My Mom Makes Chicken Soup Every Week, and She Calls These $1 Accessories a Game Changer

My partner and I love visiting my parents each winter in Colorado. That’s partly because they live walking distance from a ski mountain, but mostly because there’s nothing cozier than my mom’s cooking. This January, we’re both working from home, so we’ve extended our visit through the entire month. And because sub-zero temperatures and flu season are in full swing, my mom and I have been making her famous chicken soup (which she calls Jewish penicillin) nonstop.

With a full house, we can’t seem to keep up with the family's voracious appetite. And while you can’t rush perfection, we went in search of a way to speed up the process. Ultimately, we found Soup Socks, a genius $8 solution that we already can’t live without.

Regency Wraps Soup Socks

A long cooking time is what makes my mom’s soup so flavorful — but it also produces tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken and broken-down vegetables that can be difficult to remove at the end. Before we bought these 100% cotton mesh bags, we had to strain heavy pots of soup through a colander, then pick out the pieces of carrot and chicken we wanted to save from the unwanted dill, celery, and wilted onion pieces. 

But with Soup Socks, it’s easy to achieve clear stock while avoiding splatters and spills. Working like giant tea bags, they allow us to infuse broth with bold flavors while eliminating the messy, time-consuming step of straining. Each pack comes with 10 24-inch bags, each of which can fit an entire chicken.

We use at least two Soup Socks per batch — placing the carcass, herbs, and whole spices in one and chicken pieces in the other. (My mom recommends putting chopped carrots directly in the broth, since we like to eat them with our soup.) Once the soup is done simmering and ready to eat, we simply remove both bags, discarding the inedible components and putting the meat back into the pot to serve.

If you’re looking for a delicious way to warm up this season, grab a set of Soup Socks, pull out your favorite recipes, and get cooking. These netted bags make it infinitely easier to whip up delicious stocks with minimal effort — but don’t just take it from me. My mom, who has been making the same chicken soup recipe for decades, calls the product “a total game changer.” And luckily, since they’re less than $1 apiece, we’ll never have to make another batch without them. Snag your set today for just $8 at Amazon.

More Soup Essentials to Shop:

OXO Steel Ladle

Le Creuset Enamel On Steel Stockpot

Zylone Lid and Spoon Rest Shelf

Sweese Porcelain Bowls with Handles

Souper Cubes 1 Cup Silicone Freezer Tray

At the time of publishing, the price was $8.