Chicken Quinoa Soup with Lemon and Turmeric
Our one-pot Chicken Quinoa Soup with lemon and turmeric is loaded with fresh veggies, mustard greens, and fresh dill. It is a super flavorful and healthy soup for the cold season with natural anti-inflammatory benefits.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Chicken Quinoa Soup
This soup is one you’ll want to pin for later when you need a pick-me-up this fall and winter. It is the perfect healthy, hearty and homey meal to make when you are craving a bit of nourishing goodness or someone in your house has a cold.
Serve it with our One Hour Whole-Wheat Bread or Parmesan Muffins. It is also great with Cornbread or keep it gluten-free and use our Gluten-Free cornbread recipe.
When I started working on developing this chicken soup recipe I knew I wanted to create one with anti-inflammatory benefits as a gluten-free alternative to chicken noodle soup. Swapping noodles out and adding quinoa in was an easy choice, as quinoa recipes are always a win here on Healthy Seasonal Recipes.
I was also super excited to incorporate turmeric, which everyone knows is a really helpful anti-inflammatory ingredient to add to our diets. But then I remembered those mustard greens in my garden and they were just the ticket to boost both the flavor and the health benefits of the recipe!
The combination of peppery mustard greens, lemon and turmeric with tender veggies, chicken and quinoa is a surefire way to pep you right up and warm you from the inside out!
More Favorite Chicken Soup Recipes
Ingredient Notes
- Extra-virgin olive oil: You can also use ghee or avocado oil if you prefer
- Veggies: Garlic cloves, Yellow onion, Carrots, Red bell pepper diced and Celery, Mustard greens (or baby spinach)
- Chicken broth or Chicken Stock: Look for reduced sodium or low sodium
- Boneless skinless chicken breast: Thigh meat would also be great.
- Quinoa: Make sure to rinse it if yours isn’t pre-rinsed quinoa
- Seasonings: Salt, Herbs de Provence (or Italian seasoning), ground turmeric, lemon zest and lemon juice and fresh dill
How To Make Chicken Quinoa Soup in One Pot
Step 1: Sautee Veggies
Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrot, salt and turmeric and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
Step 2: Simmer with broth, veggies and chicken
Add broth, bell pepper, celery and herbs de Provence and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add chicken and quinoa and return to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the quinoa is tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Step 3: Shred Chicken and Add Seasonings
Remove the chicken from the soup with tongs. Set on a cutting board, and shred with two forks. Stir the chicken, greens lemon zest, lemon juice and dill into the soup and stir until the greens are wilted. Serve hot.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Health Benefits of Mustard Greens One cup of Mustard greens provided 524% of the RDA of Vitamin K.
Mustard greens are high in the antioxidants A and C. With 177% and 59% of the RDA respectively. Antioxidants help to prevent cell damage from oxidative stress caused by free radicals. This also provides anti-inflammatory benefits and may help to prevent macular degeneration as well.
Mustard Greens are in the Brassica Family (which also includes superfoods such as broccoli and cabbage.) This family of vegetables is associated with lowered risk of heart attack and atherosclerosis. Mustard greens may also lower cholesterol.
Unlike chicken noodle soup, which can absorb almost all the liquid as it sits in the fridge, chicken quinoa soup is great made ahead. It will thicken a bit, so simply pour in a little broth to thin it as you reheat it on the stove. It should keep well for three to four days in the fridge. Keep leftovers in an airtight container and make sure to reheat until steaming hot.
Yes! The same tips for making this ahead go for freezing it. I like to freeze chicken quinoa soup in one serving container and defrost in the microwave for healthy lunches. If you need to add broth once it is thawed, just add in enough chicken broth or stock to make it soupy again. Adjust seasoning once it is heated through.
We like Beet greens, baby spinach or swiss chard instead of mustard greens. They all cook at about the same rate. just remove any woody or thick stems. (You can chop the stems and add them to the veggies in step on if you like.)
Turmeric adds a beautiful gold color and nutritional boost to a variety of dishes. You can use it to make Golden Milk or to add to roasted veggies like our Roasted Butternut Squash with Turmeric and Smoked Paprika. We also like to add it to vegan dishes like our Tempeh Power Salad and for a little yellow-hued boost in our Lentil Soup.
More Yummy Soup Recipes To Try
- Harvest Vegetable Soup, this is possibly the most delicious vegetable soup on the planet. If you like this Minestrone, you have to make this veggie soup too!
- This Peruvian Turkey Stew is another one to hold onto for this season.
- Another chicken soup to try is our variation of Italian Wedding Soup with ground chicken meatballs.
- My Minestrone Soup is probably my most popular. It’s one of my personal favorites too!
- The newest kid on the block is my Corn Chowder recipe, and it’s already getting rave reviews!
- Don’t miss this Zucchini Soup made with yogurt and dill. It can be served hot or chilled!
- Our Keto Chicken and Cauliflower Rice soup is perfect for folks watching their carbs
Please let me know if you try this recipe by leaving a comment or rating below! I love hearing from you. And if you haven’t already I’d love it if you signed up for my weekly email newsletter. I send one out every Saturday morning, so you never miss a healthy recipe!
Happy Cooking!
~Katie
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Chicken Quinoa Soup with Lemon and Turmeric
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Chicken Quinoa Soup with Lemon and Turmeric is loaded with fresh veggies, Mustard Greens and fresh dill. It is a super flavorful and healthy one-pot soup for the cold season with natural anti-inflamatory benefits.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 2 teaspoons herbs de Provence or Italian seasoning
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup rinsed quinoa
- 2 cups chopped mustard greens or baby spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrot, salt and turmeric and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add broth, bell pepper, celery and herbs de Provence and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add chicken and quinoa and return to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the quinoa is tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Remove the chicken from the soup with tongs. Set on cutting board, and shred with two forks. Stir the chicken, greens lemon zest, lemon juice and dill into the soup and stir until the greens are wilted. Serve hot.
Notes
Make Ahead
It keeps well for three to four days in the fridge. Keep leftovers in an airtight container and make sure to reheat until steaming hot. Add broth as necessary to thin once it is reheated and adjust the seasoning. For best results add the dill after reheating.
To Freeze
Freeze in one serving containers up to three months. Defrost and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop. Or defrost for 24 to 48 hours in the fridge and then reheat once thawed. Adjust seasonings once heated through.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 cups
- Calories: 322
- Fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g.
- Fiber: 5 g.
- Protein: 28
Oh my god. I just made this soup and it was insanely delicious!
Followed exactly except substituted dry dill for fresh. Used about a teaspoon. It was plenty.
Easy to make.
So full of great flavors.
Thank you!