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Sharing a cozy, warming recipe today, Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup.

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

Say hello to the warmest, coziest most perfect home cooked bowl of chicken soup. It’s full of colorful veggies, good for us protein, and is sure to take care of just about any cold that winter throws your way.

You’ll LOVE it.

If you couldn’t tell, I am so exited about today’s recipe, and not just because it’s delicious, but also because it comes from a really cool cookbook, the Share Cookbook. If you guys remember, I’ve been teaming up with my friends over at The Little Market a lot this year (did you see my Valentine’s Day post?). The Little Market is one of my favorite nonprofit brands that’s helping to empower women. They carry home goods from female artisans around the world. They recently added a few new cookbooks to their list of gorgeous products and I cannot wait to tell you guys about them and help to spread the word.

The coolest talking point about these cookbooks is the fact that each cookbook helps to support a different cause. The Share Cookbook supports Women for Women International, The Immigrant Cookbook supports the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, and the Soup for Syria Cookbook helps fund food relief efforts through the United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR. Pretty amazing, right?

Aside from the incredible causes these cookbooks help to support, they are also incredible in the fact that each book is filled to the brim with delicious recipes. It’s safe to say that I had a very hard time picking just one recipe to share with you guys. I went back and forth for days about what to make because so many of the recipes sounded so delicious, but in the end, the cold snowy weather got the best of me, and I went with a cozy bowl of chicken soup from the Share Cookbook. All I have to say is that is was a really good decision.

This soup is beyond good.

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

What caught my eye about this particular soup recipe was its use of vegetables and herbs. Unlike a lot of chicken soup recipes, this one is packed full of veggies, like onions, carrots, and parsnips, and it uses a wide mix of herbs that make the soup extra flavorful.

The original recipe is made for the stovetop, but I ended up adapting it for the slow cooker to make things a little simpler. Plus, I just love the idea of chicken soup slow cooking all day long. I mean, the smell alone is worth making this. Like most slow cooker recipes, you add all the ingredients to your slow cooker, forget about it, and come home to the best home cooked soup. Add farro and you’re done.

So easy, super healthy, and even more delicious.

The only way to make this soup better is with a side of crusty bread, which I highly recommend doing.

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

I ended up letting this slow cook all day on Sunday while filming new HBH cooking videos with my brother Malachi, who films and edits all of HBH’s videos that you see on the site. Kai has a bad cold and said the only thing that sounded good was chicken soup. So, I threw this into the slow cooker and by the time we finished filming for the day, the soup was ready. I served up a couple bowls and we both agreed that it’s truly the perfect chicken soup, we especially loved the fresh topping of cilantro at the end.

I had leftovers, so I packed them up and saved them for lunch the next day and I swear the soup got better as it sat. One tip if you do end up having leftovers, or plan to make this for meal prep, I recommend either removing the farro (you could also use pasta) from the soup before storing or just cooking the noodles separately and adding them to your bowl before serving. The hot broth will be enough to rewarm the farro. If you leave the farro in the soup, the farro will soak up a good amount of the broth.

Also? It’s not in these pictures, but I ended up topping my bowls of soup with stove popped popcorn. I know it sounds odd, but this is something my mom has always done with soup and it’s honestly the best soup topper ever.

You have to try it.

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories Per Serving: 382 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

  • 6 cups low sodium chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 2 parsnips, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 leeks, chopped
  • 8 peppercorns
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2-3 pounds bone-in chicken breasts or thighs
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • juice + zest of 1 lemon
  • 3/4 cup dry farro
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro and or mixed herbs

Instructions

  • 1. In the bowl of your crockpot, combine the chicken stock, butter, olive oil, onions, carrots, parsnips, celery, leeks, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
    2. About 45 minutes before serving, remove the chicken from the soup. Remove the herbs and discard. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, plus the farro. Shred the chicken and stir it back into the soup and cook until the farro is tender.
    3. Divide the soup among bowls and top with herbs. Serve with a hunk of bread. 

Notes

Stove-Top
 Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the carrots, parsnips, celery, leeks, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, chicken stock, and chicken. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 2 hours. Shred the chicken. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, add the Farro and cook 25-30 minutes. Serve as directed. 
Instant Pot
Follow the slow cooker directions. Cover and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes and then use the quick release to release the steam. Shred the chicken, add the lemon and farro and cook on sauté until the farro are soft, about 15 minutes. Serve as directed. 
 *Adapted from Share Cookbook
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Slow Cooker Hearty Chicken Soup | halfbakedharvest.com #crockpot #soup #healthy #recipe

Soup and a cozy Tuesday night. Yes.

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Comments

    1. Hey Christine,
      Amazing!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! Love to hear it was a hit! xT

  1. 2 stars
    There is no flavor in this broth whatsoever. The proportion of seasoning to root vegetables to herbs and broth is completely imbalanced. Increase the herbs and salt and pepper exponentially. Perhaps add some sage too. Far too many onions when coupled with leeks too. It ends up confusingly sweet rather than savory. Was that the intention? I added some white pepper and a little crushed red pepper at the end. The cilantro helps.

  2. 5 stars
    Super yummy. The lemon made it bright and light, perfect to make a pot and eat for lunches during the week. Thanks for sharing!

  3. 5 stars
    Pearl barley works perfect in this soup. Beautiful recipe, my go to when I have a busy week ahead. Great in a flask to take to work.

    1. Hey Del,
      Thanks so much for making this recipe so often and sharing your feedback on the barley! Love to hear that it’s a go to! xT

  4. 5 stars
    So delicious, I was requested to make it again! I used rice as a gluten free sub and added 2-3 cups of additional broth to thin the soup both times I made it, as it was more of a stew. A couple teaspoons of sugar round out the flavor nicely. Served with a chunk of bread.

    1. Hi Susy,
      Sure, either of those should work well for you! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

  5. We call this a 100% meal in my family–meaning everyone likes it. I’ve made it for several years in the crockpot. My husband refuses to call it chicken soup because “it’s so much better than that”
    Planning to try it in an instant pot today and I”ll report back.

    1. Hey Lynne,
      Awesome!! So glad to hear that this recipe is always enjoyed and thanks so much for making it so often! Have a great weekend:)

      1. 5 stars
        Hi Tieghan. My name is Bo. First of all please excuse I can’t write a perfect sentence. English is my second language. I love this recipe. I made 3 times. I made for my a girl friend of mine. She has Pancreatic cancer. I made twice. She able to keep stomach. I don’t usually write a comment at all. I just wanted you to know how much enjoy your recipes. Thank you for wonderful recipes.

        1. Hi Bo,
          Happy Wednesday!!🫐🍒🍓 I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it and your feedback! Thanks for your kind message, sending good thoughts to your girlfriend:) xT

  6. Made this tonight after feeling sick…not sure why people said too much onion. I used smaller onions and it was perfect. Love your recipes!

    1. Hey Antonio,
      Awesome!! So glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:)

    1. Hi Nicole,
      Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t love this! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx

    1. Hi Gail,
      I use the CalorieKing app to work out the macronutrients.

      This way you can add the quantities of individual ingredients you like & have an accurate idea of the fat, carb & protein content of your meals.

      Hope this helps!

  7. Blech. Too much onion! And not sautéing the vegetables prior left the carrots underdone and the onion too strong. I’m not sure the point of the olive oil, either. I do not recommend this recipe.

    1. Hi Bobbie,
      So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, thanks for giving it a try! Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xT

    1. Hey Ally,
      Totally, that will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT

  8. Can’t wait to try this! What might I need to do differently if I use penne or something similar instead of farro? Thanks so much!

    1. Hey there,
      I would recommend using something smaller like orzo or stars, but you can follow the recipe as written. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT