Quick and easy chicken soup that requires only 30 minutes cooking time. If I had to describe it in 3 words I'd say it's healthy, filling, comforting.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Vegetables: carrots, celery and leek
- Chicken: this recipe is made with chicken breast and NOT a whole chicken, which makes it so much easier.
- Water: no vegetable broth needed, the water will take up all the flavors.
- Fresh ginger: I love ginger in my chicken soup, but it's totally optional.
- Spices: cloves, pepper, salt and fennel seeds are amazing for seasoning. The fennel seeds give the soup a delicate aniseed flavor.
Time saving tips
- Use frozen vegetables. You can find frozen sliced carrots, sliced leek and diced onions at any supermarket. Frozen celery might be more difficult to find, but that would be the only vegetable you would have to chop up yourself.
- Use chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken. Many chicken soup recipes require a whole chicken because it gives the soup more flavor. While that might be true, chopping up the chicken after boiling can be challenging and time-costly. This is why I swear by using chicken breasts to make chicken soup, which you can shred in 5 minutes using only 2 forks.
- Note that you can't freeze the soup if you use frozen vegetables and/or frozen chicken.
Step-by-step with pictures
Cut the vegetables into thin slices or use frozen ones. Heat a stock pot with olive oil and sauté the onion.
Add the vegetables and the chicken. Add the vegetables and the hot water to the soup. Finally, add the whole chicken beasts to the pot. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
Shred the chicken (see paragraph below).
Add the shredded chicken back to the soup. It's now ready to be served.
How to shred chicken with forks
In this case, take the chicken breasts out of the soup when they are fully cooked. Place them on a cutting board. Use two forks to tear the chicken appart to make shredded chicken. It should be really tender and come off easily.
Substitutions and add-ons
- You can replace the leek or the celery with fennel. Simply wash it and cut it in bite-size pieces before adding it to the soup with the other vegetables.
- You can add shell pasta (or any other type of small pasta) to the soup to make it even more filling (and delicious). You can either add the pasta directly to the soup if you will eat it straight after cooking or pre-cook the pasta (drain them when slightly underdone) and add them to the soup when reheating it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes you can. Simply add it to the pot after you added the water and simmer the soup over medium heat. The chicken will thaw and remain tender.
I highly recommend adding the different herbs and spices as they will give the soup a ton of flavor. If you don't have any at hand, you can use vegetable both instead of water to make the soup. You can also replace it with a bundle of fresh herbs ("bouquet garni in French).
How to store/freeze chicken soup
When cooked, transfer the soup to air-tight containers and keep it in the fridge for up 2 to 3 days. Only freeze the chicken soup if none of the ingredients were frozen. You can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More healthy vegetable soup recipes
- Cabbage soup with sun-dried tomatoes
- Parsnip and squash soup with quinoa and lentils
- Super easy tomato soup made from canned tomatoes
The recipe
Quick 45-Minute Chicken Soup (from Chicken Breats)
Ingredients
- 1 onion fresh or frozen
- 6 carrots* (approx. 400 g) fresh or frozen
- 6 celery sticks (approx. 400 g) or fennel
- 1 large leek fresh or frozen
- Olive oil
- 2 L hot water
- 2 chicken breasts (approx. 400 g)
- 2 cm fresh ginger optional
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 cloves
- 3 back peppercorns or ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Salt
Instructions
If you use fresh vegetables
- Wash the vegetables. Peel and dice the onion. Peel the carrots and cut them into thin slices. Cut the leek and the celery into thin slices as well.
- Heat a large stock pot with olive oil. When hot, sauté the onion until translucent.
- Add the vegetables and sauté for several minutes over medium-high heat. You want them to be slightly caramelized to add lots of flavors to the soup.
- Add the water ginger, fennel seeds, cloves, peppercorns and salt to the water. Finally, put the whole chicken breasts into the stockpot.
- Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat.
If you use frozen vegetables
- Add all the frozen vegetables, the chicken (even frozen) and the remaining ingredients (including a little olive oil) to the pot and immediately add the water. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat.
For the chicken
- After 25 to 30 minutes, take out the chicken breasts and place them on a cutting board. Shred the chicken using two forks (see post above for step-by-step pictures). Add the shredded chicken back to the soup.
Notes
If you tried this recipe or any other recipe from the blog, make sure to let me know how you liked it by rating it and leaving a comment below! Your feedback really matters! Follow me on Instragram, Pinterest and Facebook to never miss a recipe.
Did you like this recipe? Let me know!