When the weather cools down, nothing beats a warm, hearty soup to bring comfort to your day. Thrifty and easy, Chicken and Bacon Soup is a perfect example of a delicious meal that doesn’t break the bank. This recipe, brimming with wholesome vegetables and tender chicken, is not only easy on your wallet but also easy to prepare. A truly tasty soup I am sure you will love!
The Ingredients
How To Make It
Step 1. In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery and sauté for 2-3 minutes
Step 2. Add chicken legs and zucchini; cook for a further 10 minutes with the occasional stir.
Step 3. Add remaining ingredients. Cover with a lid and reduce heat. Simmer for 70-90 minutes.
Step 4. Remove bay leaves and bacon bone (if using) with a slotted spoon. Shred chicken and discard bones.
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Step 5. Strain soup and puree vegetables in blender. Pour soup back into the saucepan. Add the chicken back to the soup. Season to taste and serve.
Chef’s Tips
- Butter vs. Olive Oil: Both butter and olive oil work well. Butter adds a rich flavour, while olive oil is a lighter dairy-free alternative.
- Fresh Bay Leaves: Fresh bay leaves provide a more intense flavour compared to dried ones.
- Garlic: Freshly crushed garlic gives the best flavor, but in a pinch, garlic powder can be used.
- Chicken Broth: Homemade chicken stock offers the richest flavour. Store-bought stock is a convenient substitute.
- Cream and cream cheese: If you like a creamy chicken soup add cream or cream cheese to the soup when pureeing.
Cooking Methods
This chicken bacon soup is incredibly versatile and can be prepared using various methods:
- Slow Cooker: Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Strain into a blender and puree the soup. Pour into a soup pot and add the shredded chicken.
- Instant Pot: Use the sauté function for the initial steps, then cook on high pressure for 25 minutes followed by a quick release. Strain into a blender and puree the soup. Pour into a soup pot and add the shredded chicken.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your Chicken and Bacon Soup with crusty low carb bread, a fresh green salad, or a side of roasted peperonata. A sprinkle of fresh herbs like parsley, sliced green onions, basil leaves, or coriander can add a burst of freshness to each bowl. Or even better a dollop of pesto, chimichurri, or garlic sauce. For the carb-lovers make a chicken potato soup with bacon. Potatoes do make the soup very creamy and hearty. They are off the menu for me as I mostly follow the EF3 Meal Plans and eat only one high carb meal each week.
Perfect Bread To Serve with Chicken Soup
If you are anything like me you need a good keto bread recipe to go with your chicken soup. Here are just a few of my favourites;
FAQs and Tips
Yes, this soup tastes even better the next day. Store it in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
Absolutely! If you have leftover cooked chicken, add it during the last 10 minutes of cooking to heat through without overcooking it.
Yes, this soup freezes very well. Just make sure to cool it completely before transferring to airtight containers for freezing.
Want more Keto Soups?
I am feeling the love for the chicken soup recipes and low carb soups in general. Here are a few more that you can add to your meal plans.
- Keto Chicken Vegetable Soup
- Keto Minestrone Soup
- Clear Chicken Soup
- Leek and Celery Soup
- Keto Pea and Ham Soup
If you love soups, you might also enjoy our Souper Tasty eBook with so many more keto and low carb soups to enjoy!
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Hearty Chicken and Bacon Soup
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Ingredients
- 40 g (3 tbsp) butter or olive oil
- 60 g (1/2 medium) onion diced
- 1 clove garlic crushed and diced
- 70 g (½ cup) carrot (1/2 medium)
- 80 g (3/4 cups) celery diced
- 5 lovely legs or drumsticks (skin off)
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 2 fresh bay leaves bruised
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 – 1 tsp cracked pepper
- 1 tsp chipotle powder or smoked paprika
- 1 bacon/smoked ham hock optional
Instructions
CONVENTIONAL METHOD
- In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery and sauté for 2-3 minutes
- Add chicken legs and zucchini; cook for a further 10 minutes with the occasional stir.
- Add remaining ingredients. Cover with a lid and reduce to low temperature. Simmer for 70-90 minutes.
- Remove bay leaves and bacon bone (if using) shred any meat from it and discard. Shred chicken and discard bones.
- Strain soup and puree vegetables in blender. Pour soup back into the saucepan. Add the chicken back to the soup. Season to taste and serve.
THERMOMIX METHOD
- Place all ingredients into the mixer; only add stock to the MAX line; cook 80 min/90°C/reverse/stir.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and set aside to cool briefly before shredding the meat.
- Discard the skin from the chicken and shred the meat placing it into a separate bowl.
- Remove the bacon bone, and shred any meat off it and add to the chicken.
- Remove bay leaves and discard. Puree the soup 30 sec/speed 10. Add the chicken back to the soup. Stir to combine. Season to taste.
Notes
- Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
- For longer storage, freeze the soup in freezer-safe containers or bags for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- When reheating, gently warm the soup on the stovetop over low heat to avoid overcooking the chicken and bacon.
- Portion Size: Cut the bacon bones or ham hock into smaller pieces, around 3-4 inches in length, so they fit easily into the Thermomix bowl. This can be requested when you purchase so the butcher can cut them for you.
- Fit Test: Before starting the recipe, place the cut bones or hock pieces in the Thermomix bowl to ensure they fit without obstructing the blades or the lid. Adjust the size as needed.
- See the blog post above for chicken bacon soup slow cooker method and Instant Pot method.
Your Own Notes
Nutrition
30 responses to “Easy Chicken and Bacon Soup”
This soup was so easy and delicious! It’s been kind of cool here so I grabbed the opportunity to make some soup. 😀 Will make it again soon!
This was so easy to make we all loved it! It’s quick, simple and so full of flavor. Perfect for cold nights- will make again for sure!
The weather has been playing tricks on us lately so a hot soup really hits the spot. Nothing beats chicken soup when it’s cold and this one with bacon was delicious!
This chicken soup with bacon is perfect comfort food. It was so flavorful and love the bacon in there.
My family loves this chicken and bacon soup. Homemade chicken soup is always a hit, but when you add bacon, even better. Thanks for the recipe!
I was craving some comforting soup for lunch and this recipe was my inspiration – so delicious and great flavours.
Such delicious flavours in an elegant soup. You can never go wrong with bacon for flavour. This was a huge hit with my family!
Nothing beats homemade soup. Chicken soup is always a warm welcome, especially when you are under the weather. Bacon makes everything taste delicious.
I’m so excited to have found this recipe that uses chicken legs! I often take advantage of them being on sale at the grocery store, but have gotten tired of barbecued chicken legs. Love this stew option!
Where’s the collagen peptides in the recipe?
Hi Vicky, the collagen has been removed as I dont see any reason to add it as the soup is plenty thick without it. I am in the proces of updating this recipe.
I cannot find the recipe and the link seems to be broken.
I am trying to find a new dish to make today and I am glad I found yours. It is so easy and delicious 🥰Yay!
Such a beautiful and easy soup recipe. I loved how rich and creamy it was.Glad you enjoyed it Helen
This soup was outstanding! Adding the bacon bone gave such wonderful flavor.It is such a winner isn’t it
really tasty chicken soup that is perfect since I started Keto againWoohoo!
It’s a really flavourful soup. So easy to make tooThis soup is amazing! I’ve made it every week for 3 weeks and the family still wants more!
It’s great for lunches 🙂
This soup is absolutely delicious!
I did make a few substitutions as i didn’t have meadow and marrow bone broth so used my own Thermomix chicken stock, plus 1tsp lemon pepper seasoning mix and 1tsp powdered hickory smoke as i didn’t have any bacon bones.
I also added 1 tblsp of tumeric.
Definitely my new fav soup…so, so tasty. thanks MeganLove this soup! So easy and delicious.
Glad you loved it
Oh my this soup is so easy to make and so full of flavour. and goodness. Our family really loves it and it has been on our meal plan several times now. I made a double batch the second time round so we had lunches for the work week and some for the freezer stash. Oh and so inexpensive too!!
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