This homemade chicken and chickpea soup recipe is a perfect, easy dinner recipe. You only need a handful of ingredients and a little bit of time to let everything simmer. This chicken soup with pasta is a perfect way to use up any half-used boxes of pasta you may have lurking in your pantry.
If you’ve followed me for more than 30 seconds, you know I love a good chicken soup recipe. Almost once a week, I buy a chicken, make homemade broth, and whip up some kind of delicious homemade chicken soup. In this version, I make use of some items in my pantry to make a filling chicken soup with pasta and lots of chickpeas. It’s an excellent pantry clean-out meal!
How to make homemade chicken broth:
The foundation of this soup is homemade chicken broth. You can use any type of scrap veggie or aromatic you have lying around. I kept it simple with carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Try it with the tops of leeks, or load it up with spare herbs like thyme or parsley.
I should preface this by saying that I love chicken soup where the chicken is shredded. You may want to pull the chicken out earlier if you’re not into that. I like to let it simmer in the broth until it’s almost falling off the bone. The broth is simple regardless of how you like the chicken, but you’ll need a couple of hours for it. Simply cover with water, add the vegetables and aromatics, boil, and then simmer. Be sure to skim off any foam from the top of the broth as it cooks.
Once the chicken is ready, pull it out of the broth and transfer it to a bowl. I bring the broth back up to a rapid simmer and let it reduce for an additional 20–30 minutes. It will deepen in color and in richness. Then, I just strain it through a sieve and discard the solids.
How to make the chicken soup recipe:
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin. Pick the meat from the bones and shred or cut it into bite-sized pieces. Reserve the carcass for another use.
From there, wipe out the pot and heat up some oil. Throw in diced veggies, like onions, carrots, and celery. Then, add in some spices. I use lots of silk chili and added La Boîte Cancale spice blend, but that’s optional! A mix of paprika and smoked paprika would be an excellent substitute for silk chili. Then, just add in the cooked chicken, chickpeas, and broth. Boil and then simmer until the carrots are fork-tender.
To finish up the soup, just return it to a boil and add your favorite pasta. I used elbows, but orzo or even pearl couscous would be good. Once the pasta is al dente, throw in some spinach, and you’re done!
It’s a really great soup that you can start earlier in the day and have lots of soup left over for the rest of the week!
Looking for more chicken recipes? Check my archives!
Chicken and Chickpea Soup
Equipment
- Large pot
- Fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
Chicken broth:
- 3- pound whole chicken giblets reserved for another use
- 3 carrots cut into thirds
- 3 ribs celery cut into thirds
- 1 large yellow onion quartered
- 1 head garlic halved crosswise
- Salt
- Water
Soup:
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 yellow onion peeled and diced
- 3 carrots peeled and sliced into thick rounds
- 3 ribs celery trimmed and diced
- 1 tablespoon paprika you can supplement this with a little smoked paprika for smoky undertones
- Crushed red pepper to taste
- 2 15- ounce cans chickpeas drained
- ½ cup elbow macaroni
- 5 ounces baby spinach or Lacinato kale
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the broth:
- Place chicken in a large stockpot and cover with water by about 1–2 inches. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and season liberally with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 1–2 hours. Skim off any foam or scum from the top as it cooks.
- Using tongs, remove the chicken from the pot and transfer it to a bowl.
- Return the stock to a low boil (rapid simmer) for 20 minutes to reduce it further. It will deepen in color.
Prepare the chicken:
- Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin. Pick the meat from the bones and shred or cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Reserve carcass for another use. Set the meat aside.
Strain the broth:
- Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Discard the solids. Wipe out the pot and return it to the stove.
Cook the soup:
- Heat the neutral oil in the pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 5–7 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, paprika, and crushed red pepper. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Return the chicken to the pot and add the chickpeas.
- Pour in the prepared broth. You should have enough to cover the ingredients in the pot fully. Supplement it with water if needed. Taste and season once more.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes or until the carrots are almost fork-tender.
Finish the soup:
- Bring the soup back to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni to the soup (note: you can cook it separately if you don’t like pasta swelling). Cook for 8–10 minutes until pasta is al dente.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in spinach. Let simmer for 3–4 minutes. Turn off the heat.
To serve:
- Ladle soup into bowls and enjoy!
Nutrition
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