Bone Broth Chicken Soup is made with boneless skinless chicken meat, tender vegetables, garlic and healing chicken bone broth. Much like my Creamy Chicken Butternut Squash Soup, it is nourishing, flavorful and perfect for a cold winter day and cold and flu season due to its warming and healing properties. Add cooked rice or noodles for a complete meal.
If you’re a fan of chicken noodle soup (or any chicken soup) but can’t quite get the flavors right, I have an answer for you – use bone broth!
Traditional chicken soup is made with chicken broth and water but for whatever reason, it often turns out bland. Sounds familiar? If yes, definitely try this homemade chicken soup made with bone broth. It is super healthy and nutritious and can be enjoyed on its own (great for paleo and keto diets) or with rice or noodles.
Love chicken soup? Try this Homemade Chickarina Soup (chicken meatball soup).
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- This delicious soup is healthy, hearty, quick and easy to make
- Using bone broth adds a ton of flavor – no need to simmer the soup for hours
- This soup is filled with healthy fats and amino acids thanks to the use of bone broth
- Perfect if you want the health benefits of chicken bone broth (known for its positive effects on your immune system and gut health) but don’t want to sip it in its own
- Made with easily accessible pantry staples
- Bone broth is a great source of protein, collagen, vitamins and minerals
- Easily customizable – add whatever starches and veggies you like (see Variations and Substitutions section below)
Ingredient notes
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Chicken: use skinless boneless chicken breast or thighs
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Bone Broth: homemade or store bought (see below for recommended brands)
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Carrots and Celery: the quintessential chicken soup veggies
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Onion: yellow onion or sweet onion will both work
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Fresh Garlic: use as much or as little as you like
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Olive Oil: to sauté the veggies – you can swap it for butter if you want
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Water: bone broth tends to be very intense and adding water helps mellow out the flavors
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Spices: I use the traditional salt and pepper, dried thyme and a tiny bit of cayenne (you can skip it if you don’t want any heat)
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Rice or Noodles (optional): I used cooked brown rice but any rice or noodles will work
Homemade Bone Broth
My very favorite chicken broth is this Polish Chicken Soup (Authentic Rosół Recipe). It is basically slowly simmered homemade chicken bone broth made with a whole chicken (or pieces of chicken on the bone) veggies, herbs, bay leaves and allspice. It takes some time to make but the flavor of this broth is absolutely divine. If you have a few hours on a Sunday, I highly recommend you give it a try!
You can also easily make bone broth using leftover chicken bones (after a roasted chicken dinner) or chicken carcass, veggies, spices and water. Simmer it on the stove or use your Instant Pot (or pressure cooker) to cut on the long cooking time. Slow cooker also works for making a delicious homemade broth. Here's a great slow cooker chicken bone broth recipe.
Best store-bought bone broth brands
If you have your own broth (like the one from my Polish Chicken Soup recipe) on hand, definitely use it in this shortcut recipe! If you don’t, good quality store-bought bone broth will do the trick!
Here are some high quality store-bought broths to try:
How to make Chicken Soup with bone broth
- Cook carrots and celery in a bit of olive oil. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven (or a large pot with a heavy bottom). Add the veggies and cook on medium-low heat, stirring often until softened. Then. Add garlic, thyme and cayenne and cook for another minute.
- Add bone broth, chicken and water. Pour in your broth and water into the Dutch oven, then place the chicken breast (or thighs) in the liquid so it’s fully submerged. Bring to boil.
- Cook. Turn the heat to low, partially cover the pot and simmer the soup for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and tender.
- Shred the chicken. Remove the cooked chicken meat from the soup and when it cools slightly, shred it with two forks or cut into small pieces with a knife. If the chicken doesn't shred easily, you can also chop it with a knife. Return the meat to the soup.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. This step is important because the flavor of this soup depends greatly on the type of bone broth you use. Some brands are saltier than others which is why I recommend waiting with the salt until the end. If the soup is too intense for your liking, add more water, ½-1 cup.
- Add cooked rice or noodles and sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs, if you want.
Serving suggestions
You can serve chicken bone broth soup on its own without any starches. Personally, I like it with cooked brown rice because its nutty flavor goes really well with the intense chicken flavor. White rice, egg noodles, Israeli couscous, orzo or broken up spaghetti will all work great.
Fresh chopped parsley and dill will brighten up the flavor, color and add some vitamin C. You can also squeeze in some fresh lemon juice or add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar for a bit of tang.
If you’re looking for sides to serve alongside this tasty soup, try these homemade Biscuits Without Milk. Or, you can’t go wrong with the soup and salad combo for an easy dinner or lunch. For non-boring salad ideas, check out this La Scala Chopped Salad (with chickpeas, salami and mozzarella) or this Strawberry Spinach Feta Salad.
Storage, freezing and meal prep
- To store, pour the soup into an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to days.
- For meal prep, divide between mason jars or smaller airtight containers.
- To freeze, place in a freezer-safe sealed container and store in the freezer for up to 4 months. You can also freeze the soup flat in Ziploc bags – it makes storing and thawing easy!
- To reheat, thaw the soup completely in the fridge (if frozen), then transfer to a pot, bring to a simmer and serve. Don’t cook for too long, especially if there is rice or noodles in the soup.
Variations and substitutions
- Add more veggies! If you want to pack in more veggies, chopped up onions, parsnips, cabbage, sweet potatoes, green beans, green peas or corn will all work. If you’re adding peas or corn, do it at the end (frozen peas or corn are fine)
- Cooked leftover chicken can be used in place of raw chicken – adding leftover meat makes the soup ready in under 30 minutes!
- Add fresh greens – throw in a handful of baby spinach or kale towards the end
- For a low-carb version, swap the rice or noodles for cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles
- This recipe is naturally dairy-free and gluten-free as written (provided you don’t use wheat noodles)
- Turn up the heat – to make it spicy, add a drizzle of hot sauce on top (I like it with Sriracha)
Recipe FAQs
The biggest difference is that bone broth is always made with bones (or chicken on the bone) and it’s typically simmered for hours which makes it more concentrated more intense in terms of flavor. Good bone broth becomes thick and gelatinous when cooled. Regular chicken broth is thinner, paler in color and less intense.
Add more water but be careful not to dilute the flavor too much. I recommend no more than ½ cup at a time.
Yes! This is a great solution if you’re short on time. After cooking the veggies, add the bone broth, spices and water and bring to boil. Cook for 15 minutes, then add chopped or shredded cooked meat, simmer for a few minutes, then rice or noodles (if using) and serve! Ready in under 30 minutes.
Recipe
Bone Broth Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 10 oz boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 small yellow onion or half of a large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups chicken bone broth homemade or store-bought
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt *see notes
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice, farro, orzo or egg noodles (optional)
- chopped fresh parsley or dill for garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium Dutch oven or a stockpot with a thick bottom.
- Add carrots, celery and onions and cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring often until softened.
- Add minced garlic cloves and all the spices. Stir and cook another minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Pour in chicken bone broth and 2 cups of water.
- Place the raw chicken breast (or thighs) in the pot and bring to boil.
- Cook on low partially covered for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender.
- Take the chicken out and cut into bite-sized pieces or shred with 2 forks or chop with a knife.
- Place the chicken back in the soup.
- Add cooked rice or noodles if desired.
- Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve hot sprinkled with chopped parsley leaves or dill.
Notes
Nutrition
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Meet the Author
Hi, I'm Agnieszka. I'm a mom of three and recipe developer, writer and photographer behind Wholly Tasteful. I love creating comforting, delicious, family-friendly recipes that you can feel good about.
Steph! says
Trick to a better recipe to make an even better chicken soup. Instead of buying bone broth which cost an absolute fortune and to make it even less processed: take a raw whole chicken, place it in a large pot and cover it with filtered water, add salt, pepper, fresh parley, washed, smashed unpeeled garlic, your carrots skin (the one you’ll be using for your soup), one onion roughly quartered and boil the whole thing for at least 1 hour or more if you can. Takes 5 minutes to prep. Sit and read . Once it’s done, take the chicken out, cool it, shred the meat of it and proceed per recipe above.
Agnieszka says
Thanks for the bone broth trick, Steph!
Anie says
🙄🙄🙄
Mandy says
Is this a recipe that can be used in the crockpot?
Agnieszka says
Hi Mandy. I haven't tried to make it in the crockpot but I would think it could work.