the broth clear and the chicken tender instead of stringy.
Rice on the side
Cooking the rice separately and adding it bowl by bowl means it never swells and turns the leftovers into porridge.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the chicken pieces, water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. As foam rises, skim it off and discard it.
- Step 2
Add the onion, garlic and celery, partially cover, turn the heat down and simmer gently 30 minutes; don't let it boil.
- Step 3
Add the carrots and cilantro. After 15 minutes, add the potatoes and chayote and simmer until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest piece. Lift the chicken out to a plate to cool.
- Step 4
Keep the soup simmering about 10 minutes more, until the carrots, potatoes and chayote are tender. Lift the vegetables out with a slotted spoon, dice the carrots, and keep everything warm.
- Step 5
Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer back into the pot and let it settle 8 to 10 minutes, then spoon off the fat that rises. Shred the chicken or cut it into bite-size pieces.
- Step 6
Warm the broth over low heat and season it. Put a spoonful of rice, chicken and vegetables in each bowl, ladle in the hot broth, and let everyone add avocado, onion, cilantro, chile and lime, with warm tortillas on the side.
Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)
Serves 8 · about 8 bowls · 1 hr 15 min total
Soup
- 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 lb), cut into pieces
- 8 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 white onion
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 celery sprigs (ribs with leaves)
- 3 large carrots, each cut into 3 pieces
- 2 cilantro branches
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 chayote, peeled, pitted and cut into wedges
To serve
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 1 serrano or jalapeño, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- Warm corn tortillas
Method
- Put the chicken pieces, water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. As foam rises, skim it off and discard it.
- Add the onion, garlic and celery, partially cover, turn the heat down and simmer gently 30 minutes; don't let it boil.
- Add the carrots and cilantro. After 15 minutes, add the potatoes and chayote and simmer until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest piece. Lift the chicken out to a plate to cool.
- Keep the soup simmering about 10 minutes more, until the carrots, potatoes and chayote are tender. Lift the vegetables out with a slotted spoon, dice the carrots, and keep everything warm.
- Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer back into the pot and let it settle 8 to 10 minutes, then spoon off the fat that rises. Shred the chicken or cut it into bite-size pieces.
- Warm the broth over low heat and season it. Put a spoonful of rice, chicken and vegetables in each bowl, ladle in the hot broth, and let everyone add avocado, onion, cilantro, chile and lime, with warm tortillas on the side.
Adapted from Mely Martínez, "Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)", Mexico in My Kitchen (published January 7, 2014; updated September 11, 2026), 8 servings. We follow it as written: a 3 to 4-lb chicken in pieces, 8 cups water and 2 tsp salt brought to a boil over medium-high heat and skimmed; onion, garlic and celery simmered partially covered about 30 minutes without boiling; carrots and cilantro, with other vegetables 15 minutes later; the broth strained and degreased; rice, avocado, onion, lime, chile, cilantro and tortillas at the table. She lists potatoes and chayote as optional vegetables but gives no amounts; the 2 potatoes and 1 chayote, the 2 cups of rice and the 165°F check are ours. Mexico in My Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Martínez sometimes uses half a chicken, or just legs, thighs, ribs and wings, which all make a rich broth.
- Bone-in chicken makes a better broth than boneless breasts, she says.
- If you're making the broth ahead, chill it and lift off the fat instead of skimming it hot.
- Leftover broth and chicken keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator; reheat to a rolling boil (USDA FSIS).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Caldo de pollo needs cumin. Documented as false for Mexico by Martínez: she says cumin and allspice are rarely added.
- Cilantro is the herb. Disputed: Martínez uses cilantro but says cooks in southern Mexico prefer perejil ranchero or culantro; Pati Jinich's Mexican chicken broth uses parsley.
- The rice goes in the pot. Disputed: some cooks simmer it in the soup; Martínez cooks it separately so it doesn't go mushy.
- Chicken soup cures a cold. Disputed: see Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls; Martínez calls it a remedy for the soul.
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