What is Gingery Chicken Soup with Carrots?
Our Gingery Chicken Soup with Carrots recipe serves as the perfect transition dish for those still-chilly nights as temperatures begin to rise and spring makes its entrance. This hearty yet light soup incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients abundant in the spring like the carrots and bell peppers that help give the broth a vibrant color. This spring soup recipe is a delightful way to welcome the springtime chill with open arms.
Ingredients in Gingery Chicken Soup with Carrots
- Aromatic Broth: The warming notes of ginger combined with aromatic garlic and yellow onion provide a comforting touch, and fortifying base for the soup broth. While optional, adding some white wine gives the broth a delicate complexity and when combined with a touch of curry powder and red pepper flakes creates a well-balanced and flavorful broth.
- Spring Vegetables: This recipe celebrates the expanding array of produce available in spring — adding an array of flavors, textures, and nutrients to the dish. We chose crunchy carrots, yellow & red sweet bell peppers, and mixed mushrooms for this soup. If desired, you can substitute with equal amounts of produce you have on hand.
- Pre-Cooked Chicken: Using rotisserie chicken adds a depth of flavor and a hearty protein to the soup while also making it much easier to prepare. However, it can be substituted with any cooked, shredded chicken or another pre-cooked protein.
- Pasta: A small, shaped pasta (like ditalini or orzo) adds a comforting and substantial element to the soup, but doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the soup’s ingredients. The pasta can be substituted with rice or other grains if prepared in a separate pot and then added (cooked) to the rest of the soup at the end of the recipe.
- Garnishes and Sides: Topping the soup with a medley of fresh herbs and serving with crusty bread provides texture contrast and added flavor.
- ½ rotisserie chicken (About 2 cups shredded)
- 2 Tbsp + ¼ cup cooking oil, divided (such as olive, avocado, or vegetable oil)
- 1 ½ tsp Salt, divided
- ½ tsp Pepper, divided
- ½ onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp ginger paste
- 1 pint mixed, gourmet blend mushrooms, torn into smaller pieces as desired
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- ½ tsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ cup white wine (optional)
- 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon, chicken flavor 1
- 6 cups water 2
- 1 ½ cups small-shaped pasta (like ditalini or orzo)
- 1 tsp lemon juice or zest
- Chopped, fresh herbs (such as parsley, cilantro, dill, or basil)
- Slices of crusty bread
Gingery Chicken Soup with Carrots
This Gingery Chicken Soup with Carrots offers a satisfying and wholesome meal that celebrates the vibrant flavors of spring.
INGREDIENTS
For The Soup:
For Serving:
RECIPE BY: Marion Kirkpatrick
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 1 hour
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour, 20 minutes
SERVINGS: 6
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Soup:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the prepared rotisserie chicken on a baking sheet drizzle with 2 Tbsp of cooking oil, and season it with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the oven to reheat for 15-20 minutes while preparing and cooking the vegetables until the chicken reaches a safe reheating temperature of 165°F.
- At the same time, chop the onions, carrots, and peppers; mince the garlic; and tear larger mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat ¼ cup of cooking oil on medium heat. Saute the onions for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and ginger paste. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and continue to cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes.
- Push the aromatics to one side of the pot and add the mushrooms in a single layer. Brown the mushrooms for 5 minutes without stirring, taking care not to scorch the garlic. Salt the mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes before stirring them into the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Continue cooking until the mushrooms have browned (about 5 minutes).
- While the mushrooms are cooking, remove the chicken from the oven and set aside to cool before shredding. Mix the chicken bouillon paste with 2 cups of warm water and set aside.
- Add the chopped carrots, bell peppers, curry powder, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the mixture until the carrots have softened, stirring occasionally (10-15 minutes). At the same time, debone and shred the rotisserie chicken.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and pour in the white wine. Cook until the wine comes to a strong simmer and the smell of the alcohol disappears (about 5-7 minutes). Pour in the 2 cups of prepared chicken broth and the remaining 4 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the shredded chicken and turn the heat back to medium Cover the pot and simmer for 10-12 minutes.3
- Make sure the soup is still at a strong simmer before stirring in the pasta. (If needed, increase the heat.) Stir in the pasta and cook in the soup broth, consulting the package directions for a suggested cooking time and adding two more minutes (about 8-10 minutes). Stir the mixture frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot as it cooks.
- Turn off the heat and let the soup cool. If the pasta has soaked up too much soup liquid, stir in another ½ cup of warm water or chicken broth.
For Serving:
- If desired, stir in lemon juice. Taste the soup mixture and adjust the seasonings.
- Spoon in bowls and top with your favorite chopped, fresh herbs. Serve with slices of bread for dipping.
NOTES
- Better than Bouillon tends to be more salty than traditional or homemade broth. If substituting with regular chicken broth, you may need to add more salt and other seasonings to achieve the same level of flavor. ↩︎
- If you plan to save some soup to eat as leftovers, reduce the amount of water to 4 1/2 cups of water and cook the pasta in another pot, also storing leftover cooked pasta in a separate container from the soup. You can also substitute the pasta with rice if cooked in another pot or other pre-cooked grains. (See footnote #3 for further instructions). ↩︎
- To cook the pasta separately: In a medium pot, heat 4 cups of salted water on high heat. Once at a rapid boil, add pasta and cook according to the package directions (about 7-9 minutes). Drain and toss with 1 tsp of olive oil to prevent it from sticking together as it cools. Portion pasta into serving bowls and spoon the soup over the cooked pasta to serve. ↩︎