The Best Chicken Soup–healing chicken soup made with tender chicken thighs, carrots, spinach, warming ginger and turmeric, and finished with tiny pasta or couscous, all cooked quickly in the Instant Pot or low and slow in the crockpot.
The Best Chicken Soup
This is the kind of soup I love to make when someone’s not feeling great or when it’s cold outside. I have had the worst cold for the past week and this hit the spot. The ginger and turmeric give it that healing vibe without being overpowering, and the chicken stays so tender thanks to the thighs. It works just as well in the Instant Pot or the slow cooker. It’s easy, cozy, and one of those recipes you’ll keep coming back to all season long. Try this one out this week! Recipe adapted from The Best Chicken Soup You’ll Ever Eat on Ambitious Kitchen.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Olive Oil–or canola, avocado
- Diced Onion–or shallot
- Celery Stalk
- Chicken Broth–or water and Better Than Bouillon chicken base
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs–or chicken breasts
- Carrots
- Fresh Grated Ginger–or 1 tsp ground ginger
- Ground Turmeric
- Dried Rosemary–or Italian seasoning
- Dried Thyme
- Kosher Salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper–to taste
- Acini di Pepe–or couscous
- Chopped Spinach–or peas
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and celery and saute for 4 minutes. Pour in the broth and and add in the chicken. Let it start heating up while you grab the remaining ingredients.
Add in the carrots, ginger, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, salt and a few cracks of fresh pepper.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set SOUP button to 8 minutes. (If you don’t have a soup button use low pressure for 8 minutes). When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Remove chicken and place on a cutting board.
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Add in the acini di pepper and let it simmer and cook for about 4 minutes, until al dente.
Meanwhile, chop or shred the chicken and stir it in the soup along with the spinach.
Ladle into bowls and serve.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with a dinner roll, breadstick or cornbread.
- Can I cook the pasta separately? Absolutely. This is a great idea if you plan to store leftovers so the pasta doesn’t soak up all the broth.
- Use low pressure if your Instant Pot doesn’t have a soup button.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 4 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. The acini di pepe will soak up most of the broth. For best results store pasta separately and add when reheating.
- Other recipes you can make with turmeric are Instant Pot Bombay Potatoes and Instant Pot Brown Rice Pilaf with Chicken.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
The Best Chicken Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes (with a 5-10 minute pressure release)
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Healing chicken soup made with tender chicken thighs, carrots, spinach, warming ginger and turmeric, and finished with tiny pasta or couscous, all cooked quickly in the Instant Pot or low and slow in the crockpot.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 16 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- 1 cup acini di pepe or couscous or 1/2 cup peas
- 1 cup chopped spinach
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. When display says HOT add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and celery and saute for 4 minutes. Pour in the broth and and add in the chicken. Let it start heating up while you grab the remaining ingredients.
- Add in the carrots, ginger, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, salt and a few cracks of fresh pepper.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set SOUP button to 8 minutes. (If you don’t have a soup button use low pressure for 8 minutes). When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Remove chicken and place on a cutting board.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. Add in the acini di pepper and let it simmer and cook for about 4 minutes, until al dente.
- Meanwhile, chop or shred the chicken and stir it in the soup along with the spinach.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the oil and swirl around. Add in the onions and celery and saute for 4 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the broth, chicken, carrots, ginger, turmeric, rosemary, thyme, salt and a few cracks of fresh pepper.
- Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Add in the acini di pepper and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Remove chicken and place on a cutting board. Chop or shred the chicken and stir it in the soup along with the spinach.
- Ladle into bowls and serve.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
More chicken soups you’ll love…
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
This recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup is fast and easy to make. No need to cook the chicken ahead of time, just add it straight to your pressure cooker along with the veggies and broth. We love making this recipe on a cold day or when we have a sick one in the house.
Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Soup
A broth based soup with chicken, celery, carrots and brown rice. This soup reminds me of chicken noodle soup except it has rice instead of noodles.
Marry Me Chicken Soup
A creamy tomato-basil chicken soup made in the Instant Pot (or slow cooker!). The ditalini, cream cheese and sun-dried tomato pesto make it taste like a fancy café soup with minimal effort.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Hi. This looks so good. I would like make it with barley instead. Would you be able to tell me when to add that an how long to cook it? Thank you!
Instant Pot:
Add ½ cup pearl barley at the same time as the chicken and broth (before pressure cooking).
Cook everything on HIGH pressure for 15 minutes, then do a 10-minute natural release.
After that, remove and shred the chicken, turn the pot to sauté if needed, and stir in the spinach at the end. (No need for the separate pasta-cooking step.)
Slow Cooker:
Add ½ cup pearl barley at the beginning with the broth, chicken, and seasonings.
Cook on LOW for 4–5 hours, until the barley is tender.
Shred the chicken and stir in the spinach at the end.
I’m assuming spinach is fresh chopped?
If using pea option- are they canned or frozen or frozen/thawed?
The spinach is chopped and the peas are frozen. And I just stir them into the hot soup. It cools the soup down a bit but that is helpful sometimes so you don’t burn your mouth 🙂