Creamy Chicken Soup that is truly your one size fits all soup template for homemade broth, creamy and satisfying flavor, and textural add-ins! If you want to impress people, you really only need fresh ingredients: some chicken, some herbs, and veggies. When making a creamy chicken soup, it’s fun to customize and adapt to Asian, American, or Southwest flavors because it gives you more variety and doesn’t take a ton of planning.
This chicken soup recipe clocks in at 36 grams of protein per bowl so it can be served for dinner or as a light appetizer with a side of kale salad. It’s balanced, healthy and basic yet totally satisfying. As you can see, I’ve finished mine with fresh lime and chiles, but I encourage you to make it your own and have loads of ideas for you to try.
Soup is something I like to rotate between meals just to break things up. My family really enjoys soup, and it’s just another way to serve chicken that keeps it interesting to eat.
About This Chicken Broth
I practically never buy soup and it’s really because homemade chicken broth is superior in flavor. It’s just so simple to make from scratch and I’m constantly playing around with whatever I happen to have on hand.
- Ginger. Fresh, anti-inflammatory, adds a spicy factor.
- Garlic and onions. Just the right amount of potency, anti-viral, anti-bacterial.
- Salty broth. Think great for hydrating post workout or when you have the flu.
- Generous amounts of lime juice and a pinch of zest.
- A pile of cilantro – or go with fresh mint, Thai basil, kaffir lime, parsley, or rosemary.
- Coconut milk for richness (think Tom Kha vibes). Absolutely feel free to swap in half and half if you prefer.
What never ceases to amaze me about this soup is how people react. People assume this is an involved recipe because it tastes so complex, but it’s actually really simple to make.
💭Top Tip
When using delicate herbs or greens, add them at the very end so the color and flavors really pop.
White Chicken Chili Variation
Consider fanning some avocado and minced red onion on top if you’d like a white chicken chili option. Have powdered ginger and garlic? Try swapping those if that’s what you’ve got. You can even add corn (fresh or frozen) and a handful of cheese, canned beans, etc.
Preparation
Make the entire recipe start to finish or prep and freeze for later.
🔪 Instructions
Cook the chicken until they reach 165°F then set aside.
Dice the vegetables (medium chop). Use a microplane to grate the peeled ginger. This is where you can double the garlic if you prefer to swap out the ginger.
Sauté or sweat the vegetables until tender. Don’t skip this step because it forms the base layer of your homemade broth.
Add 2 cups of water and shredded chicken to the pot. Let that come to a simmer.
Finish the soup with coconut milk (for dairy free–half and half works, too), lime juice and zest, and a big pinch of fresh herb magic on top.
Taste the soup and if it needs it, add more salt.
Freezer Options
This soup can be frozen for up to 1 month and I have two options for you.
The Cook-Later Option: See the recipe card notes for instructions on how to prep, freeze, then cook the soup.
The Reheat-It Option: If you would like to cook the soup first, then freeze, you will follow the recipe as written but omit the garnish. Allow soup to cool 20 minutes then portion and transfer to freezer bags or glass containers. Simply microwave to reheat. Garnish and serve.
Scaling
If scaling up or down, keep all ratios the same except the salt; add 1 teaspoon sea salt and then add more to taste. When scaling, bare in mind you will need a vessel that can hold roughly 4 cups for the original recipe (so 8 cups if doubling, 12 cups if tripling).
Leftovers
Leftovers? But how? You mean you didn’t stand dunking your spoon into the leftovers in the pot? Just me then, okay. You can store any soup leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for 4 days. The garnish should be stored separately and added after you’ve rewarmed it.
Nutrition, big flavor, and healing whole food ingredients make this a cold-weather (and head-cold) essential. Garlic, ginger, and lime juice? This trio can make it all better.
HEALING CHICKEN 🥣: FAQS
Yes! Details can be found in the recipe notes.
Just pour any leftovers into a container, seal it, and refrigerate. Of note, you can store fresh herbs in a wet paper towel separately.
Yes! Have some chicken already cooked? If it’s fresh, you can use it in place of the thighs here. Of note, cooked chicken lasts for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Creamy Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil lard, tallow, avocado oil, or butter work, too
- 1 onion diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
- 1 14- ounce can full-fat coconut milk or substitute half-and-half
- 4 limes remove zest from 1 lime and then extract juice (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup fresh herbs cilantro, mint, thai basil for garnish (chiffonade)
Instructions
Cook the chicken.
- Slow Cooker Method: Season chicken thighs with salt and place in slow cooker with the oil. Set to “Bake” mode for 400F for 45 minutes. Oven Method: Use an oven-safe pan or Dutch oven at 400F, spread oil and place seasoned chicken thighs in pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until an internal temperature registers 165℉.
- Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Chop the vegetables (onion, celery, and garlic) and transfer them to a large prep bowl as you work to give yourself plenty of room on the cutting board. If you own a microplane, mince the ginger directly over the bowl to capture as much ginger juice as possible (as opposed to just chopping it).
- Sweat vegetables and make broth. Use tongs to transfer the cooked chicken to a plate. Allow to rest for 10 minutes so you don't burn your hands and so the chicken can reabsorb surface juices. Combine the vegetables (onion, celery, garlic, and ginger) to the hot slow cooker or Dutch oven. Sauté on high heat for 7 minutes. Stir then add 2 cups of water. Return the shredded chicken (discarding the bones) to the pot.
- Finish the soup. Bring to a simmer then add coconut milk, lime zest, and lime juice. Allow the soup to warm then serve along with salt to taste. Top with fresh cilantro, mint, or Thai basil for Asian flavors or try adding avocado or red onion for Southwest.
Notes
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 onion diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
- 1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk (additive free)
- 4 limes (zest of 1 lime plus 1/4 juice)
Nutrition
📖Variations
- boneless skinless chicken thighs: Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs work, too. Once cooked, you can discard the bones and skin. You can also use a whole chicken in this recipe to replace the thighs and save a little money.
- sea salt: Kosher salt, Himalayan pink salt 1:1 when you are only scaling the recipe x 1 (if scaling x 2, keep salt at 1 teaspoon and then salt to taste at the end)
- olive oil: any oil will work in this recipe and if you can do dairy, butter would be great for flavor
- onion: white, yellow onions work best; use green onion or leaks if that’s what you have; use 1 tablespoon onion powder to replace the fresh onion
- celery: one celery root may replace 4 stalks celery
- garlic: substitute green garlic; use the pre-minced garlic where 4 cloves minced is equivalent to 4 teaspoons; use 1 teaspoon garlic powder to replace 4 cloves fresh garlic; if avoiding garlic, use shallots or asafoetida instead or try removing the green germ from the center of the garlic as some people are sensitive to this
- fresh ginger: replace with 1 teaspoon ground ginger (must be really fresh as ginger loses flavor after 6 months in the pantry); may also swap lemon grass for ginger or thai curry paste
- full-fat coconut milk: you can leave the coconut milk out of this recipe but it does provide a dairy-free richness
- limes: substitute with lemon to taste or leave out and it will be a classic chicken flavor (less tart)
- fresh herb garnish: use cilantro, mint, Thai basil for an Asian flavor profile or try fresh rosemary, thyme, basil, or parsley for an American flavor profile
As always, if you try a variation to this recipe that you like, you can leave it in the comments so you have a record for when you come back to make it again.
