30 Chicken Soup Recipes That Are Pure Comfort in a Bowl
Diana Chistruga
Chicken soup is synonymous with comfort, nourishment, and warmth; serving a steaming bowl is a simple act of care, whether it's for yourself, your family, a friend, or a neighbor. Chicken noodle soup is a much-loved classic, and there are so many more ways to prepare chicken and broth! These chicken soup recipes offer inspiration for your old favorite. Try Kwame Onwuachi's Puerto Rican pollo guisado; Josh Reisner's adobo-ramen mash-up; Leah Koenig's vibrant, fresh take on chicken matzo ball soup; and more.
Chicken Soup with Ginger and Cilantro
This seasonal version of a classic is loaded with summer market finds like tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers. Quick-cooking boneless chicken pieces are gently simmered in a ginger and cilantro-infused broth with a dash of soy sauce. The eye-catching garnish tray doubles as a colorful centerpiece, allowing guests to pile their bowls with aromatic fresh herbs, spicy chiles, and juicy citrus.
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Cara Cormack
This creamy chicken and wild rice soup makes use of leftover chicken and comes together in just 20 minutes of active cooking time. It's a great one-bowl meal for busy nights.
Chicken Pho
Diana Chistruga
The Vietnamese chicken and noodle soup called pho is all about layers of flavor in the rich-tasting broth. The technique here also produces meat that’s supremely tender and delicious.
Herb Garden Matzo Ball Soup
Chicken matzo ball soup gets a glow-up in this version by cookbook author Leah Koenig, with fresh parsley, dill, chives, and fennel fronds in the matzo balls themselves, plus more herbs, lemon zest, and edible flowers adding color and bright, spring flavors to each finished bowl of soup.
Pollo Guisado
"The soup all abuelitas make their grandchildren, cooking a ojo, or by feel, with a million variations," says chef Kwame Onwuachi of this recipe. "The soup is a festival of comfort. At its base are the annatto and sofrito that define much of Puerto Rican cuisine, plus a touch of cumin and, because it's me who's making it, a bit of house spice to give just the merest hint of heat."
Chicken Tortellini Soup with Kale
Fresh ingredients team up with store-bought shortcuts to get this comforting dinner on the table in just over 30 minutes. Frozen cheese tortellini only need a five-minute dip in the simmering broth to cook up perfectly. Don’t be tempted to just dump the whole can of tomatoes into the pot; draining them first concentrates the flavor.
Chicken Adobo-Inspired Ramen
For this adobo-inspired ramen recipe, chef Josh Reisner starts by braising chicken legs with black pepper, bay leaves, vinegar, and soy sauce — the key ingredients of Filipino adobo. He then infuses the ramen broth with the deeply flavored braising sauce that forms as the chicken cooks. Each bowl of ramen is topped with a piece of succulent chicken, as well as blanched spinach, scallion "nests," grilled corn, and more.
Chicken and Shrimp Laksa
Top Chef winner Buddha Lo's homemade laksa paste — made with fresh lemongrass, pungent shrimp paste, and nutty peanuts — forms the base of this fragrant noodle dish, while coconut cream adds a velvety mouthfeel to the aromatic broth. Top it with poached shrimp and chicken, fresh herbs, and fried shallots, then slurp with joy.
Chicken Pozole Verde
There are many variations on pozole, a traditional hominy-based Mexican stew closely associated with the Pacific-coast state of Guerrero. Culinary writer Anya von Bremzen’s version, a green pozole, derives much of its flavor from tangy ingredients like tomatillos, cilantro, and green chiles.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup with Puff Pastry Croutons
This creamy, soul-warming soup from the legendary Ina Garten's cookbook Modern Comfort Food captures everything there is to love about chicken pot pie. Plenty of aromatic vegetables, a rich, silky broth spiked with tarragon and cream sherry, and tender chicken deliver pure comfort in every spoonful. The flaky, buttery puff pastry croutons (made from store-bought dough!) are an irresistible finishing touch.
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice
Diana Chistruga
Avgolemono is a classic sauce of chicken broth, egg yolks, and lemon juice; the addition of a bit more broth, rice, and shredded chicken turns it into a satisfying soup.
Leftover Chicken Soup
Chef Marcus Samuelsson's chicken soup is fragrant with ginger, star anise, and lemongrass, just what you need on a chilly night. He uses the whole bird — from the bones to the skin and the livers — to make a delicious no-waste soup.
Kubba Hamuth (Sweet and Sour Soup with Stuffed Dumplings)
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Debbie Wee
This Iraqi-Jewish soup is tangy and rich with lemon juice, beets, and chicken dumplings. Many Iraqi-Jewish recipes call for semolina for the dumpling dough, but here we use rice.
Herbal Chicken Bone Broth with Soba Noodles
Charissa Fay / Food Styling by Nora Singley / Prop Styling by Maeve Sheridan
Fresh soba noodles, hearty vegetables, and replenishing herbs come together in a soothing chicken bone broth. Look for soba noodles made from 100% buckwheat for the best flavor. If you cannot find Shaoxing wine, use sake or soju as a substitution — or omit this ingredient if you are avoiding alcohol.
Stracciatella
Stracciatella is the Italian version of egg drop soup. This tasty one from chef Hugh Acheson includes shredded chicken, spinach, basil, peas, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and of course, eggs.
Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
This classic chicken noodle soup gets its deeply flavorful broth from a whole chicken.
Chicken Soup with Jasmine Rice and Ginger
There may not be any clinical proof that ginger helps fight colds or the flu, but this super-easy, gingery chicken soup will undeniably make you feel better.
Creamy Piquillo Pepper and Chickpea Soup with Chicken
The secret to this speedy soup is buying ingredients with lots of built-in flavor, like hummus, jarred piquillo peppers, and rotisserie chicken.
Chicken-Chile Soup
This Mexican-inspired chicken soup by F&W culinary director at large Justin Chapple is extremely easy to make. Justin likes serving it with diced avocado and hot sauce to stir in at the table.
Chicken Noodle Soup with Parsnips and Dill
Lots of carrots and parsnips give old-favorite chicken noodle soup a sweet savor. To balance this effect, use the optional parsley, which is just slightly bitter.
White Bean and Chicken Soup
By using chicken thighs instead of breasts, this hearty, jalape?o-spiked soup gets ultra-rich flavor. Serve it with tortilla chips, sour cream, Jack cheese, cilantro, and avocado.
Chicken-Orzo Soup with 10 Vegetables
Any combination of vegetables will work in this satisfying soup from chef Hugh Acheson. If including 10 vegetables isn't a priority, you can also cut some and double up on others.
Chinese Poached Chicken Breasts with Star Anise
Chicken breasts poached in a broth flavored with star anise, cinnamon, ginger, scallions, and soy sauce is a Chinese classic. Traditionally you would save, not serve, the broth — it improves each time you use it — but we can never resist serving it with the chicken as a light sauce. If you like, boil noodles separately and add them to the broth for a meal in a dish.
Chicken and Noodles in Spiced Broth
Alternative healers use star anise to fight cold and flu symptoms. Recipe developer Melissa Rubel Jacobson combines the licorice-scented spice with cinnamon and ginger — both stomach soothers — to flavor a restorative chicken-noodle soup.
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
This isn’t authentic gumbo, but it's a delicious example of how Creole flavors have crept up to Kentucky.
Chicken Hot Pot with Mushrooms and Tofu
Cooks in Asia serve hot pots communally, setting a big pot of bubbling broth on the table alongside a platter of raw ingredients (like vegetables and thinly sliced chicken) for dipping. It's a fun way for guests to feel like they have a hand in making their own meals. In his version, chef Ethan Stowell gives each person at the table an individual bowl of sliced mushrooms, tofu, and scallions, then adds piping hot chicken broth loaded with chunks of tender cooked chicken.
Chicken Bouillabaisse with Rouille
Chef Jacques Pépin’s flavor-packed chicken stew is fast and easy to assemble, and it cooks in about 30 minutes.
Silken Bread and Parmesan Soup
Frédérick Hermé’s chicken soup is thickened with fresh breadcrumbs and enriched with cheese and egg yolks.
Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup
? Karen Mordechai
A mainstay in Morocco, steamed couscous topped with a very liquid stew is undeniably delectable, but not exactly quick. We’ve found, though, that combining all the ingredients in a soup yields similarly sumptuous results in a much shorter time. The dish is decidedly spicy; if you prefer less heat, just reduce the amount of cayenne.
Chicken Meatball and Orzo Soup
This recipe cleverly uses chicken sausage: Remove the casings, shape the meat into balls, brown them, and simmer them in chicken broth. If you have leftover cooked rice on hand, feel free to substitute it for the orzo.
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