Chicken Soup For The Romantic Soul

[Zareen Zapata]

Thischicken soup recipe came to me after I came down with the WORST cold ever. I was on the verge of getting better, then all of a sudden I took a turn for the worst and spent an entire weekend sneezing, coughing and barely able to breathe.

I have a chicken & rice recipe I love but had the same issue with the rice soaking up all the broth. My solution was to cook and store the rice separately. Then when i get ready to serve, just put some in a bowl and then the soup on top to mix in. I think it would work the same for this recipe. I am going to make it this weekend! Looking forward to trying it!

Absolutely right, Allie. Words are only meant to communicate something. They are not inherently good or bad. The intention of the speaker, to hurt or demean, carry the good or the bad. Monique had no such intentions. Elise and Angel, get off your high horse(s) and get a life.

I did not have any fresh herbs and did not feel going out shopping as I was knocked down with the flu, so I used ginger powder and turmeric, dried thyme and rosemary. It tasted delicious. I added a tea spoon of cayenne pepper.

I made it with quinoa as I am gluten free. This is really the best chicken soup I had.

Thank you

This was FANTASTIC. I did add couscous separate. I needed this to last 3-4 days.

Wow this is a phenomenal recipe. My hubby said he loved it and totally loved the aroma. I used 2. Chicken thighs as I like dark meat. :). Thank you!

This soup was amazing! I too am a soup addict and am always on the hunt for new recipes. This will definitely be making it into my usual rotation! Looking forward to what little leftovers are left!

Hi Raye! Adding a roasted chicken would work well in here. It sounds like your chicken may have overcooked a bit, which can happen depending on the size. I always use organic (tends to be less chewy) and sometimes like to use chicken thighs (they have lots of flavor!)

Hi Monique, I absolutely loved this soup! I did make it in a Slow Cooker. I sauteed the onions, carrots and celery first, then stirred the ginger and turmeric in. I transferred that to the Slow Cooker along with the chicken, stock and herbs. I added the peas and couscous near the end of the cooking time. It was perfect! Thanks!

I had a total thyroidectomy on Thursday due to Graves disease and made this on Sunday. It was so tasty and comforting. I would normally pair this with a cornbread muffin. Do you have any suggestions for an alternative?

Does the couscous need to simmer in the pot for 20 to 30 minutes, or should it be added later? Also, if you use chickpeas instead of chicken, will you still need to simmer it for 20 to 30 minutes? Or is less time required?

I have failed at every attempt at making soup in the past. This soup was fantastic & so easy to make, I did add a few squeezes of lemon and I will cut back on the couscous because it did soak up too much liquid but how amazing!!! I can now say that I can make soup!!!

I love this soup and have made it about 3 dozen times!! I usually make it with chicken but have been wanting to try the chickpea option. Do I put the chickpeas in when the chicken would go in or do they go in towards the end? Do I need to adjust the cooking time at all? Thank you for all of your amazing recipes!! You are amazing!

If you were to freeze the soup into freezer bags, would you just cook everything up to the point before adding the broth? Freeze the cooked ingredients then add the broth and continue from frozen from there? ?

This is the best chicken soup recipe. So much flavour and easy as well. Others I have tried were very bland and I had given up trying to make chicken soup. Now that I have tried this one, I will definitely be making this again.

This is the best soup I have ever made. I used all dried herbs and spices and it came out just wonderful. Love the couscous and the ease of not having to cook the chicken separately. This is a keeper!!!!

Delish! My grandson needs gluten-free foods so I subbed quinoa for couscous. Will make it with couscous for next potluck. My granddaughter (8) helped and was so thrilled to have contributed to a new family fave!

Holy crap soooo good! I used a turmeric couscous that I thought would be PERFECT in this recipe and I was not wrong! This soup is so good and full of antiinflammatory foods (garlic, turmeric, ginger). This is now my go-to chicken soup with flu season fast approaching!

I made this soup tonight and doubled the recipe. My only wish was that I would have cooked the couscous separately! The soup got very thick and the spices got watered down when I added about 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth to thin it down. I will definitely try this recipe again making the couscous separately! Thanks for the recipe! ?

I have not tried your soup as yet but already know from the ingredients that it will be wonderful. One vegetable that we always use (in Canada) in our chicken soup to add some flavour is chopped turnip.

Love, love, loved the flavor! And even happier knowing that it is so healthy. I used quinoa, and replaced the peas with string beans. I also added pepper to help the turmeric absorb better. I will definitely make this again, and again. Thank you ?

I absolutely love this soup! I like that it still has that nostalgic chicken noodle soup taste but the pearl couscous, ginger, and turmeric make it more health packed and flavorful! Next time I make it I think I will use 1/2 cup couscous instead of 1 cup just because I love the broth so much. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!

Hi Monique! This soup was delicious!!

My picky 10 year old loved it!

Is this soup freezable? And how long will it stay good in the fridge?

With a long winter ahead of us it would be great to have easy access and not have to make it when you are actually sick ?

Felt the need to comment this is one of the staple weekly recipes in our house. It is amazingly delicious, super easy to make, and keeps well, so we can have hot dinners throughout the week when we are too busy to cook, but over takeout or salads.

How do I tone down the ginger flavor? It came out very gingery from the ginger root. Otherwise I love the easiness of the process and that it is good for sickness which I am currently fighting a bad cold.

Dying to try your recipe for this nourishing looking soup. Will wait until the weather in NZ cools a bit first. I am not a fan of couscous at all, so wondering if barley would work just as well? It would probably take a little longer to cook than couscous, would I need to adjust the stock ratio?

I never post comments but this time I feel compelled to say thank you, as this soup recipe was delicious and I wish I had doubled it so that we could all have leftovers today. I cooked German Spelt Noodles (broad, wavy, gluten-friendly noodle) separately until they were almost cooked through before adding them to the soup near the end. I used chicken thighs as I find they add more flavour to soups and curries.

Everyone loved it!

I have been making chicken soup, the old fashion way for, for 35 years. Finally a recipe that makes sense, proven by the taste. However, I did tweak it a bit, no ginger and I added the usual fresh dill and parsley. I was wondering why you were using skinless boneless breast? To enjoy some healthy collagen I always use a whole chicken and add extra thighs and neck bones. Not only does this add so much more flavor, but includes the dark meat which is more tender, flavorful and better for you, not to mention the added health benefits of using the skin and bones. Just wondering!

Sitting here eating my first bowl of this soup. Its bloody amazing!

Gluten free thanks to quinoa and I cooked a double batch so I can freeze a few for later. Definitely adding this recipe to my recipe book ?

Amazing recipe. My first time ever making a soup and it was a hit! So good everyone went for seconds. I did struggle to find the couscous but worked out great using another type of noodle: Acini de Pepe. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

I am making this for the second time. I loved it the first time and have been thinking about it ever since. The first time I used rice in place of the couscous and it tasted great. (Today I am using the couscous.) . Also, it froze well. Thank you for a wonderful chicken soup recipe!

I added the couscous while cooking this soup as the instructions indicated and it soaked up all of the broth. Followed the instructions exactly. It was a lot of work grating the fresh tumeric and ginger and I was very disappointed.

Such a delicious soup. Still similar enough to chicken noodle soup that my kids would eat it, but so much richer and more flavourful then standard chicken noodle. This is now in regular rotation at our house

We love this delicious recipe and t is now our go to chicken soup! I like to put a little EVO and parm on top. Added some chickpeas to soup, too. Served with a big green salad and crusty bread. Made this soup last night and thought about it all day. 5 stars.

I made this last night. I had the flu for days and now a cold. I needed something! i dont know how i did it. I was exhausted but it was worth it. Best chicken soup is right. I used dried herbs, and turmeric. otherwise i followed recipe to a T. I will make this again and again. I think one time add spinach instead of peas. thanks for a great and easy recipe.

Delicious! Just made my first batch tonight and it was perfect for this cold weather here in the SF Bay Area. Has a good amount of heat from the ginger and pepper (though not overpowering) and the couscous gives this soup a nice texture. Will definitely make again.

I would simply reduce the broth to simmer after you have finished boiling the couscous and then add the chicken. Or, simmer both the chicken and noodles for additional time without letting the soup reach a boil.

Finally, I made this recipe with chicken stock I had prepared ahead of time, I strongly suggest it to any of the readers if you have the means as it will drastically improve the quality of your final product. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us, I enjoyed every mouthful!

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