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The Best Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe (+ Variations)

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Poultry Recipes » The Best Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe (+ Variations)

Oh, chicken soup… they call it food for the soul, and it certainly hits the spot on a cold winter day or when I’m under the weather. I also just love making this chicken soup (and other soups) during the winter to get some extra homemade bone broth into my diet.

It seems like even healthier canned soup brands include less and less meat these days. If you’ve never made chicken soup from scratch before, I encourage you to try this simple recipe and savor the difference.

It’s a must-try!

Chicken Vegetable Soup: A Time-Tested Recipe for Wellness

There’s a good reason why we think of chicken noodle soup when fighting a cold. True, we probably grew up being offered a steaming bowl at the first sign of sniffles, as our parents did before us. But there are practical reasons too for why soup is considered an elixir for good health.

Immune Boosting

With herbal ingredients like parsley, turmeric, basil, and oregano, this chicken vegetable soup recipe helps fight the colds and flu we are all prone to especially in the winter months. I’ve also made sure to add a heartier helping of veggies than found in traditional recipes to really boost the nutritional content.

I can’t go without mentioning the real star of this dish: homemade chicken broth, chock full of immune-boosting minerals and protein. Homemade bone broth (made from grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, or wild fish) offers so many health benefits.

Bone broth from grass-fed sources is:

  • high in calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous
  • rich in collagen for healthy hair, skin, and nails
  • soothing to the digestion
  • high in gelatin and a good source of protein and the important amino acids proline and glycine.

To make real bone broth, the animal bones need to be simmered for 20+ hours to extract all the nutrients. The Instant Pot shortens this job considerably. But don’t worry, there is a shortcut when there’s no time for homemade broth! I use this pre-made option when I need bone broth in a pinch. It’s grass-fed, organic, long-simmered, and avoids the hidden harmful ingredients in many other store-bought broths

If you want to know more about broth as a superfood, check out my podcast interviews with Chef Lance Roll and Justin Mares where we discuss the benefits of broth and the many ways it can be used to improve your health!

Low Glycemic

This chicken vegetable soup is a great low glycemic and high protein meal. It fits the profile of my Wellness Mama recipe requirements and for anyone trying to lose weight. It’s also gluten and dairy-free for those needing to avoid those ingredients.

Simple Prep

I’m opposed to extra dishes and like to keep as many meals as I can to one pot. This recipe calls for boiling a whole chicken right in the stockpot. Everything else can be given a rough chop and thrown in. In fact, this recipe takes only 15 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to simmer.

Freezable

It sounds simple and cliché, but the secret to successful meal planning is planning ahead. Consider making a big batch ahead of time and freeze it to have on hand if the sniffles hit.

Delicious Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

It sounds so good… let’s get simmering!

Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

A delicious and hearty warm vegetable soup that is packed with nutrients.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Calories 90kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

18 cups

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Pour the water into a large stock pot.
  • Add the chicken, bring to a boil, and boil until cooked. If using chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken, chicken broth can be used in place of water.
  • While the chicken is cooking, chop the celery, carrots, onions, amd garlic.
  • Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat.
  • When the chicken is cooked, remove it from water and set it aside to cool slightly.
  • Meanwhile, add the chopped celery, carrots, onions, and garlic cloves to the boiling water.
  • Add all the herbs and spices.
  • Boil until the vegetables are cooked, but not mushy.
  • Meanwhile, chop the chicken into small pieces.
  • Dice the broccoli and mushrooms.
  • Add the broccoli, mushrooms, spinach, and chicken to the pot.
  • While stirring, add the beaten eggs slowly (it will look similar to egg drop soup).
  • Boil 2 minutes until eggs are cooked, remove from heat and serve.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 90 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 1.1g7%
Cholesterol 69mg23%
Sodium 138mg6%
Carbohydrates 6.1g2%
Fiber 2.1g9%
Sugar 1.9g2%
Protein 8g16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Feel free to omit the eggs if you can’t have them.
This soup freezes great!

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Other Chicken Vegetable Soup Variations:

  • Chicken Pot Pie Soup – This creamy soup featured in the Wellness Mama cookbook uses arrowroot and coconut milk to thicken up the broth (and skips the need for a pie crust!)
  • Soothing Garlic Soup – A favorite for immune-boosting soup with a chicken broth base
  • Egg Drop Soup – Soothing soup in 10 minutes (and with the added benefits of ginger!)
  • Of course, substitute freely with seasonal vegetables or simply with what you have on hand!
  • Kettle & Fire Bone Broth — For when you’re short on time, and want pre-made bone broth that’s pretty gelatinous and made with organic ingredients.
  • Leftover Turkey Soup – A healthy soup variation I love to make after Thanksgiving or when turkey is on sale
  • Tomato Cabbage Soup – My favorite way to add extra veggies to seasonal tomato soup

What’s in your go-to chicken soup recipe? Please share!

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

101 responses to “The Best Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe (+ Variations)”

  1. Natasha Avatar

    I just made this and it’s amazing! I used a whole chicken and followed the recipe exactly except I used 5 quarts of water. So I added 1 TBS of chicken base. It’s hearty and delicious! Maybe my chicken was extra large! Definitely saving this one

  2. Caitie Avatar

    4 stars
    Did it with chicken breasts and was great. Had no breasts at the store today so I bought a whole chicken. How long will it take to boil a 3lb chicken? And in my stock pot I don’t know that 2 quarts is enough to cover the whole thing by an inch, as google suggests.
    any tips?

  3. Kelly Avatar

    1 star
    This soup was so disgusting. The amount of spices it calls for is outrageous. I flushed it down the toilet. Beware of this one. I had 2 other people try it and they both gagged. Waste of time and money.

  4. Katie Avatar

    1 star
    I did the same thing! I am sick and had been chopping vegetables for what seemed like forever, so by the time I started putting the spices in, I was over it. It seemed like too much spice, but I wanted it to be over with. I couldn’t even get a spoonful to taste it because there was so much spice floating on the top, so I put it in a bowl and was immediately furious. It is the worst soup I’ve ever tasted. I was going to throw it all away, but figured I’d dump it through a colander and try water and chicken base first. The soup still tastes terrible and my white colander is now permanently yellow.

  5. Mae Avatar

    2 stars
    I re read the recipe a dozen times wondering what I did wrong. I followed it pretty closely but……… WAY too much turmeric, curry and oregano…. actually the worst soup Ive ever made. I am a good cook, i don’t typically measure or follow recipe but because this had both Turmeric and Curry I thought I better. used two quarts of good broth and used chicken breast…ended up skimming all that oregano and basil off the top that was floating and ladling out most of the stock and dumping it down the sink as it was not edible, then added 2 more quarts of fresh broth and everyone loved it. Again…i dont understand how only a couple comments mentioned this and everyone else raved. I think the negative comments just chose not to comment?… Tell me what I did wrong. I used dried spices………did you intend for it to be fresh? My Advice……….stick with your gut if it seems wrong, likely it is (; thank you anyways!

  6. David Avatar

    2 stars
    I was very excited to try the recipe to try something different. I found that the turmeric and curry overpowered all other flavors and wound up wondering why I even added the vegetables. Couldn’t really taste the chicken either. If you love curry this is the recipe for you! BUT glad I tried it as it was a learning experience in using spices I don’t use very often! Might try it by cutting the curry and turmeric in half.

  7. Arpita Patel Avatar
    Arpita Patel

    5 stars
    Easy soup to make, however I added a few fresh herbs from my garden that I felt complemented this soup. You can’t beat how easy the recipe is and it leaves the door open to do whatever you want with it.

  8. steve Avatar

    5 stars
    Made the soup with a few alterations and it turned out great. I substituted kale for spinach, added cumin, fresh ginger and juice of a lemon.

  9. Vieve Avatar

    5 stars
    This was amazing. My 1.5 year old ate 2 helpings. perfect amount of spice and flavoring. Thank you for sharing!

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