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Low carb chicken soup recipe – Recipes – Soups are a great way to warm up and fill you up, and pack in all the healthy things you love, without having to cook three different dishes and use 18 pots and pans for a regular meal. And this chicken noodle soup from zucchini It's a great example of why anyone on a low carb diet needs some good soup recipes.
First of all, soups are very easy and quick to make. Aside from a little chopping and cooking at the beginning, most soups take as much time as they simmer on the stove. During this time, the flavors of the different ingredients develop and blend together, while the vegetables and other goodies cook. But while the soup is doing all that hard work to turn into a masterpiece, you’re sitting on the couch reading a book or chatting with a friend.
Instead of wheat flour noodles, we’re substituting zucchini noodles in this recipe. Like most of my favorite substitutes in recipes, this substitution not only eliminates the bad stuff (wheat flour), but adds the good stuff in the form of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that naturally occur in zucchini. I use my vegetable sprializer to make zucchini noodles.
Now let’s talk about minestrone soup in particular for a bit. There are as many recipes for minestrone soup as there are Italian grandmothers out there, but the basic idea is that you use whatever vegetables are fresh and ready to be eaten. So we used a lot of them in this recipe: onion, celery, carrots, cauliflower, Swiss chard – and a little tomato sauce (no added sugar!) to give it that rich tomato and vegetable flavor.
But if you have other vegetables on hand—for example, mushrooms, spinach, or even squash—feel free to tweak this recipe. Just make sure you’re keeping the amount of vegetables about the same so you don’t end up with tons of vegetables and only a little bit of broth.
And one last thing – while I love my cold weather soups because they have a ton of veggies and aren’t too thick or creamy, I also think they’re great during the summer. You could go to the farmer’s market in the morning and have a big bowl of soup by lunchtime! But whatever time of year it is, take a moment to relax and enjoy this delicious and healthy Chicken Minestrone Soup with Zucchini Noodles.
Low carb chicken soup recipe – Ingredients
- 6 skinless chicken thighs
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 4 cups chopped Swiss chard
- 2 small zucchini, cut into noodles
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened milk added basil sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- salt, pepper to taste
- 4 tablespoons pesto sauce (optional)
Low Carb Chicken Soup Recipe – Instructions
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the chicken thighs and cook until golden brown, 4 minutes per side.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes.
Return chicken to pot, add 4 cups water, tomato sauce, thyme sprigs and bay leaf and stir to combine.
Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and cook for 40 minutes.
Add the cauliflower florets and cook for another 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the pan and remove the meat.
Return the shredded meat to the pot.
Add the zucchini noodles and chopped Swiss chard and cook for 5 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Mix well.
Serve warm sprinkled with chopped parsley and drizzled with Paleo pesto if using.
