30-Minute Chicken Kale Soup Recipe
Chicken Kale Soup — 🍗🥬👏🏻 This chicken soup with white beans, kale, zucchini, and more is easy, hearty, and healthy! Packed with flavor and texture, it’s a full meal in itself! Perfect for quick weeknight dinners and leftovers freeze and reheat great!
Hearty Chicken and Kale Soup Recipe
My family loves soup, and I love making it for them because with soup there are always leftovers. Bonus for the cook and a game-changer on busy days.
This chicken and kale soup is easy, ready in 30 minutes, hearty, healthy, gluten, and dairy-free. The ultimate comfort food, it’s packed with flavor and texture. Even for those who think that soup can’t make a meal, this one will change your mind.
There are many recipes for sausage, kale, and white bean soup online, but I opted to go with the ease of using shredded rotisserie chicken. The beans add heartiness and protein, while the kale, cabbage, and zucchini add texture. Even with soup I need texture and love anything green and the veggies are perfect. I love to serve mine topped with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Naturally gluten-free and accidentally healthy, this is a winner of a chicken soup dinner.
This recipe has been on my website since 2016 and is a fan favorite for great reason!
What Readers Are Saying
It’s not just me and my family who love this soup. Take a look at what readers have to say, too! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
SOOOOOO GOOD!! This recipe is a WINNER!! I will be making this soup again and again.
Barb
Excellent soup! I loved the addition of lemon for a bit of brightness. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Suzan
Great soup! Even my non-soup-loving husband says it’s one of the best. We add grated Parmesan. Also, I love you can freeze it; I immediately froze half of it!
Karen
Chicken Kale Soup Ingredients
To make this chicken kale white bean soup, you’ll need:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Vidalia onion
- Celery
- Green cabbage
- Garlic
- Chicken broth – I recommend using low-sodium chicken broth to prevent the soup from being overpoweringly salty. If needed, you can substitute chicken bone broth or vegetable broth
- Shredded cooked chicken – I use rotisserie chicken to keep this recipe super quick and easy, but you can use leftover shredded chicken breasts or even skinless chicken thighs. You can also use leftover turkey if you have it.
- Cannellini beans – If you can’t find cannellini beans, great northern beans also work well in this soup
- Dried parsley and oregano – If you have fresh herbs, those are great. Double the amount that I list if using dried herbs.
- Salt and black pepper
- Kale – I recommend using curly kale or Lacinato kale. Before adding the kale to the soup, remove the center rib. That part is extremely tough to chew and shouldn’t be added to this soup (use just the kale leaves)
- Zucchini
- Fresh lemon juice
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken and Kale Soup
This is such a quick and easy kale chicken soup recipe! Here are the basic recipe steps:
- In a large Dutch oven, sauté the onion and celery until soft.
- Add the cabbage and continue to cook until slightly wilted.
- Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
- Let the mixture boil and then simmer until the chicken is warmed through, the zucchini has softened, and the kale has wilted. Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!
What to Serve with Chicken Kale Soup
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this chicken and kale soup recipe is fairly flexible in that regard. If you don’t have kale on hand, spinach or a similar leafy green may be substituted.
Yes, if at any time while making the soup, the overall liquid level is lower than you like and you prefer more broth, adding a cup or two of water is okay because at the end you will adjust the salt level.
Feel free to include extra herbs and spices such as rosemary, bay leaves, or even a dash of red pepper flakes to amp up the flavor even further.
You can store leftover chicken kale soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days.
Yes, this soup will last up to 6 months in the freezer. I recommend freezing it in smaller containers so you can reheat one or two portions at a time.
I recommend reheating your soup thawed in 30-second increments in the microwave. Or, warm larger portions in a pot over medium heat on the stove. Feel free to add more water or broth as needed if it becomes a bit too thick for your liking.
Recipe Video Tutorial
Enjoy Healthyeatspro.com 🆕
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 2 medium/large onions)
- 1 cup celery, sliced thin (about 2 stalks)
- 2 to 3 cups green cabbage, sliced into thin ribbons (about 1/2 small head of cabbage)
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
- 64 ounces 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 to 4 cups shredded cooked chicken, use about 1 whole storebought rotisserie chicken to save time; or roast or cook your own chicken in a skillet
- two 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- leaves from 4 large stalks of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces (discard the center thick rib)
- 1 cup zucchini, diced small (from about 1 medium zucchini)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional (brightens up the flavor)
Prevent your screen from going dark
-
To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add the oil, onion, celery, and sauté over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir intermittently.
- Add the cabbage and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until cabbage wilts and softens. Stir intermittently.
- Add the agarlic and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken broth, shredded chicken, cannellini beans, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and boil about 5 minutes, or until chicken is warmed through.
- Add the kale, zucchini, optional lemon juice, and boil 1 to 2 minutes, or until kale has wilted and zucchini has softened.
- Taste soup and add salt or herbs, to taste. Amount of salt will vary based on how salty the brand of chicken broth used is, how salty the rotisserie chicken is, and personal preference. At any time while making the soup, if the overall liquid level is lower than you like and you prefer more broth, adding a cup or two of water is okay because at the end you will adjust the salt level. Serve immediately.
Storage: Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 258kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 339mg, Potassium: 800mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 550IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 113mg, Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Chicken Soup Recipes:
15 Best Fast and Easy Soup Recipes — Warm up with these easy soup recipes! Most are ready in under 30 minutes and perfect for busy weeknights! Hearty, comforting, and so good!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – Classic, comforting, and tastes just like grandma made but way easier and faster! This soup is AMAZING and it’ll be your new favorite recipe!
Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup – 🍲🥕🙌🏻 Classic and comforting chicken noodle soup with loads of juicy chicken, tender noodles, carrots, celery, and seasoned to perfection so that it tastes just like grandma used to make it! But this recipe is made with EASE and convenience in mind by using your crock pot. Just add the ingredients, set it, and forget it, and your soup will taste AMAZING!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade White Chicken Chili – Hearty, healthy, loaded with tender chicken, and packed with bold flavor! Fast and easy comfort food that everyone loves! It’ll be on rotation all winter!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup – Chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans, avocado, cheese, and addictively crunchy tortilla strips! Fast, easy weeknight meal, and better than from a restaurant!
Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Tortellini Soup – A fun spin on classic chicken noodle soup using cheese tortellini! Fast, easy, comfort food that just hits the spot! You’ll make it over and over again!
Loaded Cheesy Chicken Potato Chowder – Potatoes, chicken, carrots, corn and more! Thick, creamy, rich, and wonderfully cheesy! Fast and easy comfort food that everyone loves!
Creamy Sweet Potato Chicken Soup – An EASY comfort food chicken soup recipe with sweet potatoes and more to keep you full and satisfied for hours!! Ready in 30 minutes with a flexible ingredients list based on what you have on hand!!
Easy 30-Minute Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup — Why have regular chicken noodle soup when you can have CREAMY instead? Pure comfort food at its finest! Ready in 30 minutes, an instant family favorite, and PERFECT for chilly weather!!
