Super nourishing and comforting during cold and flu season, Bone Broth Chicken Vegetable Soup is made quickly using frozen broth and is packed full of vegetables.
When anyone in my family has a cold or flu, they ask for a chicken vegetable soup. It's just comforting when you're not feeling well - and I love that this is a comfort food that's good for you, too! Whether it has noodles in it or not, I always pack it full of vegetables to boost the bone broth's healthy qualities.
Everyone knows that chicken-noodle soup is supposed to help with colds, but I think it has a lot more to do with the healthy attributes of chicken bone broth than the noodles, so when anyone in my family is sick, I make an easy and nourishing chicken bone broth vegetable soup. Sometimes there may be noodles, but most of the time I just make it like this, with lots of vegetables.
The other thing my family expects when they're down with a runny nose is Kleenex brand tissues - preferably the Lotion or Ultra soft varieties, though any will do. Many years ago when I started trying to get our food budget a little more under control I let go of brand loyalty in favor of whatever was on sale.
But not with tissues. The few times I tried other brands my family gave me major grief - as did my own nose. Sheesh, that sounds just like a commercial, doesn't it? But it's true for us! In fact, my son came home from college a few weekends ago smack-dab in the middle of a major cold. He walked in the door and almost immediately headed towards the box of Kleenex we keep on the breakfast bar.
I had to laugh when he practically sighed and said,
"Ahh, it's like a soft blanket for my nose!"
I laughed and said, "Really?" And he said, "Yeah, the tissues at the house (at college) are terrible - it's starting to feel like I'm using sandpaper!"
Needless to say, he left the house that day with a box of Kleenex tucked under his arm and a container of this nourishing chicken vegetable soup that took me only minutes to make.
Curious about how I managed that since a true bone broth takes hours to cook?
Bone Broth Chicken Vegetable Soup
I use frozen broth! And while it does take some planning, it's super easy planning by using your slow cooker to make an easy bone broth and freezing it for later in quart canning jars. Then when you want to make soup all you have to do is defrost your broth and gather some vegetables.
There are two 'secret' ingredients I always include in a comforting nourishing soup for colds:
- garlic and cayenne
They are stars at helping to boost our immune systems. My kids now enjoy spicy foods so I can add quite a bit of cayenne, but when they were younger I'd only add a pinch to their portions.
After chopping your vegetables, it's simply a matter of combining them with the broth and other ingredients, bringing to a boil and then gently cooking for 10 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are done.
In just a few minutes you will have a nourishing cold and flu chicken soup that will put any canned soup to shame. I hope your family will come to count on this soup to comfort them through a sickness just like mine does!
Quick & Healthy Chicken Bone Broth Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
- 2 quarts chicken broth preferably homemade
- 1 onion
- 3 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 3 small potatoes
- 2 cups additional vegetables like cabbage, green bean, spinach, kale, etc.
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/8 teaspoons cayenne or to taste - the more you can take, the better
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt to taste - more if using unsalted homemade broth
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Chop all vegetables into small, even pieces.
- Combine broth, vegetables and spices in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat and gently cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked.
- Taste to adjust seasonings and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Other quick, whole food soups you may like:
Cauliflower-Vegetable Cheese Soup
Curried Turkey or Chicken Rice Soup
Slow Cooker Sausage-Bean Soup with Tomatoes and Spinach
This shop was part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Kleenex but all my opinions are my own.
