Easy Flavorful Chicken Soup

Take your  leftover roast chicken and make this super easy flavorful chicken soup ASAP! Not only will your taste buds thank you but you can also luxuriate in the feeling that you got all your money’s worth out of that chicken 😉 it’s a win win!

This flavorful chicken soup is by far my favorite way to use up leftover chicken. The love this soup gets is insane.. No siriusly! My kid goes nuts for this easy chicken soup. If i can make this every day, she would be extremely happy lol

Ooooo and let’s Talk about a meal stretcher! .It’s no secret, I love to save money and repurposing leftovers is one easy way to do that.  You don’t even need a lot of meat on the bone to make this a hearty meal. On more than one occasion, just like the pic below.  I only had half of 1 breast, the back, 1 wing and the neck of the chicken left, and no one cared one bit. The addition of hearty root veggies plus a side of white rice makes this more than a satisfying complete meal.

Mise En Place for Easy Flavorful Chicken Soup

Equipment:

• Soup pot
• Wooden Spoon
• Cutting board and sharp knife
• Veggie peeler 
• Bowls or plates to nestle your ingredients in

Ingredients:

• Leftover chicken – at least a quarter of a chicken
• Small red onion
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Celery
• Pumpkin – adds a subtle sweetness to the soup. Sub kabocha or butternut squash.
• Potatoes – Idaho potatoes.
• Plantains – related to bananas but do not eat raw. Plantains must be cooked. For this recipe we are using green plantains.
• Corn on the cob – fresh or frozen is fine. If frozen, get the mini cobs. If fresh, cut them in halves or thirds if you have the arm strength  
• Chicken Bouillon cubes – bouillon cubes give you that “this has been cooking for a long time” type of feel 😉
• Cilantro – not a cilantro fan? Ok then sub in parsley. 
• Water or stock. – If using stock, then use 1 bouillon cube.
• Lemon– The lemon juice brightens up the dish. Even though this is a hearty and filling soup, the lemon makes you feel like its light. It’s crazy good.
• Veggie oil– only a small amount is needed to get the party started.

I 100% feel, you should buy more plantains than what you need and make my Dominican Mangu– don’t fight me on this 😉

Let’s make this Easy Flavorful Chicken Soup!

This chicken soup is so flavorful  and ridiculously easy to make. I wouldn’t be surprised if you start roasting chickens every week now lol.

First things first, Affix your cutting board to a flat surface, (A damp paper towel placed underneath is all you need). gather all your chicken soup ingredients.

Start prepping:

Take the skin of the chicken, dice your onion, smash the garlic. Cut the carrots into rounds about 1/2 inch thick, the celery into half moons. Peel and cut your plantains and pumpkin into about 1 inch pieces. (Check out this tutorial by the spruce eats on how to easily peel a plantain ). Quarter the potatoes.Take out the bouillon cubes, wash and dry your cilantro, halve and have your lemon handy.

Now we cook:

Place a soup pot on the stove over medium high heat. When the pot is hot add a glug of veggie oil and sweat the onions, carrots & celery. When the onions are translucent, add the garlic. Stir it around until you can smell it. Now add the chicken and everything else, except the potatoes. Add enough water to cover it all, plus an extra cup or two. Bring the soup up to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer. Cover and simmer away for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes. Place the lid back on. When the potatoes are done, the soup is done…about another 15-20 minutes. if you want a thicker soup see below. Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the soup and stir.

Extra step:

This step is extra but I like it. I continue to cook the soup until the potatoes are slightly over cooked and start to break apart, thickening the soup. The plantains will help with this too. Doing this gives me Dominican sancocho vibes.  Sancocho is hands down my favorite all time dish. It’s a meaty, root veggie filled hearty stew and it’s amazing!!  butttt takes a long time to make so this easy and flavorful chicken soup is my ode to that.

To eat:

This chicken soup is very hearty on its own but if you need more, I totally get you 🙂 I like to serve perfect fluffy white rice alongside bowls of this flavorful chicken soup. If you’re not partial to rice, then by all means throw in noodles during the last minutes of cooking. No matter how you serve this, its guaranteed to all go down! lol

Prep Tips

There aren’t many prep ahead tips for this easy and flavorful chicken soup. But, let’s say you are cooking other dishes throughout the week that have similar mise en place. Then yea,  I would certainly batch prep those. It’s such a great timesaver during the week!

• Dice all onions, carrots, celery, peel the garlic.. Then store them separately in air tight containers in the fridge. 
• Wash, thoroughly dry and store herbs – I prefer the damp paper towel, ziplock baggie method described in the Kitchn

Easy and Flavorful Chicken Soup

Yield: serves 4-8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Take your  leftover roast chicken and make this super easy and flavorful chicken soup Not only will your taste buds thank you but you can also luxuriate in the feeling that you got all your money's worth out of that chicken 😉 it's a win win!

Print

Ingredients

• Leftover roasted chicken , skin removed
• Red onions, diced
• Celery , sliced into half moons
• Carrots , cut into rounds 1/4-1/2 an inch thick
• Garlic , smashed
• Water or stock*
• 1/4 of small pumpkin**, peeled
• 1-2 Chicken boullion cubes *
• Potatoes , quartered
• Plantains , peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• Corn on the cob, fresh or frozen
• Cilantro leaves, optional
• Lemon

Instructions

1. Place a soup pot on the stove over medium high heat. When the pot is hot add a glug of veggie oil and sweat the onions, carrots and celery.
2. When the onions are translucent, throw in the garlic. Stir it around until you can smell it.
3. Add the chicken, bouillon cubes, plantains, corn on the cob, the handful of cilantro and enough water or stock to cover it all, plus an extra cup or two.
4. Bring the soup up to a boil, then reduce to a high simmer. Cover it and let this simmer away for 15 minutes
5. Add the potatoes. Put the cover back on. When the potatoes are done, the soup is done…about another 15-20 minutes. ***
6. Turn the heat off and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon.
7. Enjoy!

Notes

The yield of the soup depends vastly on how much chicken you have and liquid needed to cover.

*if using stock, use only 1 bouillon cube.

**can sub in kabocha or butternut squash for pumpkin

*** if you prefer a thicker soup, continue to simmer until the potatoes start to break apart.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 135Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 167mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 10g

nutrition information is not always accurate