Mexican caldo de pollo: home remedy with vegetables from the milpa

What is it?

Caldo de pollo is one of the most-cooked broths in Mexican households: bone-in chicken pieces, breast, thigh, leg and wings, slowly simmered with onion, garlic, salt, along with vegetables from the milpa cut into large pieces: carrot, courgette, chayote, potato, sweetcorn and, occasionally, green beans and rice. The result is a clean golden broth, deeply savoury, served with lime, chopped onion, coriander, serrano chilli or chopped chillies and hot tortillas. It is a family dish for everyday meals, a restorative lunch for those who are ill and a constant reference in Mexican cuisine. From the mid-20th century, its industrialisation (Knorr, Maggi, Caldo Maggi) led to an instant version, but the original home-made version remains the favourite. Mexico en mi Cocina and Cocina Vital document it as one of the most yielding broths of the national repertoire, comparable only to caldo de res in family rootedness.

Origin and history

Mexican caldo de pollo has a colonial origin. Chicken and hen arrived in New Spain with the conquest in the 16th century, along with cattle-raising. Before, pre-Hispanic peoples consumed turkey, duck and other fowl. Once the European hen was installed as a common domestic bird, Creole cooks adapted their peninsular broth techniques, pucheros, hens in pepitoria, truffled hens, to American use, combining them with local vegetables such as sweetcorn, chayote, squash and chilli. By the 19th century, caldo de pollo appeared documented in El Cocinero Mexicano (1831) as an everyday dish and a 'restorative for the ill', a perception that lives on today: caldo de pollo is considered a universal home remedy in Mexico for flu, cold, post-partum and convalescence. Masienda and Cocina Vital document it in their base repertoire as 'mother soup' from which many other dishes derive: tortilla soup, fideo, Mexican rice, all start from a well-made chicken broth. The tradition of making Sunday broth with the old hen, the 'retired laying hen', is preserved in rural areas.

Characteristic ingredients

The pieces used are the most flavourful and economical: thigh, leg, wings, breast with bone, backbone and, above all, in traditional homes, the 'old hen' or Creole hen, which contributes more flavour than the industrial broiler chicken. They are boiled with onion, garlic, a sprig of coriander and salt for 40 to 60 minutes before adding vegetables. The vegetables, carrot, potato, chayote, courgette, sweetcorn in slices, are cut into large pieces and added according to cooking times: carrot and potato first (15 min), chayote and sweetcorn (10 min), courgette and green bean at the end (5 min). The rice, if added, is cooked separately as a dry soup or added already cooked at the moment of serving. Some versions include blended tomato for colour, others have saffron or turmeric for a golden tone. The star herb is whole coriander at the end. Regional variants include caldo Xochitl (Mexico City) with tomato, chickpeas and chipotle chilli, Sonoran caldo de gallina pinta with hominy and beans, and Pueblan caldo de pollo with green broad beans and nopales.

Cultural significance

Caldo de pollo is one of the most deeply rooted dishes in Mexican family culture. It is considered 'medicine for the soul', a grandma's dish, food for flu, Sunday lunch and restorative breakfast, all at the same time. The 2010 UNESCO inscription of traditional Mexican cuisine implicitly includes the gastronomic system that supports caldo de pollo: backyard chicken, milpa with American vegetables, mestizo broth techniques. Sociologically, surveys by Profeco and magazines such as Animal Gourmet place it among the five most-cooked dishes weekly in Mexican households. In popular culture it appears in songs by Chico Che ('sopa de pollo'), in novels by Laura Esquivel and in the film Como Agua para Chocolate. The Mexican poultry industry, according to data from the Agri-food Information Service, produces more than 3 million tonnes of chicken a year, much of it destined for home-made broths. Chefs such as Gabriela Camara, Pati Jinich and Eduardo Garcia have elevated caldo de pollo on their international menus as an example of Mexican everyday cuisine worthy of an elegant table.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between home-made caldo de pollo and chicken consomme?

Home-made caldo de pollo has bone-in chicken and whole vegetables, producing a cloudy or golden liquid with pieces to eat with a spoon. Chicken consomme is made by clarifying the broth, removing impurities with egg white, until a crystal-clear liquid without solids remains, served as an elegant starter. The caldo is a family dish; the consomme is a restaurant preparation.

What does Mexican caldo de pollo taste like?

It tastes of deeply cooked chicken with a sweet background of carrot and sweetcorn, freshness of coriander and lime, and a herbal touch of chayote. The clean golden broth has notes of hen and milpa vegetables. Heat is added to taste with serrano chilli or salsa. It is comforting, light but satisfying, perfect for cold days or convalescence. Different from caldo Xochitl, which is redder and more spiced.

How is caldo de pollo served?

It is served very hot in a deep bowl with a piece of chicken, the whole vegetables and the broth. It is accompanied with lime, chopped onion, coriander, chopped serrano chilli or molcajete salsa, white rice on the side and hot tortillas. It is common to shred the chicken in the bowl and add lime generously. It is a single dish for lunch or supper, especially as a home remedy for the ill.

Where is caldo de pollo originally from?

It is native to Mexico as a colonial adaptation of the Spanish pucheros and hen broths of the 16th century. The hen arrived with the conquerors and was combined with the American milpa vegetables (sweetcorn, chayote, squash, potato). By the 19th century it already appeared in Mexican recipe books such as El Cocinero Mexicano (1831). Today it is a national family dish with regional variants in each state.