The chicken feet are boiled until soft and tender, you barely need to chew. Even if you don’t eat the chicken feet, the brothy soup is well-seasoned with aromatic herbs and packed with natural collagen. You will see how it gelatinizes when stored at a cold temperature.
In my family, we serve this chicken feet soup next to rice, sometimes with other sides. For a quicker option, I’d boil rice noodles and serve them as chicken feet noodle soup.
If there’s leftover by the next day, I’d strain the soup over a silicone mold and freeze it. Frozen chicken feet stock can be a great natural alternative to chicken bouillon in any cooking.
Table of Contents
- About this chicken feet soup recipe
- Is Chicken Feet Soup High in Collagen?
- Benefits of chicken feet soup
- Ingredients to make chicken feet soup (and substitutions)
- Tips when buying chicken feet
- How to make chicken feet soup
- Spicy garnish to add some spiciness
- Serving suggestions
- Noodles to eat with this soup
- Storage Guide
- FAQ
About this chicken feet soup recipe
Chicken foot wasn’t something you loved at first sight. My fondness for it was strongly influenced by my mother. Growing up, there was always an abundance of frozen chicken feet in our freezer. My mother, a chef at her own cafe, would bring back a never-ending supply of chicken feet from work.
She would make this chicken feet soup on weekends, which she called a collagen soup. She made it sound like a beauty elixir to my sister and me. Perhaps that’s why we, the women in the house, favor it the most compared to the rest of the family. (In TCM, chicken feet are traditionally linked to beauty and youthfulness)
As an adult, I see this gingery chicken feet soup as more than just a joint and skin-nourishing soup. It’s a wholesome, comforting soup that reminds me of home.
Chicken feet dishes are famous in many Asian countries. In Malaysia, chicken feet soup is a typical homemade dish.
Is Chicken Feet Soup High in Collagen?
Chicken feet are naturally rich in collagen, from the cartilage, tendons, skin, and bones. A chicken foot contains 70% collagen of the total protein, even commercial gelatin is said to contain less collagen than chicken feet (source (1).
Popular collagen benefits of chicken feet include:
- Good for skin, hair, joints, and nails – Collagen-rich content
- Good for bone health – Due to its calcium content
- Good for muscle building – Also a source of protein
- Gelatin in chicken feet is good for gut health
Our body produces collagen naturally. Over time, as we age, it slowly decreases depending on our lifestyle and diet. With collagen supplements getting more expensive, chicken feet soup offers a natural and affordable way to boost collagen—while also filling you up.
Benefits of chicken feet soup
- Nutritious— Apart from their collagen-rich nature, they contain other essential minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and folate (vitamin B9).
- No highly processed flavoring — This recipe relies only on natural ingredients. No soy sauce, MSG, or chicken bouillon.
- Can be used as flavoring stock — If you have leftovers, consider turning the broth into frozen chicken feet stock for later use. Strain the broth into the silicone mold and freeze it.
- Economic & homemade collagen broth — Since chicken feet are typically considered a waste product, they are cheaper than other chicken parts. Making it a budget-friendly option for a homemade collagen broth!
- Soft, slip-off-the-bone meat — This chicken feet soup guarantees tenderness and melts in your mouth (given that you follow the instructions).
What to expect: Like any other broth, this recipe is not to be made in a rush. Chicken feet needed to be boiled in medium to high heat for one hour to soften the meat and extract all the goodness from the bones.
Ingredients to make chicken feet soup (and substitutions)
- 500g Chicken feet—Use fresh chicken feet. There are also deboned versions of chicken feet. Read the tips when buying chicken feet below.
- Vegetables (1 celery + 1carrot)— If the celery comes with leaves, don’t discard them. You can use it as a garnish together with green onions.
- 1 Onion—I use red onion, you can also opt for shallots or yellow onion.
- 3 Garlic—Fresh garlic helps balance the chicken fat taste, adding aromatic and savory flavors to the soup. Go fresh or paste, but never powder.
- 20 g Ginger (divide into 2 parts)— 1 part is used for boiling the chicken feet, and the other part is used to grind. Apart from its anti-inflammatory properties, ginger is also a key aromatic flavor in this soup. Do not skip or substitute fresh ginger for the dried version.
- Dried whole spices— I use 6 types of whole spices: star anise, cinnamon, fennel, pepper, clove, and cardamom. Avoid the powdered version as it’s milder in flavor and will turn the soup cloudy.
- Spring onion—Cut off the white stem of the spring onion to use for the broth and save the green part for garnish.
- Palm sugar—Important to balance the spices. I always opt for palm sugar for an unrefined option when a recipe calls for sugar. The closest one is coconut sugar.
- Salt
Tips when buying chicken feet
- Look for fresh chicken feet that are clean and white or slightly pinkish. These have already been cleaned and have had their yellow outer skin removed. They should not have any greenish, brown, or blue color.
- Ask your butcher to trim the nails if they are still intact. You don’t want to include it in your soup.
- Avoid the one with a burn color at the center base of the feet. Those are overgrown calluses usually caused by the chicken standing on its own waste.
- Go for a deboned version of chicken feet if you prefer to eat them easily. Note that you might be missing the collagen from the bone.
How to make chicken feet soup
- Boil the chicken feet until soft. In a stock pot, bring the chicken feet, crushed ginger, and spring onion to a boil, and let them simmer with the lid covered for 1 hour.
For a shortcut, you can also pressure cook it in an Instant Pot. For a detailed step-by-step, see the recipe card below.
- Meanwhile, blend the aromatic fresh spices in a grinder until they turn into a smooth paste.
- Fry together the blended spices with the dried spices. In a medium-sized pan, add oil and lightly toast the dried spices for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the blended ingredients, and keep on stirring until the paste has dried and turned slightly golden.
- Transfer the cooked spices into the broth, add the vegetables, flavoring ingredients, and a cup of water (if needed). Continue simmering over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the lime juice and give it a little stir. Adjust the flavoring, if it’s too salty or dry, add 1/2-1 cup of water.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with green onion or celery leaves. Enjoy it warm!
Spicy garnish to add some spiciness
Serving suggestions
- Serve it as a main next to rice or as a side dish alongside other dishes.
- Eat like a porridge by adding a portion of rice into a bowl of chicken feet soup.
- Enjoy it with noodles, and you’ll have chicken feet noodle soup.
Noodles to eat with this soup
- Mung bean vermicelli
- Rice vermicelli
- Brown rice vermicelli
- Thin dried egg noodles or wantan noodles
Storage Guide
Transfer the chicken feet soup into a container with a tight lid and store it in the fridge for no more than 3 days.
For longer use, consider freezing the broth. Strain the broth onto the silicone mold and discard the chicken feet. I wouldn’t recommend freezing the chicken feet, as they won’t be as fresh once they’re frozen and thawed.
FAQ
How long does it take to boil chicken feet to soften?
For soft chicken feet that slip off the bone easily, boil them and then simmer over medium to high heat with the lid closed for 1 hour.
It may produce foam from time to time, so skim it off with a fine-mesh skimmer or spatula.
How to cook Chicken feet in an Instant Pot?
Place the chicken feet and vegetables in the pot, and add just enough water to submerge the ingredients. Seal the lid and make sure the valve is set on ‘Sealing’. Press the ‘Pressure Cook’ button on the ‘High’ setting and set the timer to 20 minutes. Once the timer is done, either naturally release the steam by letting it sit another 20 minutes or quickly release it by turning the valve to ‘Venting’.
How to eat chicken feet?
Hold the chicken feet with your hand or chopsticks (one holding a spoon and another holding chopsticks). Slightly bite the meaty part, as you would with a chicken wing. When biting the fingers, spit out the small bone once you have separated it in your mouth
How does chicken feet taste?
Chicken feet have a mild chicken taste with a slightly chewy and gelatinous texture. Because of the plain flavor, chicken feet are usually cooked with strong-flavored ingredients such as herbs, spices, and condiments to make them palatable.
Asian Ginger Chicken Feet Soup – collagen-rich soup
3
servings1
hour30
minutes1586
kcalChicken feet soup, simmered in aromatic spices. This brothy, collagen-rich soup is best served alongside rice or noodles. You can also enjoy it as a broth.
Ingredients
500 g Chicken feet – Cleaned and trimmed
6 cups of water (Stovetop)
4 cups of water (Instant Pot)4-5 Spring onion – Separate the white and green parts.
White for boiling the chicken feet
Green for garnish (chop them thin)2 tbsp Oil
- Aromatic blend (grind in a blender)
10 g Fresh ginger
1 medium red onion – Cut into chunks
4 cloves Garlic
- Vegetables
1 medium Carrot – cut into bite-sized pieces
1 stalk Celery – cut into bite-sized pieces
- Dried spices (whole)
2 Star anise
2-3 Cloves
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
1 Cinnamon stick (small)
2 Cardamom
- Seasoning/Flavoring
1.5 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tbsp Palm sugar
2 tbsp Lime juice / (lemon juice)
Directions
- Boil the chicken feet until soft. (Stovetop & Instant Pot)
Stovetop: In a stockpot, combine 6 cups of water with chicken feet, smashed ginger, and white part of spring onion to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and let them simmer with the lid covered for 1 hour. Skim the foam and watch for spills. Once the timer is done, discard the spring onion and ginger.
Instant Pot: In the Instant Pot, combine 4 cups of water with chicken feet, the white part of the spring onion, and smashed ginger. Seal the lid and make sure the valve is on ‘Sealing’. Press the ‘Pressure Cook’ button on the ‘High’ setting and set the timer to 20 minutes. Once the timer is done, carefully turn the valve to ‘Venting’ to release the steam. Once the timer is done, discard the spring onion and ginger. - Prepare the spice blend. I like to do this while the chicken feet are simmering.
Blend the aromatic ingredients until they turn into a paste. (Consider adding 1/4 cup of water for a smoother blend) - Fry the spices. (Stovetop)
In a saucepan, heat 2 tbsp of oil over low heat. Add the dried spices (whole). Toast them about a minute to release the fragrance, then add the blended mixture. Stir continuously until dry and slightly golden. - Cook the spices and broth together (Stovetop & Instant Pot)
In the chicken feet broth pot, transfer the cooked spices, all seasoning (except lime juice), and vegetables, let it simmer for another 30 minutes until the carrots are soft.
For Instant Pot: Use the ‘Simmer‘ button and set the timer for 30 minutes. - Add lime juice and give it a little stir before turning off the heat.
- Garnish with chopped green onion or celery leaves and serve it warm next to rice or noodles!
Notes
- When boiling the chicken feet on the stovetop, watch for spills and skim the foam occasionally.
🥣 Did you try this recipe? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
9 Responses
Is there a way I can use my insta-pot for this recipe?
This looks delicious and I’d love to try this recipe out. You mentioned not to use a liquid sweetener instead of palm sugar. Is there another artificial sweetener I can use instead?
Hi, yes liquid sweetener like honey and maple syrup can alter the savory balance of the soup. For natural option I’d also go for coconut sugar instead of palm sugar. I have never tried with artificial sweeteners in this recipe, but I think monk fruit sweetener might work well since it has minimal to zero aftertaste. Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try 🙂
Thank you for your reply Nudra 🙂 Gosh, this recipe is so good! The flavour combination is amazing! My supermarket did not have chicken feet in stock, so I got wings instead because they also have lots of collagen. There were plenty of small bones, though, which was a little annoying. I imagine this recipe would also work well with boneless chicken breasts. I substituted the palm sugar for liquid stevia and it worked wonderfully! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I’ll definitely be using it again 🙂
Thank you too for sharing Abigail, and I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Happy New Year!
You’re welcome! Happy New Year to you too 🙂
hi, this is a rlly newbie question, but i’m wondering how one should eat the chicken feet? do you peel it off the bone after you cook it with your hands, does the meat just come off eksposing the bone during the boiling, or would you recommend just gnawing it off? lovely recipe, can’t wait to try it💕🥰
Hi! Yes, you can use your hand to hold and nibble it off. The softer it gets, the easier the meat fall off from the leg part, so alternatively you can also separate the paw from the leg with a spoon. Of course, you don’t want to swallow the tiny bones from the fingers, so spit them out onto your napkin. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!”