Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup — Healthy yet hearty and ready in 30 minutes, this EASY chicken soup is perfect for chilly weather! Complete with juicy shredded chicken, mushrooms, tender garbanzo beans, zucchini and kale for a green pop in this noodle-free family favorite!
Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe
The next time you’re craving a hearty chicken soup recipe, this one will give you all those cozy feels. It’s based on my Easy 30-Minute Kale and White Bean Chicken Soup which has been a reader favorite for years.
This vegetable soup recipe with chicken is easy to make, ready in 30 minutes, and the ingredients are very flexible.
Healthy yet hearty is the way to describe this chicken soup thanks to the onions, mushrooms, juicy shredded chicken, tender garbanzo beans, and zucchini and kale for a green pop.
It’s naturally gluten-free since there are no noodles and it’s dairy-free, and depending on who you’re cooking for that could be helpful.
I appreciate that it’s full of vegetables, which helps keep me full longer and makes me feel like I’m eating right.
Whether you want to make this on a busy weeknight for a healthy dinner or put a pot of soup on over the weekend to have work-from-home lunches ready to go for the week, it’s a winner!
Ingredients in Chicken Vegetable Soup
This recipe for chicken vegetable soup is a cinch to prepare. Just have ready the following ingredients:
- Olive oil
- Yellow onion
- Portabello mushrooms
- Garlic
- Chicken broth
- Shredded cooked chicken
- Garbanzo beans
- Zucchini
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Red chili flakes, optional
- Cayenne pepper, optional
- Salt
- Pepper
- Kale
- Lemon juice
How to Make Chicken Vegetable Soup
This is a fast and easy chicken veg soup to make and you’ll be rewarded with a cozy bowlful in 30 minutes. Follow these simple steps:
- Sauté onion with olive oil in a large Dutch oven before adding mushrooms and garlic.
- Add all remaining ingredients except the kale and lemon juice and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the kale, lemon juice, allow the kale to wilt, and taste the soup for seasoning adjustments before serving.
Vegetable Substitutions to Try
The great thing about soups is that they are flexible and forgiving based on what vegetables you have on hand and enjoy.
For example, feel free to make the following substitutions in your vegetable and chicken soup:
- Omit mushrooms
- Add diced celery
- Use another type of white bean including cannellini beans or great northern beans
- Use a small yellow squash instead of zucchini
- Carrots are a great addition
- Spinach or cabbage in lieu or kale or a mix-and-match of the three
- Oregano and poultry seasoning rather than the spices I used
Do I Have to Add Chili Flakes or Cayenne Pepper to the Soup?
No you don’t, and they are optional. However in my opinion, they definitely don’t make the soup spicy.
Rather, they give it depth of flavor and a bit of a boost and intrigue without adding heat.
How to Store Leftovers
Soups keep very well in general and chicken vegetable soup with garbanzo beans is a prime example.
It will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week and in the freezer for up to 4 months. Soups without cream or any dairy in them freeze great.
Tips: Freeze soup in individual serving sized freezer-safe containers to make the thawing process faster and easier. When all you need is one portion for lunch or dinner, it’s also very handy to have them individually portioned.
Tips for Making the Best Chicken Vegetable Soup
I used chicken bone broth for this soup. It gives a really rich flavor and slightly darker color than you’d get if you use chicken broth.
Also, I tend to let my onions go a little longer and get a bit darker and more caramelized sometimes, which also will make the flavor richer and deeper but the broth color is darker.
I recommend low sodium or no-salt added broths because you can control the sodium quantity much better.
The same can be said for beans. I used low-sodium beans.
That said, make sure you enough salt to the soup so that it tastes good. If it’s at all flat or dull, it probably needs more salt.
The lemon juice really brightens the soup up and shouldn’t be skipped.
At any time while making the soup, if the overall liquid level is lower than you like and you prefer more broth. However, adding a cup or two of water is okay because at the end you can always increase the salt level so it doesn’t taste watered down.
Before adding the kale to the soup, remove the center rib. That part is extremely tough to chew and shouldn’t be added to this soup so just use the leaves. Kale wilts dramatically so don’t be surprised if it seems like a lot of kale at once.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Chicken Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced small
- 6 to 8 ounces portabello mushrooms, sliced
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 64 ounces reduced sodium chicken broth, I used chicken bone broth
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- one 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (I use low or no salt added)
- 1 medium zucchini, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 1 t 2 teaspoons cumin, or to taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons dried coriander, or to taste
- Red chili flakes, optional and to taste
- Cayenne pepper, optional and to taste
- 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste if desired
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- leaves from 6 to 8 large stalks of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces (discard the center thick rib)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, brightens up the flavor
Instructions
- To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until onion begins to soften. Stir intermittently.
- Add mushrooms and sauté for about 2 minutes. Stir intermittently.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 minute. Stir nearly constantly.
- Add the chicken broth or bone broth, shredded chicken, beans, zucchini, cumin, coriander, optional chili and cayenne* (See Notes), salt and pepper to taste, and boil about 10 minutes, or until chicken is warmed through. Tip - At any time, if the overall liquid level is lower than you like and you prefer more broth in your soup, adding a cup or two of water is okay because at the end you will adjust the salt level.
- Add the kale, lemon juice, and boil 1 to 2 minutes, or until kale has wilted.
- Taste soup and add additional salt or spices, if desired, to taste. Amount of salt will vary based on how salty the brand of chicken broth used is, how salty the rotisserie chicken is, and personal preference. Serve immediately. Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Adapted from Easy 30-Minute Kale and White Bean Chicken Soup
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Chicken Soup Recipes:
Chicken, White Bean and Kale Soup — This white bean and kale soup soup is easy, hearty, and healthy. It’s packed with flavor, texture, and is a full meal in itself! A reader favorite for years!
Easy 30-Minute Chicken Vegetable Soup — Extra veggies instead of noodles in this HEALTHY, easy chicken soup that’s so FAST to make!! Hearty, filling, and satisfying! Perfect for weeknight dinners and chilly nights!!
30-Minute Chicken and Vegetable Mediterranean Soup — An EASY soup that’s both HEALTHY and HEARTY!! Loaded with tender chicken, vegetables, garbanzo beans, and more! Ready so fast and it’s perfect for busy chilly winter weeknights!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – Classic, comforting, and tastes just like grandma made but way easier and faster! This soup is AMAZING and it’ll be your new favorite recipe!
Chicken Pot Pie Soup — All the comfort food feels of pot pie, but in soup form! Rich, hearty, creamy and ready in just 30 minutes! Use canned biscuit dough to save time on busy weeknights when you’re craving a hot homemade meal!
Creamy Sweet Potato Chicken Soup – An EASY comfort food chicken soup recipe with sweet potatoes and more to keep you full and satisfied for hours!! Ready in 30 minutes with a flexible ingredients list based on what you have on hand!
Chicken Pot Pie Soup — All the comfort food feels of pot pie, but in soup form! Rich, hearty, creamy and ready in just 30 minutes! Use canned biscuit dough to save time on busy weeknights when you’re craving a hot homemade meal!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade White Chicken Chili – Hearty, healthy, loaded with tender chicken, and packed with bold flavor! Fast and easy comfort food that everyone loves! It’ll be on rotation all winter!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup – Chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans, avocado, cheese, and addictively crunchy tortilla strips! Fast, easy weeknight meal, and better than from a restaurant!
Avery, thank you so much for sharing these recipes. They’re amazing.
Thank you very much, Lorie!
1