The viral No-Water Chinese Chicken Soup is made by cooking a whole chicken with napa cabbage, apples, and dates without water! The chicken is soft and tender, while the flavor of the soup is savory & sweet, and reminds you of your mom’s Chinese herbal soups!
🔍 Quick Look:
- What is it? A whole chicken (with bones) is cooked in low heat with napa cabbage, carrots, and apples. No water is added, so the ingredients release their own natural juices, creating a concentrated, flavorful collagen filled broth. If you can’t resist a warm bowl of soup, you will surely enjoy my Chinese Pork and Squash Soup too!
- Why you’ll love this recipe: This dish relies on steam to draw out the natural juices of the chicken and vegetables, creating a “liquid gold” broth. It’s a low-effort, collagen-rich, restorative and deeply nourishing Chinese meal.
- 🕒 Total Cook Time: 1 hour
- 🔥 Cook Method: Simply layer the vegetables first, place the chicken on top, and keep the pot covered. Let it gently cook, then add salt at the end to taste and serve.
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: This soup has a deeply concentrated, naturally sweet, and savory “chicken essence” broth with super tender meat that falls off the bone.
- ⭐ Difficulty: This recipe is easy one pot recipe— just layer your ingredients, and cook on low heat.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
In Chinese tradition, this soup is considered as a healing soup that brings warmth and deep nourishment to the body. I learned how to make this viral recipe online from Dear Mama Char and Shi Shi Simple on Instagram. The original creator cooked a whole chicken in it’s own juices along with apple, dates and napa cabbage to create a super concentrated chicken broth. I thought this idea was genius, so I made my own version at home with some extra Chinese herbs (completely optional!). This makes the soup extra nourishing with a more sweet and complex flavor!
If you’re looking for more easy healthy soup recipes, be sure to check out my Easy Tofu Miso Soup, Easy Seolleongtang (Ox Bone Soup), or my Shrimp Wonton Noodle Soup.
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Key Ingredients
Here’s a look at what you need to make this No-Water Chinese Chicken Soup. The highlights are here but the full ingredient list and quantities of each are in the recipe card.
I used a herbal Chinese Chicken pack I got from 99 Ranch, which is completely optional! The herbs add extra nutrients and more complex flavors, which will make the soup taste more ‘Chinese’ and medicinal (in a good way ◡̈ ).
- Whole chicken – is recommended because the bones and skin create a collagen based broth! My Chinese family likes to wash the chicken with salt and alcohol prior to cooking, which make the broth taste cleaner. This is a true Chinese style way of cooking and is completely optional but makes the biggest difference for us.
- Napa cabbage – is added at the bottom of the pot and releases lots of water when cooked down. Add on the bottom to prevent the chicken from browning (as the fat of the chicken skin will get brown if you add the chicken on the bottom of the pot).
- Apple & Jujube (or dates) – adds sweetness to your soup. This gives natural sweetness to your soup without adding sugar. You can also eat this after boiling your soup, but I like to take the apples and jujube out before serving.
- Ginger and green onions helps with the gaminess of the meat. From a Chinese Traditional Medicine perspective, the ginger is also added to give extra ‘warmth’ to the body.
- Chinese herbs pack (optional) includes goji berries, astragalus membranaceus, codonopsis root, Chinese Yam, polygonatum odoratum. I love how this pack has all these ingredients without buying the herbs separately. The taste of this Chinese Herb pack is more medicinal (little bitter in a good way) and gives more nutrition to the soup.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can use bone-in chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken. Keep in mind that you won’t have as much soup as a whole chicken.
- Fruit swap: Replace the apple with pear or Asian pear and the soup will still taste delicious!
- Instead of napa cabbage, you can use bok choy or green cabbage. However, these vegetables don’t produce as much water as napa cabbage so your soup might be more dry.
How to Make No-Water Chinese Chicken Soup
Step 1: Peel carrot, apple and ginger skin.
Step 2: Chop carrots, apple, and green onions.
Step 3: Wash and chop up napa cabbage.
Step 4: Add all your ingredients: napa cabbage, carrots, apple, dates or jujube, ginger, green onions, and chinese herbs (optional) in a pot.
Step 5: Add your whole chicken on top of your vegetables and cover with a lid. Cook 15 minutes on medium heat. Then, cook 45 minutes on low medium.
Step 6: Turn off heat and keep chicken covered for 15 more minutes. Then, open lid and take out oil that has risen to the top. Feel free to take out green onions and your Chinese herbs (optional). Add salt to taste and enjoy.
PRO TIP: Dip the chicken in some ginger scallion sauce (check it out the recipe card in my Hainanese Chicken Rice) for a complete Chinese meal!
Expert Tips
- Skim the chicken oil from the soup before drinking so the soup doesn’t taste oily.
- Don’t throw away the chicken oil! Use the chicken oil and extra broth to make chicken rice, which is super delicious!
- Dip the chicken in some ginger scallion oil from my Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe to make this a complete meal!
- Stack the veggies at the bottom and add the chicken on top; this prevents the chicken from browning and burning.
No-Water Chicken Soup FAQs
A sturdy pot with a tight‑fitting lid, like a Dutch oven, is ideal for keeping the steam in so the ingredients stay moist and the soup develops its full flavor. This also slow cooks the chicken, so the meat is fall-off-the-bone!
This can happen if the ingredients don’t release enough juices, you can adjust by adding extra cabbage or apple, cooking a bit longer, or optionally pouring in a small splash of water or stock.
This whole chicken soup pairs perfectly with simple steamed rice, stir-fried greens such as Chinese Cabbage Stir-Fry or Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce, or a light noodle dish like Filipino Bihon Pancit making it a complete and balanced meal.
The Chinese herbal pack from 99 Ranch includes Astragalus membranaceus, goji berry, codonopsis root, Chinese yam, polygonatum odoratum. These ingredients are optional and can be added separately.
No-Water Chinese Chicken Soup (One Pot Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 3.5-4 lb whole chicken
- ½ napa cabbage
- 2 carrots
- 1 apple
- 3 dates or jujube
- 3 inch ginger
- 2 green onion
- Chinese herbs (optional)
- salt to taste at end (start with ¼ teaspoon as this soup is not supposed to be too salty)
Instructions
- Peel carrot, apple and ginger skin.
- Chop carrots, apple, and green onions.
- Wash and chop up napa cabbage.
- Add all your ingredients: napa cabbage, carrots, apple, dates or jujube, ginger, green onions, and Chinese herbs (optional) in a pot.
- Add your whole chicken on top of your vegetables and cover with a lid. Cook 15 minutes on medium heat. Then, cook 45 minutes on low medium.
- Turn off heat and keep chicken covered for 15 more minutes. Then, open lid and take out oil that has risen to the top. Feel free to take out green onions and your chinese herbs (optional). Add salt to taste and enjoy.
Notes
- Skim the chicken oil from the soup before drinking so the soup doesn’t taste oily.
- Don’t throw away the chicken oil! Use the chicken oil and extra broth to make chicken rice, which is super delicious!
- Dip the chicken in some ginger scallion oil from my Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe to make this a complete meal!
- Stack the veggies at the bottom and add the chicken on top; this prevents the chicken from browning and burning.
Sam says
Wow! I seriously didn’t expect it to taste that good without adding any water, it just feels so nourishing! The broth was rich and comforting, the chicken turned out super tender. Every spoonful felt like a warm hug and now I’m officially obsessed.😍