Ground Chicken Soup
Ground Chicken Soup takes all the classic flavors of chicken noodle soup but uses budget-friendly ground chicken instead! It's packed with flavor, pasta, veggies, and meaty chicken for a hearty soup that's perfect to add to any meal or enjoy a bowl on its own for a full meal in a bowl.
Why This Ground Chicken Recipe Rocks!
Ingredients
- Olive oil: Use extra-virgin olive oil or any other neutral flavored vegetable oil works well.
- Soup Veggies: A combination of white onion, fresh garlic, carrots, and celery infuse the broth with hearty flavors.
- Ground Chicken: Choose lean ground chicken or turkey.
- Broth: Use low-sodium chicken broth stock or bone broth for more control over the sodium.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice and zest add a brightness and flavor to the broth. Don't skip it -- it's so good!
- Ground coriander: Adds hints of complex aromatics to the broth for more nutty, pungent flavor.
- Fresh dill: This slightly sweet and herbaceous herb infuses the broth with freshness. Don't forget to add some just before serving as well!
- Pasta: I'm using rotini pasta today I've made this soup with just about any type of pasta from long noodles, to penne, shells, and more!
Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below
How to Make Ground Chicken Soup
Step 1: Brown the meat. Saute the onions and ground chicken with a bit of oil in a skillet. Cook until the is no longer pink and the onions are tender and translucent. Add the fresh garlic cloves and cook briefly until fragrant.
Step 2: Place in slow cooker. Transfer the chicken mixture to your slow cooker. Add the carrots, celery, ground coriander, and fresh dill to the pot.
Step 3: Add the lemon juice. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice into the slow cooker.
Step 4: Add the broth. Pour in the broth and stir to combine everything together.
Step 5: Cook and add pasta. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours until the veggies are soft. About 10 minutes before the soup is ready, cook your rotini pasta according to the package directions. Add the cooked pasta to the soup.
Step 6: Season and serve. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the soup with extra dill sprinkled on top and lemon wedges on the side. Enjoy!
Handy Tip: Keep the Pasta Separate
If you know you will have leftovers skip adding the pasta to the pot of soup. Instead place the noodles in the bowl and ladle the soup over the top. This way you can store them separately so the noodles don't end up overly mushy and your soup brothless.
Alternate Cooking Methods
- Stove: Brown the chicken in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Then add all the ingredients to the pot, cover with a lid, and cook the soup on low until the vegetables are tender, about 45-60 minutes. Add the pasta towards the end of cooking and serve as indicated in the recipe.
- Instant Pot: Use the saute setting to cook the onions, garlic, and ground meat. Add all other ingredients to the pot, except the pasta. Place the lid on top and seal the pressure valve. Cook on high pressure for 2-3 minutes. Allow it to release pressure naturally and then stir in the pasta.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Vegetarian and Vegan: You can easily make this a plant-based soup! Skip the ground chicken and simply cook the onions until tender. Add a can of drained white beans to the pot to cook with the vegetables. Swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth.
- Rotisserie Chicken: To save time you can skip the ground chicken and shred or chop up a rotisserie chicken instead. I suggest adding it in the last hour of cooking so it doesn't fall apart. Since it's already cooked it only needs to be heated up.
- Gluten-Free: Skip the pasta and instead serve the soup up with white or brown rice instead. You can even try it with grains such as quinoa.
Serving Suggestions
Serve it up with lemon wedges for squeezing, extra chopped dill, and if anyone likes it spicy, some red pepper flakes.
This soup with ground chicken works great to add onto any meal as a starter or side dish but is hearty enough to serve as a main meal too.
As a main meal serve it with a grilled cheese sandwich, BLT, or any other simple sandwich combo to make a complete meal. You might also keep things simple with some corn muffins, biscuits, or crusty bread.
Storage Tips
- Store: For best results, store the pasta and soup separately in airtight containers. Store the pasta and soup in the fridge for up to four days. You can also freeze the soup without the pasta for up to three months.
- Reheat: Reheat the soup in a saucepan or the microwave until heated through. Stir in the pasta towards the end and cook just long enough to heat it fully. If frozen, thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating. Add more broth as needed during reheating.
Expert Tips
- Cutting the Veggies: You can cut them chunky or thin depending on your preferred texture but smaller pieces, especially carrots, will cook more quickly cut into thin pieces.
- Make Your Own Ground Chicken: If you can't find it in the store you can make it yourself very easily. Making it yourself means you can use either white meat, dark meat, or a combination of the two. Cut up the chicken into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until it's chopped into fine pieces similar to ground meat.
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Ground Chicken Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small white onion diced
- 1 pound lean ground chicken or turkey
- 4 large garlic cloves chopped
- 3 large carrots peeled and cut into small cubes (1 ¾ cups)
- 3 celery stalks halved lengthwise and sliced thin (1 cup)
- 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth stock or bone broth
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
- 3 - 4 tablespoons fresh dill chopped + more for serving
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 ounces rotini pasta or pasta shape you prefer
Instructions
- Saute the onions and ground chicken in the oil in a pan on the stove until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are translucent and slightly browned.
- Add the garlic cloves and sauté for about a minute until fragrant.
- Transfer the chicken mixture to your slow cooker. Add the carrots, celery, broth, lemon, ground coriander, and fresh dill to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours until the veggies are soft.
- About 10 minutes before serving, cook your rotini pasta according to the package directions.
- Stir the cooked pasta into the soup. Season with salt and pepper
- Serve with extra dill sprinkled on top and lemon wedges on the side if desired, and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Storing: Keep the pasta separate if you’re planning on leftovers to prevent the pasta from soaking up all the liquid and becoming mushy.
- Cutting the Veggies: You can cut them chunky or thin depending on your preferred texture but smaller pieces, especially carrots, will cook more quickly cut into thin pieces.
- Make Your Own Ground Chicken: If you can't find it in the store you can make it yourself very easily. Making it yourself means you can use either white meat, dark meat, or a combination of the two. Cut up the chicken into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until it's chopped into fine pieces similar to ground meat.
Nutrition
