Ingredients
Lemon Rosemary Chicken Soup
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- half an onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary and/or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 can cannellini or navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 cups shredded kale
- 2–3 cups cooked shredded chicken or turkey (see notes)
- 5 cups chicken broth (I like the Better Than Bouillon broth base, or bone broth)
Finishers:
- juice of two lemons
- salt and pepper to taste
- grated Parmesan, bread, and butter for serving
Instructions
- Saute Veggies: In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Saute for 5-8 minutes or until very soft.
- Add Aromatics: Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and salt. Let it get nice and delicious for a minute, stirring to avoid burning or browning the garlic.
- Simmer: Add the beans, kale, chicken, broth, and remaining olive oil (optional). Bring to a low simmer for 10-20 minutes, until the kale is wilted. If you have time to cook it for a while longer over low heat, great. Delicious.
- Finish: Pull out the herb stems. Add lemon juice, more salt, fresh black pepper to taste (all optional and to taste)! Top with parm and serve with a thick slice of bread, a thick shmear of butter, and a pinch of rosemary salt. Fresh, bright, yummy!
Notes
Chicken: I typically use pulled and shredded rotisserie chicken. You can also use raw chicken breasts or thighs, add them to the pot with the simmering broth, and let them cook for about 10-12 minutes or until 165 degrees. Remove, shred, and return to pot. This would also work great with leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
Olive oil: The extra olive oil that gets added in Step 3 is there to make it taste a little extra luscious. Without it, there isn’t a lot of fat in this soup – it’s just broth and veggies and chicken. And adding a good fat to this soup, I think, helps it really go from “brothy boring soup” to “wow, that’s really good soup”. That said, the extra oil is not necessary if you’re using a homemade broth, which typically already has a nice silky feel to it because of the fat content.
Instant Pot: I have made this in my Instant Pot and it’s great. I sautéed everything as directed in steps 1-2, then for step 3 I set it to high pressure for about 3 minutes and let it natural pressure release. (If you add raw chicken to the soup, you’ll need to cook at high pressure for 10-12 minutes.)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chicken soup, lemon soup, leftover turkey, lemon chicken soup, easy soup recipe, soup recipe
