This recipe for Feel Better Chicken Soup with Lemon and Ginger will warm you to your bones! Brothy and flavorful, this highly-adaptable recipe is the perfect base for noodles, rice, quinoa or other grains, or beans- or keep it keto and low-carb! It can also be made in an Instant Pot or Slow cooker!
Hi friends, I wanted to share a recipe we’ve been making for years around here, especially when feeling under the weather with a cold or flu- Feel Better Chicken Soup! I like to make a big batch and keep it in jars in the fridge, or even freeze it for times when I don’t feel like cooking.
This flavorful soup recipe is lemony and gingery, very soothing for stuffy heads and sore throats. The ultimate in comfort food! But the best part is once you have the basic soup made, you can take it in all sorts of directions, using what you have on hand. (AND If you are vegan or vegetarain- I highly recommend this Ayurvedic Turmeric Detox Broth instead. )
Sometimes I’ll add leftover pasta or noodles from the pantry, like egg noodles, orzo, rice noodles, linguini or even spaghetti. It’s a great way to use up stray bags of noodles.
Other times I’ll add a can of white beans or load up the veggies. And sometimes I’ll toss in some baby spinach and drizzle it with sesame oil and sprinkle with scallions and call it good. And it is! Sooooooo good! It a great way to make use of leftover Whole Roasted Chicken!
Feel Better Chicken Soup | 60-second video
How do make chicken soup from scratch?
- You can make it on the stovetop, in an instant pot pressure cooker or in a slow cooker.
- Essentially you create a flavorful soup infused with onion, garlic, ginger, veggies, and spices- then simmer the raw chicken breasts or thighs in this broth, until it pulls apart easily.
What are the ingredients for Chicken Soup?
- onion
- garlic
- ginger
- celery or carrots (or other veggies)
- chicken broth (store-bought or homemade)
- chicken breast or chicken thighs
- lemon
- herbs and seasonings
This flavorful soup starts with sauteing onion, garlic and ginger until tender and fragrant and golden. Sometimes I’ll add celery and carrots, sometimes not. I like to add a lot of garlic, feel free to cut back if you want.
Add the chicken stock (or broth) and whole chicken thighs (or chicken breasts). Bring to a simmer and cover, cooking until the thighs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
What type of chicken is used for soup?
- Chicken breasts, skinless
- Chicken thighs, skinless
- Boneless chicken is faster to cook and easiest to handle, but yes, you can use bone-in chicken, just remove the skin for a lighter leaner broth.
If adding rice or quinoa, you could add directly to the pot of simmering broth, only adding about 1/2 cup.
Same with canned beans- just add one can.
I prefer to keep my rice or noodles separate, to prevent the soup from getting cloudy, but do as you like.
Do you cook the chicken before putting it in the soup?
You don’t need to cook the chicken before putting it in the soup. Put the raw chicken in the simmering broth and let it cook at a low simmer until it shreds apart easily with two forks.
Simmer covered for 20 minutes, more or less depending on size.
Use two forks and pull apart the chicken. Taste and adjust the broth. Squeeze with lemon to taste.
Add chili flakes if you want, a drizzle of sesame oil is nice, some scallions or fresh herbs, then serve it up!
Variations:
You could ladle it over a mound of egg noodles, or rice noodles, then finish with sesame oil, sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro like you see here.
I added some oyster mushrooms to the broth as well.
Or you could ladle it over leftover rice, farro or quinoa.
Here I had a batch of our Everyday Quinoa in the fridge and just laded the soup over it- super tasty!
You could add white beans for extra protein, and a handful of spinach.
Or if going low-carb- leave all the starch and grains out keep it simple and keto-friendly.
Cauliflower rice would also work well here too!
Whichever direction you choose to take this flavorful soup, I know you will be happy with the base. I’m excited to see where you take this! Please share your variations in the comments below.
Other Chicken soup recipes you may like:
- Authentic Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
- Kale, Chickpea and Chicken Soup with Rosemary Croutons
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot Chicken Artichoke Soup with Wild Rice
- Lemony Chicken Orzo Soup with Dill
- 20 Broth-Based Soup Recipes
- Paleo Chicken “Wonton” Soup with Bok Choy
Stay well, friends.
xoxo
PrintFeel Better Chicken Soup Recipe
Feel Better Chicken Soup with lemon and ginger. A delicious and EASY low-carb, keto soup that you can make in an Instant Pot, Stove top or in a slow cooker. Simple and healthy! Add rice, quinoa, noodles or beans! (Inspired by Bon Appetit)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Soup, Gluten-free
- Method: Stove top, instant pot
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- one large onion, diced (or sub 2 fat shallots, or two leeks)
- one cup celery, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
- 4–8 garlic cloves, rough chopped (I like 8)
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or use regular)
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless ( or use breasts- if very large, cut in half)
- ——–
- lemon juice to taste
- pinch chili flakes
- scallions, cilantro or Italian parsley
- a drizzle of toasted sesame oil (optional, tasty)
Optional: Feel free to add 2-3 cups of chopped veggies: celery, carrots, etc. Serve over cooked grain or starch of your choice like… quinoa, rice noodles, soba noodles, pasta, rice, or add 1 can white beans.
Instructions
STOVE TOP INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat oil in a big pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Lower heat to med- low and continue sauteeing until golden, 3-4 more minutes.
- Add the chicken stock, water, salt, white pepper, bay leaves and skinless chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover, and lower heat so it’s gently simmering, covered for 20 mintues. If using breasts, check at 15.
- Test a piece of chicken for doneness by pulling meat apart with two forks. It should come apart easily and look opaque. If done, shred the rest of the chicken, then return to the pot and simmer gently for 5 more minutes.
- Squeeze with lemon, taste and adjust broth. You can add more salt of needed, or if too salty for your taste, water down with a little water. I prefer ours salty, lemony, and unctuous, especially if adding a starch (like rice, noodles or beans) which will temper the salt quite a bit. Up to you. If the soup tastes bland, it needs salt.
- Ladle it over cooked rice or noodles or just on its own.
- Garnish with scallions or cilantro (or both) and a drizzle of sesame oil if you like and chili flakes (or chili paste or sriracha).
Notes
Soup will keep 4 days in the fridge, or freeze.
Feel free to add 1/2 cup rice or quinoa to simmering soup. Or add a can of whitebeans. You can also add pasta ( about 4 ounces) but I prefer to cook pasta and rice noodles separate and ladel the soup overtop cooked noodles. Up to you. Feel free to toss in veggies, kale, spinach, etc.
Instant Pot: Set Instant pot to “saute” function and heat the oil. Add onion, garlic and ginger and saute 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add broth, water, salt, pepper, bay, white pepper and chicken thighs, give a stir. Pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. (If using breasts, pressure cook 8-10 minutes depending on size). Manually release. Shred chicken with two forks. Season with lemon juice. Taste, adust salt. Follow the rest of the instuctions above.
For a slow cooker version, cook as stated above then cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups with no rice or starch.
- Calories: 197
- Sugar: 2.7 g
- Sodium: 585 mg
- Fat: 7.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.7 g
- Fiber: 1.1 g
- Protein: 24.8 g
- Cholesterol: 106.5 mg
Keywords: chicken soup, unique chicken soup, keto chicken soup, lemon ginger chicken soup, best chicken soup recipe, feel better chicken soup
I absolutely LOVE this chicken soup. It is so simple and so delicious! I’ve made it about five times now, trying out slightly different modifications each time. Every time I’m surprised how great it is! I love the texture of adding oyster mushrooms, and I always add TONS of lemon and salt, which really bumps up the flavor! I’m looking forward to having leftovers for lunch today!!
★★★★★
Awesome!
I absolutely LOVE this chicken soup. It is so simple and so delicious! I’ve made it about five times now, trying out slightly different modifications each time. Every time I’m surprised how great it is! I love the texture of adding oyster mushrooms, and I always add TONS of lemon and salt, which really bumps up the flavor! I’m looking forward to having leftovers for lunch today!!
★★★★★
Great to hear! Thanks Joanna!
This has become one of our go-to soups, SOO fresh. We love the ginger and lemon thing, if I’m feeling funky I toss a handful of chopped cilantro in, takes it into another dimension, kicks up the fresh thing. LOVE this as written!
★★★★★
Hi Michael- glad you are enjoying this! Love the addition of cilantro!
Love this soup…so healthy and really good flavor. I always max out garlic and ginger and add a chopped carrot. And at least 1-2 lemons.
★★★★★
Love it Ruby- sounds perfect!
Well! I have NEVER in my 36 years left a comment for a recipe, and in all honesty I’m terrible at following recipes without adding a twist, but I came across this and it sounded like exactly what I was craving.
It is ABSOLUTELY delicious! My partner can’t get over it as he usually HATES chicken soup, but the combination of flavours here is just so good! I used about 3 fresh slices of lemon, and flat parsley and about half a teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes instead of standard chilli and my god its ridiculously tasty!! I’ll be sending this to all my friends! I struggle finding recipes on the Internet, there’s just so many! But I’m totally gonna be checking out your other recipes! Thankyou!
Thanks so much Gemma- glad you both enjoyed this and we’re happy you found us.
This is my go to chicken soup. It is so good! The ginger gives it that extra something. It’s hubby approved as well. Thank you!
★★★★★
Great to hear Norma! Glad you both liked it!
Fabulous. Made as written but did add 2 teaspoons of Turmeric powder, a great color addition and health benefit. We were pleasantly surprised that 8 cloves of garlic and the ginger were NOT too strong in flavors after it was finished. They were tender and delicious. One large chicken breast bone in skin on was quickly browned, then skin tossed out, removed from browning, then following the recipe as written. If in a hurry you could easily skip that but it might add another layer of flavor/color? Made for friends who came home from skiing with a cold. We enjoyed a cup before I shared the bounty.Our friends raved as well. Thank you Silvia for another winner yet again. In our rotation.
★★★★★
thanks, Tracy, glad you enjoyed it! Love the addition of turmeric.
Exceptional! Made the stock as recommended and put a small twist on the soup itself. Added a 1 tbsp fresh chopped Rosemary, 1/4 tsp of dill, 1/2 can Hatch green chilis (hot), 1 can drained white beans, and i cup quartered tri-color cherry tomatoes. Truly, it was amazing, AND, this is the first soup I’ve ever made from scratch. Thanks for the inspiration!
★★★★★
Sounds delicious! And Congrats on your very first soup Brett 🙌
Every time I make your delicious whole roasted chicken, I make broth the next day with the carcass and then make this wonderful soup. The combination of lemon, ginger, and garlic with the homemade broth is just SO good. I would happily eat it everyday if I could! I’ve made it with orzo, with rice noodles, with whatever extra veggies are in the fridge, and just on its own. You can’t go wrong!
★★★★★
Great to hear Jen- I love making soup out of leftover roast chicken, it just makes the soup so much better!
Fantastic soup that comes together quickly, yet tastes like it’s been cooking all day!
★★★★★
Thanks Becky!
Hello Sylvia:
Could this recipe to be adjusted to use already cooked shredded chicken? Thanks much!
Yes that would be fine!
It is my favorite soup recipe! I make it for myself, but also make it to share with friends who could use a warm (tasty) pick-me-up.
★★★★★
Great to hear and I love that you share with friends- such a kind gesture. ❤️
The aroma this soup fills my kitchen with is comforting, the ginger and garlic very nice! Your “Feel Better Chicken Soup” is comfort food at it’s best…the flavorful broth is amazing. I love the rustic spotted bowl in your video!
★★★★★
thanks, Christine!
Delicious soup! My husband rarely goes back for seconds. He did with this one. The kids loved it. The 4 of us finished it all even though the recipe indicated 6 portions. However, that’s all we had for dinner.
I added spelt egg noodles which were a nice change to the rice vermicelli I use.
Thanks Teresa- great to hear!
I was getting the sniffles and came across this recipe and thought I’d give it a try. Plus, I love ginger-anything and could eat soup every day of the year. Made it exactly as written using chicken thighs (more flavorful and moister than breasts). Served as is for myself but over cooked elbow pasta for my Dad. The squeeze of lemon and cilantro at the end elevates the dish but the soup could still stand on its own if you don’t have. It was delicious, easy to make on a weeknight, and will definitely be in my rotation. PS I’m feeling better 🙂
★★★★★
So happy you enjoyed this Gina!
My family had a stomach bug and this soup pulled them through ! Delicious and light and nutritious!
★★★★★
Sorry to hear that Mamalise- glad the soup helped!
This soup is excellent! We had it for a second time tonight, with added carrots, topped with chili garlic paste and served with rice.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed this Josie!
I made this tonight. I did not have fresh ginger so used 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, but it turned out perfect. This was the absolute best flavored chicken soup I’ve ever made and had. Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed this Stephanie!
Fabulous recipe! I always make homemade chkn noodle soup and thought, I want to see what Sylvia puts in her chkn soup recipe..and bam she did it again added an ingrediaent I never thought to add but gave the soup dimension..Ginger who would have known to add ginger?!! excellent!
★★★★★
Glad you liked this!
This soup is so easy and soooo good! My almost 3 year old son asks me to make it weekly. We sometimes add some rice noodles or rice to it. Tonite I’m adding some white beans. It’s simple to make with ingredients that I usually have on hand. I love that I can have it as a side with dinner or as a meal. And the fact that my usually picky child asks me to make it regularly, makes me one super happy mama! Thank you Sylvia for once again knocking my socks off with your recipes!
★★★★★
Thanks Eva- I’m so glad you both enjoy this!
We loved this with the ginger and lemon flavors! Definitely way tastier than the bland version I have made in the past. Keeping this one! Thanks so much.
★★★★★
Great to hear Emily!
Very delicious, I added udon noodles which I think took some flavor out of the broth but I added a splash of light soy sauce and sriracha and it is warming me up on this rainy day!
★★★★★
Sounds perfect!
This soup is so good!! I did not change any of the ingredients. This is one of my favorites.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Sue! Glad you enjoyed it!
I browned the skin on chicken breast and thighs first, took them out and removed the skin. I added avocado oil, sauteed the vegetables and deglazed the pan with the fourth of cup of chicken broth. After scraping up all the yummy browned bits, I followed the directions for the instant pot. Best. Soup. Ever.
★★★★★
Thanks AnnMaire- that extra step of browning probably bumped up the flavor- good call!
I love this recipe! I used the full 8 cloves of garlic, 1 whole onion and one shallot. After cooking the soup, I put it through a sieve and discarded the vegetables as they had no flavor. I garnished with thinly sliced jalapenos and whole cilantro leaves. Yum!
★★★★★