Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

A finished pot of chicken vegetable soup ready to eat on a table.

5 from 3 votes

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe

Classic and comforting, nothing is better than homemade chicken vegetable soup. Make it in a about an hour, even less if you use leftover over roast shredded chicken and pre-cooked pasta. To make this gluten-free, use brown rice pasta.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Entree, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 228kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Large soup pot like a Dutch oven

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ¼ cups chopped onion half a large
1 ¼ cups chopped celery 2-3 ribs
1 ¼ cups chopped carrots 2-3 carrots
1 cup chopped leek pale green parts only, 1 medium
2-3 cloves garlic chopped fine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
¼ teaspoon Kosher or sea salt or more for your taste preference
¼ teaspoon Black pepper
6 cups chicken broth, low sodium or homemade 48 ounces
1 large bone-in chicken breast 1 pound
1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped

Optional

¾ cup elbow macaroni pasta: GF or wheat optional

Instructions

Add oil to a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, celery, carrots, and leek. Cook until the vegetables are softened, about 12 minutes. Watch your heat so the vegetables don't burn or cook too quickly. If needed, turn the heat down. Stir in the garlic, and cook another 30−60 seconds. Add thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.
Remove skin and extra fat from chicken breast. Cut chicken breast crosswise through the bone into two pieces with a chef's knife. Add the broth and the chicken breast to the pot. Bring to almost a boil, turn down to low, add a lid to the pot and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes (to 165°F).
Remove the chicken from the pot. Add the pasta (if using), turn the heat up a little and simmer until pasta is tender. Time depends on your pasta (about 10 minutes).
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and add back to the pot when the pasta is done. Remove the bay leaf. Add parsley. Ladle into warm bowls to serve.

Notes

Optional adds:

Add pasta, GF or wheat, elbow macaroni is a great size.
Add cooked rice, white or brown.
Add small cubed gold potatoes where I add the pasta option and cook until tender.
Add a can of rinsed and drained white beans, such as small white beans, cannellini beans, or great northern beans.
Or skip it all together for a simple chicken vegetable soup.

For low sodium, use homemade broth, as you do not add salt to homemade broth, and skip or limit salt in the recipe. Add a little lemon juice for a lift of flavor in place of salt. Even low sodium chicken broth has a lot of sodium.

Nutrition