Can You Live on Soup With Vegetables and Chicken or Beef in It

Last year, I was on a beef and vegetable soup kick, and you guys didn't mind! My Beef Vegetable Soup recipe and my Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup recipes were two of your all-time favorites.

So, this year it was a no-brainer to make a similar version with chicken. I mean, I think we can all agree that there are few things more comforting in this world than a bowl of hot, hearty, and homemade chicken vegetable soup from scratch.

Packed with all of your favorite veggies and homemade, stick-to-your-bones chicken broth, it just warms you from the inside out, fills you up, and makes your home smell divine.

The soup itself is built on a base of homemade chicken stock, which I think takes this recipe to a whole new level. However, you can use your favorite store-bought chicken stock as well.

In addition to tasting delicious, this chicken broth soup with veggies is good for you. Make a big batch, serve some and freeze the rest for later. If you agree, let's break it down.

Ingredients

If you look at the chicken and veggie soup recipe written below, you might think there are a lot of ingredients. However, don't let that stop you because this soup is endlessly customizable with easy substitutions, which I will talk more about below.

Meanwhile, here is a breakdown of ingredients in 3 categories:

Chicken – What Kind of Chicken To Use?

In terms of chicken, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

I like to use thighs because they yield so much chicken flavor that's perfect for a soup like this, but if you prefer leaner, white meat, chicken breasts will work too.

Vegetables – What Vegetables Do You Put in Chicken Soup?

If you're asking yourself, "What veggies are good in chicken soup?" I have a simple answer for you, nearly every vegetable!

More than anything, I think you will agree that making this chicken vegetable soup recipe is a great way to clean out your produce drawer and use whatever's in season.

Since we are in the middle of winter, I used hearty veggies like onions, carrots, garlic, celery, bell pepper, diced tomatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, and fresh green beans.

In the end, I also added fast-cooking veggies like corn, kale, and frozen peas to make it even more veggie-packed.

What other vegetables can I use?

The beauty of this chicken soup with mixed vegetables comes from the fact that you can easily swap ingredients. Don't have kale; use spinach. No green beans; use broccoli or cauliflower.

For example, if you want to introduce seasonal flavors, parsnips, butternut squash, or sweet potatoes would be great additions in the fall.

The Liquid

In terms of liquid, I used a combination of chicken broth, water, and tomato sauce.

When it comes to broth-based soups like this, I prefer using a combination of water, tomato and broth, mainly because I make my own broth. However, you can use all chicken broth and omit water as well.

Seasoning Ideas

What sets my recipe apart from other more basic chicken and vegetable soup recipes is that I got some help from everyday spices.

Seasoning for the chicken:

I used a combination of paprika, salt, and pepper to flavor the chicken, which helps build a baseline of flavor before sauteeing the veggies and ensures the chicken is flavorful all on its own.

If you are into smoky flavors, you can use smoked paprika as well.

Spices to add to the soup:

For the soup, I seasoned the veggies with some ground cumin. It pairs well with the paprika used on the meat and gives the soup a warm flavor that works beautifully with the vegetables and stock.

Suppose you have it and love the taste; you can also add in a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, which is basically a combination of oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley garlic powder.

How To Make Chicken Vegetable Soup?

The process for making my homemade chicken and vegetable soup has five parts:

1. Prepare the Chicken: Dry the chicken with paper towels and season with kosher salt, black pepper, and paprika.
2. Sear the chicken: Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Sear chicken for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer them onto a plate. At this point, they will be browned and not fully cooked. Do not wash the pot! This is the first step in the flavor foundation of your soup.
3. Add the hearty veggies: Heat vegetable oil in the now-empty — but well-seasoned — pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper, and ground cumin. Cook for 8-9 minutes or until vegetables are softened, frequently stirring to prevent burning. Then, add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Next, add the potatoes, green beans, canned tomatoes (with their juices), tomato sauce, chicken stock, water, and reserved semi-cooked chicken thighs (with their juices and drippings on the plate). Give everything a good stir and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits at the bottom of your pot.
4. Bring it to a boil & let it simmer: Secure the lid, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, and simmer for 15-17 minutes, until chicken thighs are fully cooked, and vegetables are tender.
5. Shred Your Chicken: Remove the whole, cooked chicken thighs from the pot and place them onto a plate. Shred them using two forks, and add them back to the soup.
6. Add Remaining Veggies: Stir in the peas, corn, and kale leaves. Bring it to one final boil, and let it simmer for 4-5 more minutes to cook these last additions.
7. Serve: Remove the bay leaf, ladle it into bowls, and serve with your favorite crust bread. Enjoy!

How Do You Know When To Add Potatoes?

To ensure your cubed potatoes are cooked through, add them early on in the soup-making process when you add the rest of your veggies (except the peas, corn, and kale). They are the starchiest vegetable and will require the most cooking time. Once they're fork-tender, they're done!

What To Serve It With?

• A Loaf of Crusty Bread (Or French Baguette): If you have the time, I highly recommend baking your own crusty bread like my No-Knead Bread. There's nothing better than dunking a chunk of homemade bread into homemade soup!
• Savory Cornbread Muffins : These are so good that I typically keep a batch of them in the freezer during the winter months to serve with soups and chilis. Flavored with scallions and cheddar cheese, these go well with anything, but especially brothy dishes!
• A Simple Salad: If you're wanting an extra serving of veggies with your soup, a simple salad like my Brussels Sprout Kale Salad or my Fall Harvest Salad would be delicious!
• Wild Rice: While wild rice is delicious all on its own, it also works wonderfully with soups, especially chicken soups. Its nutty, earthy flavors would pair well with the veggies in this chicken tomato soup, as well as the cumin and paprika. Just cook it ahead of time, portion it into bowls, and ladle the hot soup on top. And if you need help, check out my foolproof guide to how to cook wild rice on the stovetop and Instant Pot Wild rice recipe.
• Your Favorite Crackers: Oyster crackers, Saltines, or even tortilla chips would be a delicious, salty, crispy treat to enjoy with this soup.

How To Make It in a Crock Pot?

Like most soups, this stovetop version can easily be turned into a crock pot chicken vegetable soup recipe with a few tweaks to the recipe instructions:

1. Sear the Meat: Dry the chicken thighs as much as possible, and season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering hot, add as many chicken thighs as possible without crowding the pan, and cook until nicely browned on all sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer the seared meat to a plate and continue cooking in batches, if necessary.
2. Place All Ingredients (Except Peas, Carrots, and Kale) in the Slow Cooker: Place the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes (with juice), tomato sauce, green beans, seared whole chicken thighs, broth, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and cumin in your slow cooker's insert, and give it a stir. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
3. Shred Chicken and Add Remaining Veggies: During the last 30 minutes of cooking, remove your chicken thighs and shred them using two forks. Then, add the meat, peas, carrots, and kale to your soup and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the kale is tender but not falling apart.
4. Taste and Serve: Give it a taste, and add more seasoning if necessary. Ladle into bowls, garnish with fresh parsley, serve, and enjoy!

A Quick Note on Slow Cooker Chicken Vegetable Soup:

The step where we brown the chicken is an optional one. While I think the extra browning step adds an additional flavor to the overall dish, you can skip it and add the raw chicken into the slow cooker with the veggies and follow the recipe as written.

Variations:

I love this hearty chicken vegetable soup recipe because it's completely adaptable to fit your taste buds and what you're craving. Here are some ideas on variations to try:

• Chicken Vegetable Noodle Soup: If you want to change it up, use your favorite pasta instead of potatoes. Simply add them into the cooking liquid in the last 10 minutes and cook it to your liking.
• Low-Calorie Chicken Soup: If you want to make it low-calorie, feel free to use chicken breasts instead.
• Chicken Soup with Frozen Vegetables: While I prefer to use fresh vegetables that are in season (except for frozen peas), for the best texture and flavor, if it's more convenient to use all frozen veggies, go for it! If you decide to go the frozen vegetable route, omit the fresh carrots, green beans, and frozen peas and just purchase a 24-oz bag of frozen mixed vegetables instead and add them during the last 30 minutes of cooking to avoid overcooking them.
• Quick Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe: If you are short on time, you can use leftover or rotisserie chicken. Doing so allows you to skip the sauteeing step and save at least 15 minutes.
• Spicy Chicken Vegetable Soup: If you're a fan of heat and spice, consider adding some diced jalapenos, red pepper flakes, and/or cayenne pepper to this soup. Great for opening your sinuses!

How To Store, Freeze & Reheat

This chicken tomato vegetable soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow the soup to cool completely and come to room temperature before freezing, then follow these steps:

• To Store: Ladle leftovers into an airtight container or plastic bag and keep in the fridge for up to three days.
• To Freeze: Ladle cooled soup into individual airtight, freezer-safe containers or plastic bags, and freeze for up to three months. Pop one out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge overnight.
• To Reheat: Allow frozen soup to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. Then, place chilled soup in a saucepan over medium-low heat until just boiling and warmed through. The goal is to warm, not cook again. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Other Healthy Chicken Soup Recipes You Might Like

If you are a fan of homemade chicken vegetable soup recipes from scratch, you might also like the ones below that I think are perfect for cold winter evenings:

• Lightened-up Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
• Crockpot Chicken Tomatillo Soup
• White Chicken Chili
• Chicken Potato "Noodle" Soup
• Stuffed Cabbage Soup (This calls for beef, but you could easily swap for ground chicken or turkey if you prefer poultry to red meat.)

Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

Yields: 6 servings

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 55 mins

This chicken vegetable soup recipe is an easy and healthy one pot dinner that you can make in less than an hour. It is packed with hearty vegetables & shredded chicken in a tomato-flavored broth. Packed with veggies and easy to customize with what you have in the fridge.

For The Chicken:

• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• ▢ 1 tablespoons vegetable oil

For The Soup:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 medium size onion chopped
• ▢ 2 stalks of carrots cut in small pieces (~½ cup)
• ▢ 2 stalks celery cut in small pieces (~½ cup)
• ▢ 1 small bell pepper cut into chunks (~¼ cup)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1 inch cubes
• ▢ 1 cup green beans ends removed cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• ▢ 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• ▢ 1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
• ▢ 4 cups chicken stock
• ▢ 2 cups water
• ▢ 1 cup green peas
• ▢ 1 cup corn fresh, frozen and canned would all work
• ▢ 2 cups kale leaves ribs removed

• Prepare the chicken: Mix together salt, pepper, and paprika in a bowl. Pat dry chicken thighs using paper towels. Season chicken on both sides.

• Sear the chicken: In a large heavy bottom pot (like a Dutch oven), heat 1 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Sear chicken thighs, 3-minutes on each side. Transfer them onto a plate. At this point, they will not be fully cooked, which is fine. Do not wash the pot.

• Sautee veggies: Heat vegetable oil in the now-empty pot over medium heat. Add in onion, carrots, celery, bell pepper, and ground cumin. Cook, stirring frequently, 8-9 minutes or until vegetables are softened.

• Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

• Add in the rest of the veggies & cook: Add in potatoes, green beans, tomatoes (with their juices), tomato sauce, chicken stock, water and reserved semi-cooked chicken thighs (with their juices). Give it a large stir. Put the lid on and bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for 15-17 minutes or until chicken thighs are fully cooked (when a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken it should at least register 165 degrees F or 74 degrees C).

• Remove chicken from the pot onto a plate. Shred using two forks and put it back into the pot.

• Stir in the peas, corn and kale leaves. Bring it to a one final boil and let it simmer for 4-5 more minutes.

• Ladle into bowls and serve.

Ingredient substitutions: This recipe is very versatile. If you are missing a few ingredients, you can either omit them or use other vegetables. Don't have kale? Use spinach. Don't have green beans? Use broccoli or cauliflower.

This chicken vegetable soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow the soup to cool completely and come to room temperature before freezing, then follow these steps:

• To Store: Ladle leftovers into an airtight container or plastic bag and keep in the fridge for up to three days.
• To Freeze: Ladle cooled soup into individual airtight, freezer-safe containers or plastic bags, and freeze for up to three months. Pop one out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge overnight.
• To Reheat: Allow frozen soup to thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. Then, place chilled soup in a saucepan over medium-low heat until just boiling and warmed through. The goal is to warm, not cook again. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Calories: 446 kcal | Carbohydrates: 35 g | Protein: 25 g | Fat: 24 g | Saturated Fat: 9 g | Trans Fat: 1 g | Cholesterol: 99 mg | Sodium: 824 mg | Potassium: 1116 mg | Fiber: 5 g | Sugar: 10 g | Vitamin A: 6352 IU | Vitamin C: 68 mg | Calcium: 108 mg | Iron: 3 mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

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Source: https://foolproofliving.com/chicken-vegetable-soup/

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