Chicken Vegetable Soup

Making a BIG pot of homemade soup is one of my favorite past times. Fact is, I don't think I know how to make a small batch of soup anymore. After years of making from scratch soup at the several restaurants I have worked at, it's just easier for me to do things in a BIG way. It's really nice to have leftovers to freeze for later, have for weekday lunches or use as a sauce/base in other recipes. Not to mention it's extremely economical to make delicious soup yourself and get a huge pot for your money, rather than a small can at the store.


I froze what soup we had leftover and plan on using it next week as the base for a Tex-Mex Chicken "Pot-Pie". So look for that next week!

So yesterday was my take on Chicken Vegetable Soup - but it wasn't the boring same old thing. Let's call it...

Red Pepper Chicken Soup with Lemon

2 T. light olive oil

1/2 large white onion, large diced

4 carrots, peeled & large diced

4 stalks celery, large diced

2 sweet red peppers, diced

3 c. cooked, shredded chicken ( I use cooked, shredded chicken breast I had stashed in my freezer. I didn't even thaw it!)

6-8 c. chicken stock, depending on how chunky you like your soup (I used 6)

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

zest & juice from 1 lemon

black pepper & salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat and add all of your beautifully diced vegetables.Add a small amount off salt, then cover and let the vegetables sweat until they are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Sweating the veggies, rather than sauteing, makes for a more flavorful broth I find. Once the vegetables are tender, add the stock and chicken. I recommend letting the soup then simmer, covering for several hours for the best flavor, but you can eat it as soon as everything is bubbly. When ready to eat, add the parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice.

8 servings

152 calories

5.9 g fat

6.8g total carbs

1.9g fiber

3.9g sugar

17.6g protein

approx. using caloriecount