Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup With Homemade Bone Broth
Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup is everything you want in a comforting yet still healthy dish. If you haven’t ever added lemon to chicken soup, then you are going to love this one.
Canned soup and pre-packed soup is filled with MSG and other chemical preservatives. Making your own at home is simple and even better tasting than anything you can buy at the store. It’s healthier, too.
This is one of the most popular recipes from my TV show, Elizabeth Eats on FMTV. I’m excited to share the recipe and full-length episode with you here on the blog today so you can easily print the recipe and follow along at home!
This dish is perfect to turn your homemade bone broth into a show-stopping meal. The instructions for homemade bone broth are included in the recipe below, and you can read more about its gut-healing and immune system benefits here.
Soup from a Whole Chicken
Once you get the hang of making soup from a whole chicken, the hands-on time is really pretty short.
- You’ll add the whole, raw chicken and stock ingredients to the pot, simmer 4-24 hours over low heat (or even in a slow cooker overnight).
- You’ll remove the chicken meat (after a few hours to prevent it from overcooking, then add everything back to the pot.) Continue to cook the stock for 4-24 hours.
- Strain the stock, then build your soup by sauteeing celery, carrot, and onion. Add your other herbs and spices, the stock, the cooked chicken, and cooked quinoa for a glorious soup that everyone loves.
Watch the Full Episode to Learn More
If you already have bone broth prepared, simply add the rest of the ingredients per the instructions below for a quick healthy dish.
I usually make this dish from scratch with a whole chicken when they are a good price at the store. You can also buy pre-made bone broth at the store and use cooked chicken leftover from another dish to make this soup come together in a snap.
Description
This Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup brings together all of the wholesome flavors of chicken soup with quinoa added for extra protein and texture. Cook the quinoa before adding it to the soup
For the bone broth:
For the Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup:
To make the bone broth (if your bone broth is prepared, skip to the next section):
- Add whole chicken and veggies to a large 6-quart stockpot. Include the neck in the bone broth for extra collagen.
- Coat with spices and apple cider vinegar. Fill with purified water until the chicken and veggies are just covered.
- Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Cook at a low simmer for 1 hour, then remove the chicken with a pair of tongs and pull the meat off the bones.
- Add the bones back to the pot and cook for at least an additional 3-5 hours, or up to 8-12+ hours. (If you have a crock pot, you can simmer your bones overnight for even richer, more nutrient-rich broth.)
- When the broth is finished, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl or pot to collect the bone broth liquid. Discard the rest of the used chicken and veggies from the simmered broth.
- Store your bone broth liquid in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 6 months.
To make the soup:
- Combine the broth, carrots, celery, and quinoa to the pot and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Add the cooked chicken the last 5 minutes of simmering to cook through.
- Season with salt, to taste. Remove from heat and add the juice of half a lemon before serving.
- Store in airtight glass containers in the refrigerator up to 4 days, or in the freezer up to 3 months.
If you make this and love it, come back over to the comments and let us know!
Enjoy,
