Your Choice Soup

In January, many people recommit to eating better and making healthier choices for the new year. Dietitian Courtney Schuchmann (Instagram: @caschuc) helps keep her patients’ nutritional goals on track with one of her go-to recipes, a super simple, customizable soup that can be made in a crock pot, instant pot or stove top, and tailored to anyone’s dietary specifications.

Explains Courtney, “This recipe is easily adaptable. If you don’t want to use whole pieces of chicken, you can use any lean protein, like lean, browned, ground chicken or pork tenderloin. You can make it vegetarian, just swap in two cans of chickpeas or white beans. Add even more vegetables by adding a bag of frozen cauliflower rice, which adds a nice consistency. Truly, you can chop up and throw in any vegetable in your fridge that is on the verge of going bad, like zucchini, cherry tomatoes, celery. This is a hearty, healthy, warming meal for these cold winter months.”

Ingredients:

  • 1 (1 lb.) bag of frozen Asian stir fry vegetables (or any frozen bag of frozen mixed vegetables)
  • 1 (32 oz.) carton of low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fresh or frozen)
  • Seasonings of your choice: ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika, onion powder, and/or garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste; or 2 tsp. of a seasoning blend like Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute. For a low-sodium option, use a multipurpose seasoning blend like Mrs. Dash.

Instructions:

Step 1:

  • Crockpot: Combine all the ingredients, and cook in the crockpot for 4 hours on high.
  • Stove top: Combine all ingredients in a stock pot on the stove, simmer for 1 hour until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Instant pot: Combine all ingredients in the instant pot, and use the manual setting to cook for 12 minutes, then natural release.

Step 2:

  • Remove the chicken out of soup, shred or chop the chicken into small pieces, and then return the chicken to the soup.

Note: This dish is thick, like a stew, so for a thinner soup consistency, add broth or water.