ABC soup is one of the most simple and comforting soups my mom would make for me growing up. It’s what she’d make whenever we had a lot of veggies like carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn to use up at home.
The natural sweetness from the vegetables make a delicious light broth that’s perfect for any day, and especially when you’re feeling under the weather.
For protein, she’d usually add dark chicken meat or pork short ribs, but you can always do this without meat as well! I even like adding cooked rice to my bowl of ABC soup to make it a full, easy meal!
Why is it called ABC Soup?
If you ask this question to different people around the world, you’ll probably get very different answers! Here are some reasons I’ve heard of for why this soup is called ABC soup:
- Because the soup is “as easy as ABC” make
- Because this soup contains the vitamins A, B, and C from all the vegetables in it
- “ABC” for “American Born Chinese” — because it’s the soup all American Born Chinese love drinking!
If anyone ever finds out the true origin of the name ABC soup, I’d love to know!
What do you need to make ABC soup?
The most common ingredients for ABC soup are chicken drumsticks, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes.
My mom likes adding corn, and I love the natural sweetness it provides to the broth!
You may also like these other soups:
If you enjoyed this ABC soup recipe…
I’d be so grateful if you left me a review below!
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ABC Soup (carrot, tomato, & potato soup)
Ingredients
- 4 chicken drumsticks or 3 chicken thighs, or 1/2 lb pork spare ribs
- 1 large potato or 2 small, white or yellow potatoes work best
- 1 large carrot
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1 large tomato
- 1 corn on the cob
- 1 knob ginger sliced
- 1.5-2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- dash of white pepper
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 6 cups of water
- scallions (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients
- Peel and slice the ends off the onion. Cut into 1-1.5 inch sized pieces.1/2 yellow onion
- Chop the corn on the cob into 4 pieces.1 corn on the cob
- Slice the tomato into wedges.1 large tomato
- Peel the carrot and slice into 1-1.5 inch sized chunks. I like to slice diagonally, then rotate the carrot halfway and slice diagonally again for pieces with large surface area.1 large carrot
- Prepare the potato last, since it will oxidize if exposed to air too long. Peel the potato and slice into 1.5-2 inch sized chunks. Since these will disintegrate the most in the soup, making them larger will help them stay in tact.1 large potato
Blanch the chicken drumsticks (or pork ribs)
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop in the chicken drumsticks, and blanch for 1-2 minutes. If using pork ribs, blanch for a few extra minutes to get rid of all the gunk.4 chicken drumsticks
- Pour out the blanching water, and give the chicken and the pot a quick rinse.
Make the soup
- Add the chicken back into the pot with all the vegetables and ginger, and 6 cups of water.6 cups of water, 1 knob ginger
- Bring it all to a boil, and skim off any scum on the surface.
- Reduce to a very gentle simmer (low to medium-low heat), then cover and let simmer for at least 45 minutes. I like to let it simmer for 90 minutes to extract more flavor from the meat and veggies.
- Season with salt, white pepper, chicken bouillon powder, and sesame oil. Garnish with scallions (optional) and enjoy!1.5-2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder, dash of white pepper, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, scallions
adore it! i didnt have any corn and was still delicious, I used chicken thighs instead and fried them off in a pan before adding the water and simmering.
i had mine with a soy marinated egg and vermicelli noodles- with some coriander its my new budget-friendly comfort food :)
That sounds SO good! Thanks for coming back to share :)
Loved this recipe – I made it using an instant pot and it turned out amazing! My mom used to make it all the time and I totally forgot about it until I saw your IG post. Thanks for reminding me of my childhood :)
I bet the instant pot saved you so much time!! What great memories of this soup :)
Made this for my boyfriend who was feeling under the weather and it was the perfect comfort of home for him (best this German girl could do!). Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes
That’s so sweet of you! Thanks for trying the recipe :)
First time making this – yum! I removed the chicken skin to make it healthier. I didnt know about the blanching tip.
So glad you enjoyed it! :)