Nourishing Postpartum Chinese Chicken Soup Recipe – A Traditional Healing Dish for Mamas

drmorganzapalac
Apr 13
5 min read

Welcome, mama (or supportive friends and family!) – and thank you for supporting your healing journey with our Postpartum Chicken Soup Herb Kit from East & West Functional Family Medicine & Acupuncture. Whether you're preparing this dish for yourself or a loved one, this traditional recipe is rooted in generations of Chinese medicine wisdom to support recovery, energy, and emotional balance after birth.

This herbal soup is designed to nourish your Blood, replenish your Qi (vital energy), support digestion, and offer warmth to your body during the postpartum window. It gently fortifies your system with herbs that promote strength, relaxation, and healing.

🔗 Download the Recipe

Want to print or save this recipe for later? Click here to download the PDF.

🥣Ingredients:

You will need:

1 Postpartum Chicken Soup Herb Kit (includes organic herbs and an organic mesh cooking bag: Gou Qi Zi, Long Yan Rou, Huai Shan, Hong Zao, Dang Shen, Huang Qi)
1 whole organic chicken
6–8 cups filtered water
3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 slices fresh ginger
4 chopped green scallions (include the white part of the base too; discard the bottom hairy part)
1 tablespoon rice wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 4 to 6 cups vegetables (such as baby spinach, cabbage, broccoli, and/or mushrooms)
Optional: Cooked noodles
Optional Garnish: Chopped cilantro or extra green onion

🍳 Instructions:

Choose the cooking method that works best for you—stovetop is the most traditional, but slow cookers and pressure cookers work beautifully too. The cooking times are:

2 to 3 hours on stovetop (to ensure the chicken is fully cooked and the herbs are deeply infused)
4 to 8 hours in a slow cooker (on low) or 2 to 4 hours (on high)
20 to 30 minutes in a pressure cooker

The longer the soup simmers, the deeper, more robust, and more medicinal it becomes. While you can start with the shorter cooking time to ease into the flavors, we recommend a longer simmer when possible to allow the herbs to fully infuse the broth and offer their full healing potential.

🫕 Stovetop

Place the chicken in a medium-large pot and add 6-8 cups of water—enough to just cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then lower the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
Place the herbs from the kit in the included mesh bag, except for the goji berries and red dates, which should be added directly to the soup. Submerge the mesh bag in the water.
Add ginger slices and scallions.
Continue simmering for 1 to 3 hours, depending on how mild or rich you prefer your soup.
Toward the end of cooking, add the carrots and optional vegetables. Simmer until tender.
The chicken is done when a meat thermometer registers 165°F in the thickest part of the meat. Turn the stove off.
Skim off any fat from the surface of the soup and discard it.
Remove the herb bag, squeezing out any liquid into the soup.
Remove the whole chicken and set it on a cutting board to cool. Once cooled, remove all the meat and shred. Place the shredded chicken back in the soup.
(Optional) Stir in cooked noodles.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or green onion before serving.

🐢 Slow Cooker / Crockpot

Add the whole chicken to the slow cooker and pour in 6-8 cups of water—just enough to cover it.
Place the herbs in the included mesh bag, except for the goji berries and red dates, which should be added directly to the slow cooker so they can be enjoyed when served. Submerge the mesh bag in the water.
Add ginger slices, chopped scallions, carrots, and any optional vegetables.
Cook on low for 6 to 10 hours, or on high for 2 to 4 hours, depending on how mild or rich you prefer your soup.
The chicken is done when a meat thermometer registers 165°F in the thickest part of the meat. Turn the cooker off.
Remove the herb bag, squeezing out any liquid into the soup.
Skim off any fat from the surface and discard.
Remove the whole chicken and set it on a cutting board to cool. Once cooled, remove all the meat and shred. Place the shredded chicken back in the soup.
(Optional) Stir in cooked noodles.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or green onion before serving.

⏲️ Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot

Add the whole chicken to the pressure cooker and pour in 6-8 cups of water—just enough to cover it.
Place the herbs in the included mesh bag, except for the goji berries and red dates, which should be added directly to the pot so they can be enjoyed when served. Submerge the mesh bag in the water.
Add ginger slices, chopped scallions, carrots, and any optional vegetables
Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes.
Remove the herb bag, squeezing out any liquid into the soup.
Skim off any fat from the surface and discard.
Remove the whole chicken and set it on a cutting board to cool. Once cooled, remove all the meat and shred. Place the shredded chicken back in the soup.
(Optional) Stir in cooked noodles.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and/or green onion before serving.

🌟 Why This Soup Matters:

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the first 30–40 days postpartum are considered a sacred window for recovery. This soup is a cornerstone of "Zuo Yue Zi"—the Chinese sitting month—which emphasizes warming, blood-building, and qi-restoring foods.

The postpartum period is also considered one of the golden opportunities in a woman's life to positively influence her health long-term. How she is cared for and re-nourished after giving birth impacts her physical and emotional well-being, including how and when her menstrual cycle returns, how she ages, and even her experience of menopause.

Our herb kit simplifies this traditional recipe while preserving its potency. Every jar is handcrafted with care and made with organic and wildcrafted herbs you can trust.

🙏 Thank You, Mama

Loved this soup? You can purchase a refill kit to make another batch, or share the healing by gifting one to someone you love who is expecting. It’s a thoughtful, nourishing way to say, “I’ve got you.”

🚀 Pro Tip for Gifting

Want to go even deeper? Our curated Postpartum Recovery Boxes are designed to support healing on every level—physical, emotional, and energetic. Each box is filled with doctor-formulated, organic essentials including nourishing teas, healing salves, yoni care, organic socks, and this very soup kit. Whether you're gifting a friend or preparing for your own postpartum journey, our boxes offer everything needed to create a warm, supported recovery space.

Wishing you healing from the inside out,

Dr. Morgan Zapalac, DAcCHM, MEd., L.Ac., IFM