Sweet readers and eaters,
Come on in here, grab a glass of sweet tea and pull up a stool. We aren’t going to tarry long. I want to get this recipe in your hands so you can turn around and make this delicious chicken detox soup pronto! With its 35 minute cook time, you can sleep late and have an afternoon nap and still serve your family a homemade meal for dinner! Let’s do it, girls!
Let’s Get Cooking: Chicken Detox Soup
My PC gets laid up about twice a year with some kind of crazy head cold that migrates into his chest. Keeps him down for a good week to 10 days before he’s really back to normal. And is often accompanied by a lot of nose blowing, coughing, hacking and a fair amount of grumbling. By him and me. This current bout came on the end of last week and I responded to the first cough with pot of chicken detox soup.
Was tempted to throw the ingredients in the crock pot and forget it. Then realized with a 35 minute cook time, I could play all day and still get a hot supper on the table with minimal time in the kitchen. (Don’t tell my prince!)
Mixing up a pot of this soup is a great way to clean out all the bits of veggies you might have from a week’s worth of leftovers. Here’s what else you will need:
Everything but the kitchen sink.
I have pinned the original recipe from A Spicy Perspective on my Pinterest board, here. Would be much obliged if you’d follow me on Pinterest while you’re at it. Thank you!
The Recipe
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, boneless skinless
- 3 cups broccoli florets
- 2 1/2 cups carrots
- 2 cups celery
- 3 garlic cloves (I used a little less)
- 3 tablespoons ginger, fresh (used stale powdered ginger)
- 1 onion, large (that much would kill PC, used about a half)
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1 1/2 cups peas, frozen
- 2 quarts chicken broth (fat-free for me)
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, ground
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- *1/2 cup orzo (*my addition to original recipe)
- *1 teaspoon cilantro
- *1 teaspoon cumin
The Directions
- Add the olive oil, chopped onions, celery, ginger, and garlic to a large sauce pot over medium heat.
- Saute for 5-6 minutes to soften.
- Add the chicken breasts, broth, carrots, apple cider vinegar, crushed red pepper, turmeric and 1 teaspoon sea salt. (added my extra spices cilantro and cumin here)
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20+ minutes, until the chicken breasts are cooked through.
- Remove the chicken with tongs and set them on a cutting board to cool.
- Add the broccoli, peas, and parsley to the pot. Continue to simmer to soften the broccoli. (added orzo here)
- Shred the chicken breasts with two forks, and stir it back into the soup.
- Once the broccoli is tender, taste, then salt and pepper as needed.
In typical me fashion, I had to stray from the original recipe just a wee bit. My daughter Lauren always talks about how good her husband’s homemade Mexican chicken soup is. Thinking about that, I added a little south of the border flavor to this recipe.
And since I don’t really ever measure anything, I don’t know how much I used! Let’s go with a teaspoon of the cilantro and cumin. Maybe a 1/2 cup of the orzo?
I realize now that the orzo kind of negates some of the detox qualities of what was a gluten-free recipe until I fiddled with it. But the orzo could be replaced by the gluten-free version, I just didn’t have any in the pantry. Otherwise, this recipe is pretty much 21 Day Fix-friendly and a mere 4 Weight Watchers points per serving. À la my son-in-law Francisco, I added a generous squeeze of lemon juice into my bowl of soup. Felt so soothing on our sore throats. And so filling to our tummies.
Your Turn
Do you have a favorite go-to detox recipe to make when the fam is under the weather? I really need to put this chicken detox soup into the regular soup diet rotation because PC is a very reluctant veggie eater. Yet he didn’t even pick the peas out of this! Maybe he was just too darn sick to bother?
Hope you’ll try this soup. Not to wish any plague upon your house, of course. But just go ahead and try it when everyone is feeling great. Or you might like some of my other soup recipes, here and here.
Looking forward to a busy week on the blog. Hope you will come back by!
Hugs and kisses,
Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day
Sounds really good on a cold day!
Karen Strand
I love a good chicken soup recipe and this didn’t disappoint! Just to clarify, do you cook the orzo before e adding it to the pot? Or let it soak up some of the broth?
curlycraftymom
Mmm! This sounds so good, especially with the cooler weather we’ve been having here. I love a good and hearty soup! I love your recipe posts!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Laura
This looks delicious! I absolutely love soup, especially in the fall and winter. There is nothing better to sit down for dinner than a bowl of steaming soup! Even better that you can prepare it so quickly and mix up the veggies and seasonings to your liking!
Jill
This sounds delicious! I’m saving this recipe for when the temps are cooler!
Jill
Doused in Pink
Gail
I was hoping you’d give the recipe when I saw your Insta post, it looks delicious and nutritious!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Gail. This chicken soup really is good. And it is light, so even though it is a warm or hot, it isn’t heavy like a chowder. So it works for spring and summer! I think the cumin and cilantro and dash of lemon juice really added to the flavor.