Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe with chunky vegetables, tender chicken and thick, rich broth is absolutely delicious. It’s the chicken soup that eats like a meal!
This classic vegetable soup recipe and beef vegetable soup recipe are our other family favorites.
A hot bowl of chicken vegetable soup recipe is everything at the end of long day! Low in saturated fat and cholesterol, chock full of vitamins and minerals it not only nourishes the body but soothes the mind.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
We love soups a lot! Here are just a few reasons why I think you and your family will love this chicken vegetable soup.
- Easy to make: Comes together in one pot on the stove but can also be prepared in a Crockpot or Instant Pot.
- Veggie loaded: You couldn’t ask for a more veggie-loaded nutrient dense soup.
- Versatile: Vegetable chicken soup is easily modified for your favorite veggies or whatever you have on hand.
- Budget friendly and time saving: Affordable ingredients and a big pot of soup makes for mindless meals all week.
Ingredients and Notes
Dig out a large soup pot and get ready to make this nutritious chicken vegetable soup recipe with some simple ingredients.
- Chicken breasts: Boneless skinless chicken breasts diced into bite-sized pieces. You can also use bone-in chicken, if that’s what you have on hand.
- Garlic: Fresh minced garlic is the most flavorful.
- Vegetables: I used zucchini, potatoes, onions, green beans, carrots, and celery for a veggie-rich soup. You can also use frozen mixed vegetables.
- Diced tomatoes: Low sodium diced tomatoes create the base for a good vegetable soup. If you don’t have any in the pantry, you can cut up fresh tomatoes or use tomato sauce. Tomato sauce will make for a more red soup.
- Chicken broth: Low sodium chicken broth is also used as a base for this chicken vegetable soup recipe.
- Seasonings: I add ground cumin, dried oregano, dried rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
- Butter and olive oil: Sauteing vegetables in butter and olive oil adds extra flavor to the soup.
- Dill: Fresh dill adds a lot of aromatic flavor to the soup. If you don’t have any dill you can substitute fresh parsley, fresh basil or green onions.
How to Make Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
Here is how to make chicken vegetable soup recipe in just 4 straightforward steps.
- Saute the mirepoix: Melt the butter and olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and saute until translucent.
- Add spices and veggies: Now you want to quickly saute dried oregano and rosemary, cumin, salt, and pepper to allow spices release their oils. Then add chicken and vegetables like potatoes, green beans, zucchini, corn and diced tomatoes to cook in chicken stock with bay leaves.
- Cook chicken and vegetable soup: Stir the ingredients well making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot and cover it. Cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Final seasoning step: Turn off the heat and add the fresh dill. Allow flavors to marry each other for 5 minutes while sitting. Now taste the soup and adjust any seasonings to taste.
What Else to Add to Chicken Vegetable Soup?
There are a few things you can add to this chicken vegetable soup recipe to make it heartier.
- Add beans: Any kind of canned beans or cooked dried beans like red kidney beans, cannellini beans or black beans will work. Just use whatever you have in your pantry.
- To make the soup more kid-friendly: Add their favorite pasta shape like I did in this chicken noodle vegetable soup or lemon chicken orzo soup. Cheese filled pasta like tortellini will also be great. Or gnocchi.
- For a gluten free chicken noodle soup: Make sure to choose a gluten free pasta.
- Add rice or quinoa: Cooked brown rice, white rice or wild rice will also make for a wholesome soup. Quinoa also adds both a protein and fiber boost to the soup, you can add it raw during last 10 minutes of cooking.
Tips for Best Results and Variations
Here are a few tips to ensure the absolute best-tasting chicken vegetable soup recipe:
- Sear the chicken: Searing the chicken locks in flavor and makes it nice and juicy.
- Use chicken thighs for more flavor: Dark meat adds more flavor than white meat. Cook the soup with the bones to impart even more flavor and then remove them before serving.
- Leftover or rotisserie chicken: Don’t let already cooked chicken go to waste. Throw it into the pot.
- Frozen vegetables: Keep a stash of frozen vegetables on hand just in case you don’t have any fresh in the fridge. You might have to add more broth with some veggies.
- Thicken the soup: If you prefer a thicker chicken and vegetable soup, make a slurry with 2 tablespoons cold water and 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch and add it at the end of cooking.
- Make it creamy: Looking for a creamier soup? Add up to 1/4 cup of heavy cream or whole milk at the end of cooking if you can tolerate dairy.
- Add some leafy greens: Throw in some greens like kale or spinach for even more vegetables and a thicker soup.
- Squeeze lemon juice: Squeeze fresh lemon juice into the finished vegetable chicken soup to help balance all the flavors.
Serving Recommendations
Make it a meal! Serve chicken vegetable soup with some cornbread, cornbread muffins or garlic bread rolls on a side and you’re all set.
We enjoy eating this soup in a deep soup bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top. And with a salad like tomato cucumber lettuce salad or healthy caesar salad.
This soup travels well so go ahead and send it to school in a thermos with some crusty bread and cheese on the side.
How to Store, Freeze and Reheat
Store: Store chicken veggie soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Allow the soup to cool and then transfer it to an airtight container, leaving some room for expansion, and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in a pot on the stove top. Alternatively reheat in serving bowl in the microwave.
FAQs
Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, grated garlic clove or pat of butter at the end. Sear your chicken breasts or use dark meat chicken and bone-in chicken for more flavor. Add crackers or cheese on top.
I think so. This recipe for chicken vegetable soup is loaded with vegetables and low fat chicken breasts.
Yes. To make soup in slow cooker, saute vegetables and possibly sear chicken in a skillet for more flavor. In a large slow cooker, combine all ingredients, cover and cook on Low heat for 6-8 hours or on High heat for 3-4 hours.
The process is similar to Instant Pot vegetable soup recipe. To make Instant Pot chicken vegetable soup, saute veggies and chicken, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 2 minutes. Afterwards wait 5 minutes and then turn pressure valve to Venting.
More Soup Recipes to Try
- Healthy chicken tortilla soup
- Minestrone soup
- Chicken noodle soup
- Lemon chicken orzo soup
- Chicken lentil soup
Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed into 1 inch pieces
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 large carrots finely chopped
- 3 large celery stalks finely chopped
- 2 large potatoes chopped
- 2 cups green beans trimmed and chopped
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 1 cup corn fresh or frozen (optional)
- 14 ounces can diced tomatoes low sodium
- 7 cups chicken stock low sodium
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1/4 cup dill finely chopped
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat large dutch oven or large pot on medium heat and add butter to melt and olive oil. Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery and saute for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add oregano, rosemary, cumin, salt, pepper and cook for 30 more seconds, stirring frequently.
- Add chicken, potatoes, green beans, zucchini, corn, diced tomatoes, chicken stock and bay leaves.
- Stir, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer soup for 25 minutes or until potato is fork tender.
- Turn off heat and add dill. Stir and let soup sit for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust any seasonings to taste. Serve hot.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Cool, transfer to an airtight container, leaving some room for expansion, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: On the stove on low heat, thawed or frozen it just takes longer.
- Frozen and other vegetables: Use any your favorites. You might have to add more broth with some veggies.
- Adjust sodium: Add less salt and do so in the end if not using low sodium broth and tomatoes.
- Tomato sauce: Use for more red vegetable soup instead of diced tomatoes.
Hi! This sounds great! I don’t see a step in the instructions for adding the chicken. And if searing the chicken, when would that be done? Thank you!
Sorry just fixed it. You add chicken with veggies in step 3 like in photos. If you want to sear the chicken, do it first before sautéing onions etc. and remove onto the plate.