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Or, As We Call It, Cafe Chicken Soup.
I texted my friends at 8am on Monday morning – “anyone want to come for a playdate today? I’m making soup.”
I was craving for something brothy, satisfying, and bright. Like the feeling of sinking into the couch on a cold day, wrapped in a blanket, sun on my face – that, but soup. Lemon rosemary chicken soup.
Both friends were at my house within two hours, sitting at my tiny kitchen island, drinking coffee while I chopped random veggies I had found in my fridge for soup and our kids played like wild little animals down in the basement. Which, honestly, is the exact kind of life I have always dreamed of.
We ate this brothy, veg-packed lemon rosemary chicken soup and crusty bread with rosemary butter and we decided that we were actually in a cafe, hence the nickname “cafe chicken soup”.
One of my daughters loves this soup, and Bjork also enjoys it, but I would consider this mainly a soup for me.
I am the one who wants a warm, brothy, veg-heavy soup for lunch waiting for me in the fridge or freezer when it’s 1pm and I realize I didn’t have anything planned for lunch. Honestly, this has been the ideal way to set myself up for some feel-good happiness through the crazy months of November and December.
It freezes well, too, and doesn’t it seem like it’d be perfect with leftover Thanksgiving turkey? That’s my plan for next week. Extra rosemary salt, please! And wouldn’t this be amazing with a loaf of no-knead bread?
Lemon Rosemary Chicken Soup
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Lemon Rosemary Chicken Soup
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- half an onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary and/or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 can cannelini or navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 cups shredded kale
- 2–3 cups cooked shredded chicken or turkey (see notes)
- 5 cups chicken broth (I like the Better Than Bouillon broth base, or bone broth)
Finishers:
- juice of two lemons
- salt and pepper to taste
- grated Parmesan, bread, and butter for serving
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Saute for 5-8 minutes or until very soft.
- Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, and salt. Let it get nice and delicious for a minute, stirring to avoid burning or browning the garlic.
- Add the beans, kale, chicken, broth, and remaining olive oil (optional). Bring to a low simmer for 10-20 minutes, until the kale is wilted. If you have time to cook it for a while longer over low heat, great. Delicious.
- Pull out the herb stems. Add lemon juice, more salt, fresh black pepper to taste (all optional and to taste)! Top with parm and serve with a thick slice of bread, a thick shmear of butter, and a pinch of rosemary salt. Fresh, bright, yummy!
Notes
Chicken: I typically use pulled and shredded rotisserie chicken. You can also use raw chicken breasts or thighs, add them to the pot with the simmering broth, and let them cook for about 10-12 minutes or until 165 degrees. Remove, shred, and return to pot. This would also work great with leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
Olive oil: The extra olive oil that gets added in Step 3 is there to make it taste a little extra luscious. Without it, there isn’t a lot of fat in this soup – it’s just broth and veggies and chicken. And adding a good fat to this soup, I think, helps it really go from “brothy boring soup” to “wow, that’s really good soup”. That said, the extra oil is not necessary if you’re using a homemade broth, which typically already has a nice silky feel to it because of the fat content.
Instant Pot: I have made this in my Instant Pot and it’s great. I sautéed everything as directed in steps 1-2, then for step 3 I set it to high pressure for about 3 minutes and let it natural pressure release. (If you add raw chicken to the soup, you’ll need to cook at high pressure for 10-12 minutes.)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
