Slow Cooker (or not) Chicken Soup
with rotisserie chicken and green salad
This classic recipe from our archives is simple and comforting.
Smarts: Shred rotisserie chicken for tomorrow night at the same time as preparing tonight's meal.
Smarts: To easily infuse the soup with extra flavor, stir salsa in at the end. Any salsa will work, but we love the way a salsa with roasted aromatics adds smoky notes.
Ingredients
- Rotisserie chicken - 1/2, shredded
- Garlic - 2 cloves, minced
- Onions, medium - 1, diced
- Celery - 2 stalks, diced
- Carrots - 12 oz, sliced
- Tomatoes, diced (14 oz / 397 g can) - 1 can, drained
- Italian seasoning - 1/2 tsp
- Bay leaves - 2
- Thyme, fresh - 2 sprigs
- Stock, chicken - 5 cups
- Salsa, store-bought - 1/2 cup
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Vinegar, balsamic - 1 Tbsp
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
- Walnut halves - 1 cup
- Mixed greens - 6 oz
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Rotisserie chicken - (If making Wednesday night's meal, prep chicken for that meal at the same time.) Take meat off the bone and shred. Use a knife and fork or your hands. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Garlic / Onions / Celery / Carrots - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together mustard and vinegar. Add olive oil, while whisking. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Walnuts - If you'd like walnuts for the salad toasted, toast in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, 5 to 6 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Tomatoes - Drain.
- If cooking soup in the slow cooker: Combine rotisserie chicken (reserve half if doubled), garlic, onions, celery, carrots, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, diced tomatoes, and stock in a slow cooker. Cook on low for ~6 hours.
Unlock this meal along with hundreds of smart meal plans and never stress about "What's for dinner?" again
Try for freeLearn More
Make
- If making soup on the stovetop: Heat up a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add some cooking oil and then garlic, onions, celery, and carrots to heated oil and saute for ~3 minutes. Add in Italian seasoning, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, diced tomatoes, stock, and chicken (reserve half if doubled). Bring to a boil, and then simmer for ~15 minutes.
- When soup is finished cooking, remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Toss greens and walnuts together. Add vinaigrette until salad is dressed to your liking.
- Stir salsa into soup. Season with some salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
32 reviews
Thought this was quite delicious! As usual with CookSmarts soups it made WAY more than 4 servings. I would guess maybe at least 6. Might recommend cutting down on some of the add ins + increasing the stock.
0 HelpfulI made this with a chicken i roasted because the store bought ones are all grease and was extra heavy handed with the thyme. And i added allspice and maggi. The soup turned out amazing. I think the recipe as is would be a bit too basic to really impress, but with a few tweaks, it's definitely one to keep around.
0 HelpfulOverall just kind of meh for me. I tried to bump up the spices and it was nice to eat on a rainy winter night, but there are many other soups on here that I prefer much more.
0 HelpfulMade my chicken in the instant pot, which was pretty quick and I used the broth in the instant pot for the soup. Also, added dumplings instead of pasta, which made it delicious!
0 HelpfulWaited too long to use the rotisserie chicken, so subbed with chicken sausage which was great. Used hot sauce instead of salsa at the end as the soup already had tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
0 Helpful