This delicious bowl of Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup is packed with healthy vegetables, amazing flavour and is really easy to make. The only hard part is chopping the vegetables.
This time of year I can't get enough of soup. It's warming, filling and a great way to get that 5 a day of vegetables.
I make at least one pot a week this time of year because I am often busy and if I want to stay on plan, I need to have something on hand that I can heat up quickly for lunch or dinner.
Soup really doesn't need to be boring either, you can combine some amazing ingredients to make a delicious complete meal in a bowl or if your soup is pretty basic, top with some yummy toppings to bring it up another level.
Some of my favourite toppings to add to soup to turn it into a filling meal, is some cooked protein, like chicken, sausage, meatballs, ground meat or for a veggie option, I like crispy kale, sauteed chickpeas, roasted butternut squash or sweet potato. So many possibilities for yummy toppings. You could even add in some cooked pasta, rice, beans or lentils. Doesn't have to be a huge serving, just a small amount that will bulk it out and make it more filling is plenty.
You could even top with some grated cheese as part of your healthy extra A choice if it is a soup that would be complemented well by some grated cheddar, parmesan or feta. Yum!!
This spicy chicken and vegetable soup, is a great way to use up some leftover cooked chicken from Sunday dinner, or it would even work well with leftover cooked turkey at Christmas, you are not adding the chicken, until the very last minute, so no need to worry about it being overcooked and dry. It literally is just a case of stirring it in it.
Often when I make my Slow Cooked Chicken, I will use the leftovers to make this soup, as my kids love it, and I know it's a way of getting them to eat all those good veggies. Sometimes they can be a bit picky about having just plain vegetables on their plate, but in a soup, they will literally eat anything.
You can control the amount of spice too, by how much cayenne pepper you add, if you like it really spicy, add a little more, to your desired heat. ¼ of a tsp is just the right amount for us, a small kick of heat without being overpowering.
We like our soup to keep some chunks of vegetables, so I just add in my Immersion Stick Blender like this Koölle Electric Powerful 3-in-1 800 Watt Hand Stick Blender to the pot before I add in the chicken and coriander (cilantro) and roughly blend. What that does is thickens up the soup, but not to the point that it resembles baby food. Smooth soups have their place, but this one is far better with some little pieces of vegetables, trust me on that one!!
If you only have a regular blender, I recommend adding half the soup to the blender, then you can blitz that amount till smooth and stir it back into the rest of the soup before adding the chicken.
I made a big pot of this Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup this week, so it was perfect for quick meals. It's Thanksgiving today in the US, which means tomorrow is Black Friday here in Canada and I always hit the shops for the sales. I know, I know call me crazy, but the crowds don't bother me, it actually feels rather festive seeing everyone out doing their Christmas shopping and some of my favourite stores are not too busy. So this soup will be perfect for heating up for dinner when I get in.
This soup can also be made in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker and I will put instructions for that below too. It is the best kitchen gadget I have purchased.
It is basically a 7in1 cooker, and it slow cooks, pressure cooks, saute’s, has settings for soup, chilli, rice, porridge and even makes yoghurt (I haven’t tried that yet).
Instant Pots often go on sale on Amazon over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so if you really want one, keep your eye out for a price drop.
If you love soup recipes like this one, I also have these other delicious soup recipes below:
- Loaded Baked Potato Soup
- Turkey Taco Soup
- Spicy Roasted Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup
- Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup
- Chicken Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup
- Chicken, Bean and Rice Soup
- Chicken and Vegetable Soup
- Split Pea and Bacon Soup
- Spicy Sweet Potato, Red Pepper and Carrot Soup
and if that’s not enough to choose from, don’t forget my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 500+ delicious Slimming Eats Recipes.
Why not get a pot of this going on the stove or in your pressure cooker today, you will love having this on hand to heat up, trust me.
What kitchen items do I need to make this Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup?
- Deep Saucepan or Instant Pot
- Kitchen Scales
- Measuring Jug
- Measuring Spoons
- Immersion Stick Blender
- Wooden Spoon
- Santoku Knife (perfect knife for chopping veg)
- Chopping Board
How to make this Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly
WW Smart Points - 1
*Suitable for Freezing
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced finely
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp of freshly grated ginger
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 200g (7oz) of zucchini (courgette), diced
- 300g (10.5oz) of butternut squash, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 cup (240ml) of passata)
- 6 cups (1.44 litres) of chicken stock
- 1 tbs of cumin
- 1 tbs of coriander
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- 1 tsp of paprika
- ¼ tsp of cayenne (reduce or increase depending on how spicy you like it)
- 300g (10.5oz) of cooked shredded chicken (I use a mixture of breast and thigh meat)
- salt and black pepper
- ½ cup (120ml) of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped (optional)
- spray oil
Instructions
STOVE TOP
- Spray a deep pot over a medium high heat with spray oil
- Add the onion, leek and carrot, season with salt and pepper and fry for a minute
- Add a little bit of stock (approx ¼ cup - 60ml), and reduce it down, till onions, leeks are translucent.
- Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute
- Add the butternut squash, red pepper and zucchini.
- Stir in the spices
- Add the passata and stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 mins
- Roughly blend with an immersion stick blender (or add half the soup to a regular blender, blend till smooth and return to the pot)
- Add the chicken and cilantro (coriander), and mix to combine, stirring till heated through.
- Ladle into bowls and enjoy!!
INSTANT POT
- Set to saute mode
- Spray with spray oil and once hot, add the onion, leeks, and carrots
- Season with salt and pepper, add a ¼ cup of stock and fry till onion and leeks are translucent.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, butternut squash, pepper, zucchini, spices, passata and remaining stock.
- Add lid, close valve
- Set to high pressure for 10 mins.
- Quick release pressure.
- Roughly blend
- Set to saute mode, add the cooked chicken and cilantro and stir till heated through.
- Enjoy!!
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 201Total Fat 2.7gSaturated Fat 0.5gCholesterol 52.5mgSodium 421.9mgCarbohydrates 23.4gFiber 5.9gSugar 7.6gProtein 22.2g
Becky Bilson says
Your recipes are delicious Siobhan, thank you very much for taking the time to post them for us all! made your chicken and vegetable soup today and regularly make your sweet potato lentils, you've taught me how versatile they are! I also have an instant pot and use it daily, so I particularly love your IP friendly recipes. Please keep up the amazing site,
Pat Holman says
Love all your recipes, thanks for posting such a wonderful variety!
When I made this soup I thought it far too spicy I’m afraid. I added extra vegetables (almost double the original quantity) and an extra litre of stock but it was still very spicy. On looking at the recipe I wondered whether it was correct at 1 TBSP ea of cumin and coriander or should it have been less?
This is the only recipe I’ve made (and I’ve made loads as they save me having to adapt my own!) that I’ve had a problem with - probably just me and my family but I thought I’d ask anyway!
Keep it up please
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Pat, yes measurements for those are correct, cumin and coriander are actually not spicy. I can only assume you went a little too heavy on the pinch of cayenne.
Vickym says
Lovely tasty soup
Helen Tad says
This soup is amazing! I have made it many times now and crave it regularly. Ok....I have adapted a little,...I use drumsticks to create a stock and add other veg....cauliflower, zucchini, beans, sweet potato....vegetables that go with spice and curry flavours. Soooo delicious. The spice mix is perfect! Thank you for making my tummy and taste buds happy!
Tyler says
I made this today as it was SP friendly. I’m not a huge soup fan but oh WOW how delicious! Will be a staple lunch in this household now. Thank you x