The secret to this great chicken soups and stews is by seasoning and roasting chicken with their skin and bones retained. I prefer breasts.
Chicken simmered in water or in combination with broth for hours can drain flavor and produce chicken with stringy over-processed texture.
Roasted chicken, delicious if simply served as an entrée, makes the perfect chicken for soups and stews. As a bonus, root vegetables like carrots can also be seasoned and roasted with chicken. Lightly caramalized, they add additional richness.
After roasting, boxed broth is enhanced to prepare the soup’s delicious base. Onion is sliced and sautéed with olive oil in a stalk pot. Skin and bones from the roasted chicken are removed and added to render additional flavors along with celery stalk and parsley. Once flavors are extracted, mixture is passed through a strainer, flavored broth is captured while discarding rendered solids. Only after broth and fresh sliced celery are cooked through, sautéed spinach incorporated, chicken and roasted carrots are diced and added along with and all retained roasting juices, seasoning is adjusted; delicious soup is ready.
Escarole or mustard greens can be substituted for Spinach. You can add a variety of add ins to this versatile soup; cooked white beans with additional broth, small Italian meatballs, frozen peas, thin egg and vegetable omelet cut into delicate squares, and many more.