I definitely would NOT thin the soup out with store bought broth. That defeats the purpose of home made soup! A little water should be fine. You'll also see that the gelatinous consistency dissolves when heated even if you don't add water.

I did the same thing the first time I made chicken soup!

what happened is that you boiled off too much of the water. Next time, simmer the soup so that it just barely bubbles. It'll come out better.

But as the other posters said, it's eminently fixable. Just add a few Tablespoons of water when you heat it up.

It's always best to add not enough, rather than too much water.

While you can definitely add a little water to thin out the soup, just add a tablespoon or two, this will help to compensate for the additional evaporation at reheating. Otherwise, you made a great soup. If you both liked the consistency and flavor the night before I wouldn't change it one bit - the gelatinous consistency will disappear as soon as it is reheated.

It didn't go wrong - it went right. This is what good soup makers aim for. It means it has a lot of bone-building gelatin. Soup that gels up is FAR more flavorful than soup that doesn't gel. I actually add chicken feet to my soup just to get it to gel up like this.

But it will be just fine as soon as you heat it up. It will go right back,

I totally agree with DCarl1 above. Great job on the soup!

I agree with DCarl1 I wouldn't thin out the soup, just heat it up. You made fantastic soup. Once you heat it up it will be soup again no need to add anything. Tell the boyfriend it's how soup is supposed to be and everyone on the interwebz congratulated you on making great soup.

don't add water or fake stock from a box! that's the real, good, nutritious stuff you've got there. Heat it up in a pan or in the mic, and it'll be back to liquid in no time. Congrats. :)

I laughed at this - because I panicked the first time I made Bobby Flay's Enriched Chicken Broth and it went gelatinous after cooling!

I called a friend of mine (who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu) & after explaining that it was a good thing, told me that she'd worked with a chef who used to reduce the chicken stock WAY down until he could use little cubes of the gelatin (or would it be considered aspic?) as bullion!

DCarl1 is right on target!

I laughed so hard when I read this - I've been making my own stock for years but when my boyfriend (current husband) saw the bowl of gelatinous stock in the fridge he freaked out. He did get over it and now knows that when the stock is like jello it means it's full of flavor.

You didn't do anything wrong. That happens and it disappears when you heat it up. If your boyfriend doesn't like it he could always make his own lunch.

You did everything so, so right. Do not thin, do not back down. Tell your boyfriend that real soup with real stock does that when it's done right. If he takes issue with it, invite him to enjoy his canned soup alone. :)

This is one of those times when you get to be a mother to a grown person. Kiss him on the cheek and say "Oh hush. This is what homemade soup looks like without all the fake thickeners. It tastes so much better than the canned junk." I say this having married my picky eater boyfriend almost a decade ago. It'll take some training to work the processed food palate out of him, but don't get discouraged. (And to that end, remember that a little bacon goes a long way.)

LOL OnBlank! My husband of 15 years came from a home of fast-food and frozen/boxed stuff. Now he eats most everything.

Erin, I made stock with the carcass of our TDay turkey and it jelled for the first time ever. It completely surprised me too, but its so, so good for soup!

It better turn like jello! Heat it up and it won't be anymore... the fatty juices will melt back out.

This happened to me when I made Jamie Oliver's chicken in milk and it grossed me out, too! However, if you make soup with bones, it's only natural that it should jell if you cook it down enough. Y'know, since gelatin is made from animal bones. :)

Who are all these wimpy boyfriends who are weirded out by a little gelatinous chicken broth??? That's what I want to know!!

heh. a soup noob, eh? i consider most soups failures if i don't get the beef/chicken/pork jello. besides adding much in the way of flavor, it makes for a much better mouthfeel.

you done good! :)

i think it's sad that a good rich stock is initially considered a mistake. we have been brainwashed by 'soup' companies to expect soup to come from a can and to remain liquid. what they produce is more like a 'food-like substance', not real food. welcome to the club of real cooks.

Tell him to read these responses :)

i thought the same thing the first time i made it--just heat it up & enjoy!

DO NOT THIN!! just reheat!

yummmmmm

It ain't broke- no need to fix it (with additions of water or canned stock). As everyone said, this is what is supposed to happened to cold meat-based soup. Once you heat it, it will be a liquid again. BTW, my husband remains freaked out about this, even though he knows it will become soup again (probably because it reminds him of a Russian dish my mother served to him that is, as he calls is, "turkey jello.")

heat it up and your boyfriend will never know it was jello when cold

As everyone else has said, your soup was perfect! I get so excited when my stock "jello's up". Yes, it grosses out some people but once heated, it becomes liquid again. Tell him this is the real, good stuff!

hahaha THANK YOU GUYS! i was really worried that i did something disastrous. it heats up fine without any water but i just dont remember seeing that when i was a kid. of course most of the soups my dad made were frozen.

I cool my broth, put in mason jars and then into the fridge. Next day, I tilt and if it jells, I do the happy dance because it's golden, rich, dense and delicious. Congratulations on your success, strange as it may be.

Thanks for posting this! I Just made my first chicken soup last night!

I called my Mom to ask if I should put the skins back in the broth (in addition to the bones) to simmer and she seemed astonished that I was going to simmer the bones overnight. She told me I was going to get jello...like it was a bad thing!

Can't wait to show her this! And to try the soup tonight with dinner - complete with veggies and dumplings from the recipe posted on this site! Thanks!

you should try pea and ham soup next time – use a big bone from a leg of ham! mixed with the peas, it forms a jelly so solid that you can carve it! my nanna wouldn't serve it any other way... and it was always delicious :)

Once in a while my chicken soup/broth doesn't gel enough when cold *wipes tears*. When this happens I add more bones to it and cook it again to get more good stuff out of the bones.
Also, if making chicken noodle soup, I'll use only dark meat parts. It holds up better while cooking and doesn't shred. I like the pieces chunky.

Had to sign up just to comment. I just had the same thing happen. I thought I had totally ruined the stock until I found this forum. Thanks to everyone for letting me know I did just fine. :)

Just like, BRADANDRUS, I had to sign up to make a comment. I just googled why my chicken stock turned jello like and found this forum. Thanks everyone for posting! I can't wait to make my soup tonight for dinner and see the difference in taste. I've only made stock once before and it remained a liquid but was still good. So, I am super excited to try this richer, tastier stock.

I found this page looking for the same answer but I don't think this is true. My dad removes the fat from chicken pieces and boils it to make soup and this is what happened. There were no bones in the pot. That's why I need to know. Is this what it will do in my arteries?