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When the weather turns chilly, this is the pot you want simmering away. A classic, brothy chicken soup with tender vegetables, soft herbs, and a finish that tastes like it cooked all day—because it did.
Everything happens in the slow cooker, so prep is quick and hands-off. Ladle it up with noodles or rice, add lemon and herbs, and dinner’s ready.
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.
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.
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
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
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Soup and a cozy Tuesday night. Yes.
This soup is delicious! My family doesn’t typically enjoy brothy soups but everyone enjoyed this one. I think its the parsnips and lemon that really set it apart. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey Melissa,
Awesome!!🤩 I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review and love to hear that it was a hit! xTieghan
Love this recipe. I used egg noddles in place of the farro and extra carrots instead of parsnips and it turned out lovely. I also used some extra garlic and herb seasoning and dried herbs instead of fresh, even though I’m sure fresh would have made it even better.
Hi Ashley,
Amazing!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend! xTieghan
Followed the slow cooker directions and it turned out great! My only alteration to the recipe was using homemade veggie stock instead of chicken broth and I used fresh basil instead of cilantro as garnish. The lemon is crucial to this recipe and really brightens it up! I recommend serving with rosemary crusty bread topped with roasted garlic butter. Such a delicious and hardy meal on a cold day.
Hey Angie,
I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it!!☀️ xTieghan
Never added oil straight into slow cooker before and my soup tasted oily ? Any tips? I will fry the veggies in future
Hi Jo,
Sorry to hear this, did you use olive oil? Let me know how I can help! xx
Yes olive oil
I would always part cook the vegetables in the pan first but this recipe just said put in slow cooker the juice looks watery/oily anything I can do to give it a bit more taste? Look less watery/oily I don’t want to add corn flower as this will just thicken the soup
I’ve never had this issue with this soup, slow cooker recipes are great because everything should cook in the slow cooker. I would just skip the oil next time:)
This is the first recipe that I’ve made from your website, and it was the perfect meal for a cold, rainy day. Loved all the veggies, but it is the lemon that sets this chicken soup apart from others. It just brightens the taste so unexpectedly! It was also easy to make. Thank you! I am going to try the Miso grilled cheese next.
Hey Judy,
Fantastic!! Love hearing that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it:) Have the best day! xxT
Hi Tieghan! A friend recently told me about your website, and I have been looking for a homemade chicken soup recipe. All of your recipes read and look amazing! I can’t wait to try this one, and have gathered all of the ingredients. I plan to give this first recipe of yours a try tomorrow morning in my large crockpot…excited to smell it cooking all day! I’m not a super experienced cook, and it would be helpful to have approximate measurements for all of the vegetables? I’ve never cooked with parsnips or leeks before, and obviously, vegies come in all different sizes. So, if you could give an idea of how much each 2 leeks, 2 parsnips, 2 onions, etc. should be, it would be a huge help. Thank you in advance!! Hopefully you will see this in time!
Hey Janet,
I hope you love the recipe! Sorry for any confusion, but you will literally want to use 2 leeks, 2 parsnips, 4 carrots, etc. Those are the measurements:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you, Tieghan. No confusion at all, but I could have been more clear in my question. I was interested in measured amounts for the vegies, i.e., 2 cups of parsnips, 3 cups of leeks, etc., to use as a guideline. Understanding, the vegies I have could be much smaller or larger than what someone else may have. For example, the carrots in the bag I purchased had some very large and some very small. It’s probably nothing to be concerned about but after reading all the comments through, and noticing some said there was too much of one vegie or another, etc., I thought more specific amounts may help this recipe be successful for me, especially never having cooked with leeks or parsnips previously. :0) However, I assembled everything this morning, using my best judgement, and it’s simmering away! Smells devine! I did measure, in a measuring cup, the approximate amounts of each vegie I was using, so that if I make it again, I’ll know what worked, or didn’t! I will let you know how it turns out, and give the star rating. Thanks for your help!
Sorry for the confusion! The great thing about this recipe as that the veggie measurements don’t need to be exact:)
Whoever said this recipe had no flavor must have done something wrong! Such a flavorful, vibrant chicken and vegetable soup that will instantly make anyone feel better. Paired this with the bread from the ‘super simple’ cookbook and had ourselves the most perfect winter meal. Highly recommend!
Hi Lauren,
Thank you so very much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Per usual, another hit! Decided on this today in the slow cooker.
Hey there! So glad you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
The amount of leeks in this soup is overkill. Also I double checked the recipe because lack of flavor is never a problem with HBH recipes but this soup was totally bland
HI Courtney! I’m so sorry that this recipe wasn’t enjoyed, please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help with this! xTieghan
Does this soup freeze well? I’m doing some postpartum meal prepping and hoping this recipe will work.
Hey Elizabeth,
Yes, this soup is totally fine to freeze! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Seriously the best chicken soup ever! Made it twice already, third time will be this week . Question though, could I put in a whole chicken instead of pieces?
Hey Kelly,
Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I am delighted to hear that it was enjoyed! Sure, a whole chicken would work. xTieghan
Amazing Thanks for sharing…
Kindly visit our website
Thank you!
do you use the whole leek? top to bottom?
Hey Rachel,
Yes, I use the whole leek. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This looks great! I’d like to make this in the instant pot but don’t want to add grains. Should I still pull the chicken, add the lemon and cook another 15 min? Thanks!
Hey Debra,
You can skip the sauté for 15 minutes part, just add the lemon juice with the pulled chicken. I hope you love this recipe! xT
This is the BEST chicken soup hands down! It’s rich and flavorful, and the chicken fell off the bone!!
Hi Ibelis,
I am so thrilled that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy New Year! xTieghan
The soup was delicious and nutritious I used to know. I’m not sure if I cook as well as you do? I will try this for my small family. Thank you for sharing!
Hey Jacks,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! xTieghan