Easy Leftover Chicken Soup
Homemade chicken soup (using leftover chicken!) is so much fresher, tastier, and better for you than canned. This leftover chicken soup recipe is naturally gluten free.
Who else is comfort food cooking this week? Me, I might just be doing a little bit of stress cooking... But at least it's both cathartic and productive, right? So, yesterday I threw together a pot of Leftover Chicken Soup with a little cooked chicken from the freezer, plus the ends of some celery & carrots from my fridge. Soup is always good food -- as well as a welcome bit of aromatic comfort in unsettled times.
Although this homemade chicken soup recipe ticks all the right boxes when it comes to comfort food, I'll freely admit that it's not particularly photogenic. (Part of that is the turmeric; although it's good for you and adds a certain something to the flavor, it also tints everything a very shade of yellow.) Trust me, though -- Sometimes it's all in the taste and the comfort, rather than in the appearance.
Chicken soup now, chicken soup later...
Chicken soup also freezes quite nicely, if you want to cook up a batch and freeze individual portions in cups of 8 oz containers or in bowls of 12 oz containers. (I just ordered myself a new batch of these, since they tend to wander off over the years...) It's always good to have some homemade soup on hand for the future. Plus:
- If you have extra cooked chicken, you can always double this recipe to make a larger pot.
- Feeling spicy? Check out leftover chicken taco soup.
- If you are using fresh chicken, check out this older recipe for a big pot of awesomely fantastic homemade chicken soup.
- In the fall, try leftover chicken soup with butternut squash & kale.
- Want a brighter flavor? Tuscan style chicken & white bean soup should do the trick.
Seriously... you can't go wrong with chicken soup. (We always used to refer to it as Jewish penicillin in our home for a reason!)
Easy Leftover Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoon minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1.5 cups leftover cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne
Black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste
Directions
Chop the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
Heat olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, then add the carrots, celery, and onion.
Saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook over medium heat for another two minutes.
Add the chicken broth, water, chicken, and spices to the pot. Stir, increase heat, and bring pot to a boil.
Skim, if necessary (if using chicken breast, you may not have to). Stir, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove and discard the bay leaf, and serve.
Note: Go light on the salt, because the broth is already salty. You can always taste and add a bit more at the end, if desired.
Basic Chicken Soup is a Basic Good
Take comfort in a basic bowl of chicken soup, which reminds us to slow down and find some solace in the little things. It's easy to make this leftover chicken soup recipe with shredded rotisserie chicken or leftover roasted chicken, or you can poach up a chicken breast or cook it in your Instant Pot.
Leftover chicken soup is just so good, with its classic veggies plus a little kick of garlic, turmeric, and cayenne. (We're having leftover chicken soup leftovers for dinner here again tonight!) Homemade chicken soup is always fresher and better for you than canned, and naturally gluten free.
Leftover Chicken Soup, printable recipe
Easy Leftover Chicken Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 carrots peeled and chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic about 4 cloves
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1.5 cups leftover cooked chicken chopped or shredded
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- Black pepper to taste
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering, then add the carrots, celery, and onion.
- Saute for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic and continue to cook over medium heat for another two minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, water, chicken, and spices to the pot. Stir, increase heat, and bring pot to a boil.
- Skim, if necessary (if using chicken breast, you may not have to). Stir, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf, and serve.
Notes
Recipes in the real world
Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!
Hi Rachel!
I have a big bag of egg noodles in my pantry. Could I add those to this soup? At what point in the recipe would you suggest I add them? Thanks so much!
Sure. Don't add noodles until about 10 minutes before the soup is done, so that they don't get overcooked and mushy -- and don't add the whole bag, but more like maybe 6 oz (they expand!). If you don't want to cook the noodles in the soup, you can also boil them up separately and then add in the cooked noodles at the end. This way, they don't soak up the broth.
I made this for my husband and I for dinner tonight. It turned out perfect. I normally don’t make recipes that don’t have reviews posted but I’m really glad I did. I made two small adjustments. I used canned carrots and I added a 15 ounce can of corn. I will definitely make this soup again. The seasoning was spot on.
Glad you enjoyed -- and thanks for leaving a review for the next person who'd like to try! 🙂
Excellent soup to use up leftover chicken!. I’ve made it twice now and both times turned out great. Thanks!
Love this chicken soup recipe it is so tasty . It is easy to make using left over rotisserie store bought chicken. This is now my second time making it. I do add potatoes to mine.
This is my favourite soup. So nourishing and just good for the soul!
I had a leftover cooked chicken breast from Aldi's and decided to give this recipe a try. My house smelled divine. The flavor of this soup was incredible. I wanted to add a few alphabet pasta, but left it out. Wonderful comfort food at the beginning of October. Thank you for posting.
I'm feeling soup season right now, too, as the leaves are starting to fall here. So glad you enjoyed this one!
Thanks for a great recipe--the spices are spot on. I did add a can on diced tomatoes as was short on carrots 9 cut back on the water), and a half cup of heavy cream because it needed to use it up. Total yumminess!!!
Hi,
My husband loves to rotisserie chicken, and there's always leftovers. This is our go to recipe for the leftovers. The magic is with the tumeric. It ads a wonderful flavor. We also add a little bit of noodles. So delish!!
I made what Rachel calls "Jewish Penicillin" soup using one large left over chicken breast. I was hesitant that it would be enough chicken but it worked just fine. I made it exactly as written. My husband and I loved this flavor filled soup. The tumeric and cayenne set it apart from the many bland ho-hum chicken soups. The spice was just right for us.
Hi, I made this for my husband it was delicious! I made Lebanese rice meat to it! Egg pasta with rice!
Rachel's recipes are the best! This was so tasty and easy. I substituted leftover turkey for the chicken.
Yummy. I use roasted garlic chicken broth & leftover shredded rotisserie chicken from the store and it turns out great! 🙂 Made this a few times now.
My husband raved about this one and he is not easy to please. I keep shredded chicken on hand and now have this recipe as a go-to for a quick, delicious meal.
I just made this up .. but as a stew ( near end of cooking time added 2 table spoons mixed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil). It was amazing! I did add some potatoes (about 2 1/2 cups added to the veg mixture) and a cup of frozen green peas (near the last 15 minutes). I do added 1/2 cup more of chicken to have more protein. Also, cooked an extra 30 minutes, to allow potatoes to hopefully release starch to make more gravy like ..and reason for added "roux" above. This recipe is so easily converted using what you have on hand. My 93 year old Dad said it reminded him of what his Mum made .. so that's a good sign! The turmeric.. wow 😘
Made this numerous times. Usually make rice onside and add to separate soup bowls. Thanks 😊
I was surprised just how good this tasted because the recipe is not terribly fussy and it seemed like a basic chicken soup. However, it's actually one of the besty chicken soups I've made. Only change was adding some thin German egg noodles because I had less chicken. I liked that they soaked up some of the broth.
I made this today (the comments are helpful). I made it as written and it is really good. I followed the instruction to not add much salt, mine needed it but easily remedied. The spice mix is perfect IMO, and I'm usually picky about that. I'll think about more vegetables I can add next time. My local store sells cooked shredded rotisserie chicken so all good.
I made this today with leftover chicken and my frozen homemade broth added lo mein noodles, it was great, I was never happy with the seasonings yours was just right, my grandson loved it.
I made this for my dinner. I do not add noodle until I am ready to eat the soup. I think 1.5 cups is one serving for me.
Thanks for this easy and wonderful soup
I also added fresh spinach to the soup
Wish I could put a picture in this review
I can’t believe how wonderful and easy this soup is! Delicious! Thanks.
I want to keep having roast chicken so I can make this chicken soup with the leftovers! Absolutely delicious
Fantastic recipe! Easy and versatile. Added some extra veggies from our garden to the carrots and celery so they wouldn't go to waste (cabbage, cucumber, & tomatoes). The spices blended wonderfully and using leftover chicken saved so much time. Thank you for sharing this with us!
Delicious from handy ingredients! I didn't add the 2 cups of water as I was a little shy on the chicken.
I added button mushrooms. Very good recipe highly recommended
I add can of fire roasted tomatoes, some spagetti noodles & some Mediterranean vegetables. Squash peppers & fresh spinach at end. I am also added rice instead of noodles in the past. Hearty!!
We make soup a lot and this was a good one.! Love the addition of turmeric and cayenne. Added some green beans and parsley and thyme from the garden, forgot the pasta, and it was delicious. Will be making this again! Thanks!