Introducing the Healthy Chicken, Quinoa and Vegetable Soup recipe. I wanted to call this the Easy, Healthy, Chicken, Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Vegetable Soup, but golly, that title just seemed a little too long, so I shortened it up…but only a little. Don’t let my name for this tasty soup scare you off. It’s really pretty simple to make.
I am a very sneaky lady. Not really in a bad way. I just love playing hide-n-seek with the more healthy ingredients that my family eats. It’s no secret in this house any more. They are on to me now. At least they’ve developed a pallet for some of the crazy recipes that I come up with. This one is not so crazy though. Actually, it makes perfect sense. The best part about it is that it’s a comfort food, great for a cold day and has a fantastic “healthy” factor about it.
Soup = A Food For All
Do you have picky eaters? I do. I have one. I also have one kid that’s a machine and will eat anything and everything in his path. He is so tiny for such a big eater. I’m not exaggerating at all. He eats more than his dear dad, who also has a decent size appetite. I can put anything in front of this kid and it’s pretty much gone. Now the other little sweetheart has a more defined pallet. I used to get pretty stressed at meal time because I had my garbage can kid, my husband on a low-carb diet, my small picky eater with the limited pallet, and then me (the healthy veggie lover). There was a time that I would actually make 4 different meals and then cry about it. Really! I know, it’s crazy and I look back thinking “WHAT?!?!? What was I thinking?!?!” So I finally learned that I don’t need to please everybody all the time and started making things that would help our family “meet in the middle” in terms of food choices. I mean if they are hungry they will eat eventually. So I am introducing a recipe for soup that seems to encompass everyone in this house. I wanted to make something that my husband enjoyed, that would fill my bottomless boy, be deemed “edible” by my picky eater and make me feel good about serving up some serious healthy food. I hope that you and yours enjoy this recipe. It has very simple ingredients and can be made even more easy by using a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
How It’s Made
Pretty simple ingredients here. Adding the quinoa adds extra to the good-for-you factor. You’ll want to rinse it first. I have this handy coffee press that works so well since quinoa is very tiny and gets lost in a regular strainer.
Also, I make a sweet potato slurry by first microwaving a large sweet potato until soft, mashing it and adding it to a little of the reserved broth (mixing well). The slurry is then added to the soup pot. The sweet potato is fantastic with this soup. It’s a surprising flavor and is very filling!
Ingredients:
2 (32 oz. box) Chicken broth
1 (12 oz.) bag frozen mixed vegetable
1 (15.5 oz.)can cannellini beans
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 large sweet potato, mashed
1 medium onion
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. butter
Directions:
Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add chopped chicken to pot and cook approximately 7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Reserve about 1 cup of chicken broth in separate bowl (this will be used to make the sweet potato slurry).
Add remaining chicken broth, frozen vegetables, cannellini beans, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and rinsed quinoa to pot. Bring to a boil.
While soup is coming to a boil, prepare sweet potato slurry. Cook sweet potato thoroughly in the microwave. Cut lengthwise and scoop out potato (discarding peeling). Mash well with a fork and add to reserved chicken broth. Mix well. Pour slurry into soup pot.
Stir well and let soup simmer for about 20 minutes.
I hope you all enjoy this Healthy Chicken, Quinoa and Vegetable Soup recipe! It’s definitely a favorite during those cold months in the great Midwest! What is your favorite cold weather go-to recipe?
A very healthy and filling option for any night of the week. Chicken, sweet potato, qunioa and vegetable soup.
- 2 32 oz chicken broth box
- 1 12 oz frozen mixed vegetable bag
- 1 15.5 oz cannellini beans can
- 3 cups cooked chicken cubed
- 1 large sweet potato mashed
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed, uncooked
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp butter
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Melt butter in soup pot. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add chopped chicken to pot and cook approximately 7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
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Reserve about 1 cup of chicken broth in separate bowl (this will be used to make the sweet potato slurry).
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Add remaining chicken broth, frozen vegetables, cannellini beans, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and rinsed quinoa to pot. Bring to a boil.
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While soup is coming to a boil, prepare sweet potato slurry. Cook sweet potato thoroughly in the microwave. Cut lengthwise and scoop out potato (discarding peeling). Mash well with a fork and add to reserved chicken broth. Mix well. Pour slurry into soup pot.
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Stir well and let soup simmer for about 20 minutes.
Soup is something everyone loves to eat. I don’t have a coffee press can I just rinse and drain like normal? Love big bowl of this freshly made.
It’s pretty easy to rinse the quinoa, the hard part is making sure you don’t lose any of it. If you don’t have a coffee press then just measure what you need and let it soak in a bowl. Then strain the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse again. If you don’t rinse it just tastes bitter. 🙂 Enjoy!
My husband loves soup and I think he’d really like this one. I am going to make him a batch this weekend.
My guy sure enjoys it! 🙂 Very filling!
This would be perfect for the cold weather we’ve been having. I just love a good bowl of soup when it’s chilly out. This one sounds incredible!
To be completely honest, I never thought about using a coffee press for quinoa before! That’s such a smart and creative hack. This recipe is perfect for days when you’re feeling under the weather.
Yes! I have to admit, a friend of mine gave me the idea!
Nothing like a hearty chicken soup recipe to warm up on a cold, winter’s day. I love your tip of using the coffee press is a great idea for rinsing the quinoa. I don’t know why I never thought of this before.
We are so cold! I usually make soups and stews, especially in February. Brrrr! It just warms us up!
I am always wanting to incorporate more quinoa in my recipes but never really know how. I can make a good quinoa salad but I love the idea of putting it in a soup!
ohhh! Quinoa salad! That sounds so good!
Yum this looks delicious! I haven’t tried making my chicken soup with quinoa before I like that twist.
We were heavy noodle eaters, so it’s fun to try something different. 🙂
My family doesn’t like quinoa. They just don’t know what is good for them. I added it to a meal I made back in January and everyone was like what is this thing….my husband was the worst. I personally love it! This looks like a wonderful recipe and probably would do me good right now since I have a cold.
Oh no! Get better soon. Maybe you can sneak it in a little at a time. Those guys are sure observant. 🙂
With all the sniffles going round plus the cold weather delicious soups are all we are enjoying in our home, this looks real delicious
We do love our soups!
Now this sounds like the perfect soup for when you aren’t feeling quite yourself. I would never have thought of using a coffee press for quinoa, great hack.
I don’t have a fine mesh sieve, so this was a good trick for me. 🙂 Hoping for health for all!
My son is OBSESSED with soup and he also loves quinoa, so I think he would LOVE this soup. I love making my own soup since I can regulate the sodium and make sure it is as healthy as possible for my family.
Good for him! And I agree, lowering the sodium is a huge plus!
What a great blend of flavors in this soup! I would love to have a bowl of this the next time it cools off here.
This looks like a really sumptuous, flavorful and healthy soup. It’s also easy to do and would make a great meal.
I’ve never thought of adding quinoa to my chicken soup before. This is a great idea and it looks SO delish!
Thanks, I am always looking for new tastes {and new names} to keep the love of soup alive in my kitchen. Too many repeats and my guys start to revolt! As we near the end of soup season these can come tomy rescue this month still!
Anything that has sweet potato in is a winner in my eyes and I love how you got your family to eat healthier foods like quinoa as well. I would use quorn as I am a vegetarian but you have inspired me to recreate this tonight thank you! I am definitely pinning this and buying the ingredients as speak!
oh, that looks really good! Perfect treat for cold weather. What a brilliant way to rinse quinoa. Thanks for sharing!
This sounds amazing. I have some quinoa and I wasn’t sure what to do with it but this recipe sounds perfect.
I’ve never made soup before. This looks simple enough to make. My kids aren’t picky eaters so that makes cooking easier.