Mediterranean-Style Turmeric Lemon Chicken Soup

This is the chicken soup you'll be making on repeat! Prepared Mediterranean-style with loads with fresh lemon juice, veggies, herbs, and warm spices, this turmeric lemon chicken soup is nutritious and comforting in the best way. Make it your own and add different veggies or even a handful of chickpeas for some bulk. See suggestions and notes within the post.

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

▢ 1 pound boneless chicken breast
▢ 1 yellow onion, quartered
▢ 4 large garlic cloves, divided (2 whole, 2 minced)
▢ Extra virgin olive oil
▢ 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
▢ 1 teaspoon coriander
▢ 1 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
▢ ½ teaspoon ground ginger
▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric
▢ 2 cups baby spinach
▢ ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
▢ ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
▢ Juice and zest of 2 lemons

Instructions

1.In a large Dutch oven or pot, combine the chicken with 6 cups of water. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add the onion and 2 whole garlic cloves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower the heat and let simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.

2.When ready, remove the chicken from the pot and carefully shred it using two forks. Strain the broth using a mesh strainer over a large bowl. Discard the onion and garlic. Set the broth in its bowl aside for now.

3.Carefully wipe the pot and return to the heat. Add a couple tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and warm over medium heat. Add the minced garlic, carrots, and spices.

4.Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Stir to combine. Season with kosher salt.

5.Add the cooking broth and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, and cover partly. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes (the carrots should be tender and cooked through).

6.Stir in the spinach, herbs, and lemon juice and zest. Transfer to serving bowls. Enjoy!

Notes

Shortcut homemade chicken soup

Use leftover chicken. If you have some cooked chicken on hand (or even leftover rotisserie chicken), you can skip the step for boiling the chicken and use store-bought low-sodium chicken broth.

Make the homemade broth in advance. You can make the make and strain the broth in advance. Simply freeze it after it returns to room temperature (for broth, I like to use freezer-safe containers instead of bags). You can also freeze the boiled chicken in freezer-safe bags. Simply thaw both out in the fridge a night ahead of when you plan to make the soup.

Ingredient variations:

Add more vegetables! I love the idea of using up what vegetables I have on hand in a soup like this. You can add chopped celery or small-cubed zucchini, potatoes, or small broccoli florets, for example. If you do, make sure you add them in at the very beginning when you sauté the carrots and garlic. (Check out my vegetable soup for inspiration).

Add a grains or chickpeas to bulk up the chicken soup. If you’re after something thicker or want to add volume to your soup so it’s even more filling, you can add cooked rice or orzo, or canned chickpeas (just rinse the chickpeas and add them in early with the carrots and garlic).

Orzo pasta cooks faster, so you can either cook it in advance and add some to individual servings of soup, or add the uncooked orzo to the soup about 7 to 9 minutes before the soup is finished cooking.

Leftovers and storage: Store leftover turmeric chicken soup in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for about 3 days (unless you’ve worked in advance to cook the chicken or make the broth). To reheat, transfer to a pot and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Once boiling, remove from the heat and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 167.9kcal
Carbohydrates: 8.3g
Protein: 25.7g
Fat: 3.3g
Saturated Fat: 0.7g
Monounsaturated Fat: 0.9g
Cholesterol: 72.6mg
Sodium: 180.5mg
Potassium: 736.8mg
Fiber: 2.3g
Sugar: 2.8g
Vitamin A: 7545IU
Vitamin C: 23mg
Calcium: 61.5mg
Iron: 1.9mg

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