What Is Chicken consomme and How Can I Use It?
Wondering what to do with chicken consomme? This guide covers how to pick it, cook it, store it, and swap it, plus 3 recipes to put it to work.
Key Points
- Chicken consomme is chicken stock clarified until crystal clear, lighter than a beef consomme.
- The egg-white raft clarifying method is the same; see the main consomme page.
- Serve it as a clean first-course soup or use it as a delicate cooking liquid.
- Homemade keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and freezes for a few months.
What is chicken consomme?
Chicken consomme is exactly what it sounds like: a consomme made from chicken instead of beef. It is chicken stock that has been clarified until it runs crystal clear, with a clean, golden, deeply chickeny flavor.
It is lighter and more delicate than a beef consomme, which makes it a graceful first course on its own. The clarifying technique is the same for both, so the egg-white raft method lives on the main consomme page.
How to Use It
Serve it hot as a clear soup with a few fine garnishes, or lean on its clean flavor as a cooking liquid. It brings clear, savory body to dishes like Vincent Price's Kedgeree and a light backbone to a Turnip Soup with Green Peas.
It is also the natural base for a delicate chicken-and-noodle or matzo-ball soup, where you want the broth itself to look and taste pristine.
Substitutes and Storage
A good low-sodium chicken stock stands in for cooking, though it will not have the same clarity. Canned chicken consomme works too; just watch the salt.
Homemade keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes for a few months.
For the full clarifying method and the rest of the storage rules, see the consomme page.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 鸡清汤
- British (UK) term
- Chicken consomme
- en français
- consommé de poulet
- en español
- consomé de pollo
Recipes using chicken consomme
There are 3 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Narsai's Gado Gado
Indonesian-inspired gado gado peanut dipping sauce with garlic, ginger, soy, cream, and Tabasco. Warm or cold, this lush satay-style dip transforms a tray of crudites.
Turnip Soup with Green Peas (Hh)
Turnip soup simmered in chicken consomme with bright green peas and buttery croutons. A light, elegant French-style starter that highlights an underused root vegetable.
Vincent Price's Kedgeree
Vincent Price's elegant take on kedgeree layers flaked salmon with rice pilaf, bechamel, and chopped egg, then bakes in a water bath. Serve with curry sauce for a British-Indian classic.
