Last Updated on January 27, 2022
When’s the last time you had homemade, healthy chicken soup?
If it’s been a while, then I really recommend adding chicken soup recipe into your routine.
WHAT MAKES THIS CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE HEALTHY
- My Chicken Soup recipe is low calorie, filling, gluten-free, dairy-free, grain free, and DELICIOUS.
- It’s very easy to make and affordable. (woohoo!)
- Soup is among one of the easiest ways to meal prep. Make a big vat and bam – you have meals prepped for the rest of the week.
- Soups make great meals when you’re trying to lose weight, too.
- This recipe has ingredients that boost your metabolism and immunity, too.
This is a one pot, set-it-and-forget-it (but keep an eye on it) kind of recipe, so it’s perfect if you’re busy and don’t like cooking.
We’ll be slowly simmering the chicken which makes the meat super juicy. The chicken falls apart at the slightest touch and literally melts in your mouth. Plus, slowly simmering the chicken allows tons of flavor to develop.
I think you (and your family) will love it.
We’ll be using chicken, which is a power protein for weight loss and the metabolism.
Chicken provides the amino acids needed for muscle growth, repair, and can help you feel fuller longer between meals.
Obviously, white meat chicken breast is the leanest, cleanest choice, however, because of the lower fat content, it tends to be more dry and bland.
A yummy, more affordable and still healthy alternative is to use organic chicken thighs. The dark meat adds extra flavor with minimal spikes in fat content. I’ll share a trick to reduce the fat content in soup after the recipe.
You can always use chicken breasts, too! The soup-making method ensures the chicken breast will be juicy and tender. I recommend getting a whole organic chicken, if you do.
I make it with dark and white meat, but the photos are made with organic thigh meat, FYI. It was on sale at my grocery store and I shop sales to save money on organic food.
Are you ready to experience the magic of this metabolism boosting Healthy Chicken Soup recipe?
Let’s do it! After you’re done making it, please leave me a comment and let me know if you liked it.
Healthy Chicken Soup
*organic ingredients recommended*
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup of carrots, chopped or shredded (I used pre-shredded carrots for convenience)
- 1 cup of celery, chopped
- 4 tbsp. olive oil (or ghee)
- 32 oz. chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- 1 cup whole mushrooms, sliced
- 2 lbs. organic chicken thighs (I used 2, 1 lb. packages, each had 4 thighs)
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning (buy this in the spice aisle at your local (or favorite online) grocery store)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
HOW TO MAKE THIS (SO GOOD AND GOOD FOR YOU) HEALTHY CHICKEN SOUP
- Prep the veggies.
- Then sauté the onions, carrots, and celery in a stock pot with the olive oil (or ghee) over medium heat until they begin to soften.
- Once tender, add the broth and mushrooms.
- Cook until the broth boils.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and add the chicken, bay leaves, jerk seasoning, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.
- Remove the thighs one by one, onto a cutting board and shred with a fork.
- Once shredded, transfer the meat back into the pot.
- At this point, it’s ready to serve. I always make a bowl. I also always add some hot sauce to mine… because I’m addicted to hot sauce.
TIPS TO TURN CHICKEN SOUP INTO A COMPLETE & HEALTHY MEAL
I like to serve this soup along with a salad or brown rice to make it a complete meal if I’m cooking for other people, too. The brown rice adds more fiber, is more filling, and helps stretch the dollar more.
Make the brown rice on the side to keep your soup low carb!
I like to ladle the soup over the top of a bed of brown rice if my family or significant other are involved. You could also do brown rice noodle or other clean, plant-based noodles, too. I never have though.
This keeps your soup lower calorie but lets your family enjoy the meal, without feeling like they’re restricted, too.
How to Reduce Fat in Chicken Soup (but keep flavor)
Once this soup is done, simply drop in a few ice cubes and the extra fat will harden. Simply skim off the fat that hardens from the top.
This way you’ll cut down on calories and fat, but be able to keep the juicy flavor of dark meat. So you’ll get the added flavor, without the added calories and fat. Yassssssss!
TIPS TO USE THIS CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE AS HEALTHY MEAL PREP
It’s even better the next day, so this recipe is amazing for meal prep. Simply double or triple the recipe.
NOTE: It’s only good for up to 3 days in the fridge but you can freeze it, too.
- Once you make it, turn the heat off and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
- Once cooled, I add some ice and skim the extra fat off the top.
- Then I transfer it into the fridge overnight.
- It’s super easy to put in glass Tupperware to take to work for lunch the next day or two.
- Or put it in the freezer and thaw it whenever you’re ready for a quick and easy meal.
I hope you love it as much as I do! Let me know how yours turns out.
xxoo
HEALTHY CHICKEN SOUP
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup of carrots, chopped or shredded (I used pre-shredded carrots for convenience)
- 1 cup of celery, chopped
- 4 tbsp. olive oil, or ghee
- 32 oz. chicken broth or chicken bone broth
- 1 cup whole mushrooms, sliced
- 2 lbs. organic chicken thighs, I used 2, 1 lb. packages, each had 4 thighs
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning, buy this in the spice aisle at your local (or favorite online grocery store)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep the veggies.
- Then sauté the onions, carrots, and celery in a stock pot with the olive oil (or ghee) over medium heat until they begin to soften.
- Once tender, add the broth and mushrooms.
- Cook until the broth boils.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and add the chicken, bay leaves, jerk seasoning, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and fork tender.
- Remove the thighs one by one, onto a cutting board and shred with a fork.
- Once shredded, transfer the meat back into the pot.
- At this point, it’s ready to serve. I always make a bowl. I also always add some hot sauce to mine… because I’m addicted to hot sauce.
Nutrition
Here are some other popular soup posts, you’ll love.
- Must-try Soup Cleanse for Fitness & Health
- Healthy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Coconut Shrimp Thai Soup
- Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup
Christina is a Functional Health Practitioner, Holistic Nutritionist, and Personal Trainer who transformed her own health—healing multiple issues, getting off seven medications, and losing 40 pounds for good. Now, she helps others get Happy, Healthy, & Fit—without any industry BS. With over 20,000 success stories, Christina empowers clients to slim down, tone up, and feel amazing – quickly and naturally. Ready to start looking and feeling your best? Take my Program Style Quiz to discover the program that’s perfect for you.
This recipe is amazing! I loved it and so did my very picky 6 year old. Thank you Christina!
Made this last week, using homemade jerk seasoning. Delicious!!
Yay! Thank you for letting me know, Lisa! This is one of my faves 🙂 xoxo
Clearly there are some errors- seriously (3) TABLESPOONS OF CARRIBEAN JERK SEASONING!!!!! After following the recipe, I believe it should be (3) Teaspoons.
I had to add a least (6) quarts of water and broth and noodles to make this palatable!!!
I don’t know if you’re aware of this but jerk seasoning is supposed to be warming, hot, & spicy… that also stimulates a beneficial metabolic response… you can always modify all ingredients to suit your tastes. For anyone reading this 3 tbsp. maxes the benefits and slow simmering the spices makes them integrate and diffuse, reducing the heat. See the comments above, a 6 year old enjoyed it as is. lol