Chicken and Carrot Breakfast Soup with Ginger
Chicken thighs simmered in bone broth with carrot, parsnip, and ginger, then blended smooth and finished with olive oil and lemon for a savory soup you drink from a mug.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
January mornings are dark at seven and nothing solid sounds good yet, which is where this comes in. It goes in a mug and gets carried around the house, which is the entire point of it. My grandmother drank broth in the mornings her whole life and I never understood why until a winter when I could not face a plate, and a hot savory mug turned out to be the thing that got me eating before noon. It takes about forty minutes, most of that unattended simmering, and it makes four servings, so one pot usually covers two mornings and a bad afternoon.
The thickness here comes from the vegetables and nothing else. Carrot and parsnip go in raw, simmer until they collapse against the side of the spoon, and then get blended right in the pot, which turns a thin broth into something with real body. The chicken thighs poach in that same liquid and come out soft enough to shred with two forks. The step people rush is the olive oil at the end. Beat it in off the heat, a tablespoon at a time, and the soup takes on a smooth richness that oil poured over the top at the table never gives you.
Ginger is what keeps a soup this sweet from tasting like something you feed a toddler. Two tablespoons grated in early is more than you think it should be and exactly right, and it arrives as warmth at the back of the throat rather than heat on the tongue. The chicken is what makes the mug hold you, which matters on a morning that runs long before lunch. Leftovers thicken in the refrigerator and want a splash of broth when you reheat them. If you want it truly drinkable, blend the shredded chicken in with the vegetables and it goes silky enough to take in the car.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 lb carrots (about 6 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large parsnip (about 7 oz), peeled and sliced
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 6 cups chicken bone broth
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 1 tsp fine sea salt, divided
Instructions
- Prep the pot: Peel the carrots and parsnip and cut them into 1-inch pieces so they cook at the same rate. Chop the onion, smash the garlic cloves, and grate the ginger on the fine side of a box grater, skin and all, until you have a full 2 tablespoons.
- Brown the chicken: Pat the thighs dry and season them with half the salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-high and brown the thighs for 3 minutes per side, until the surface is golden. They will not be cooked through yet, which is correct.
- Build the simmer: Add the onion, carrot, parsnip, garlic, ginger, and turmeric to the pot and stir for 2 minutes, until everything smells sharp and warm. Pour in the bone broth, scrape the bottom of the pot clean, and bring it to a bare simmer.
- Cook it down: Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, until the carrot crushes easily against the side of the pot and the chicken reads 165°F (74°C) at its thickest point. Lift the thighs out onto a plate, let them sit for 5 minutes, then pull them into shreds with two forks.
- Blend and finish: Take the pot off the heat and blend the vegetables and broth smooth with an immersion blender, about 90 seconds. Beat in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil a tablespoon at a time, then stir in the lemon juice, the shredded chicken, and the rest of the salt to taste.
- Serve it hot: Ladle into wide mugs and scatter the chives over the top. If you want it thinner for drinking, loosen it with a little more warm broth, and if you want it thicker, let it sit uncovered for a few minutes before you pour.
Variations
- Beef and butternut: Swap beef bone broth for the chicken broth and butternut squash for half the carrot for a darker, rounder mug.
- Extra ginger and lime: Push the ginger to 3 tablespoons and finish with lime juice rather than lemon when your throat is scratchy.
- Green finish: Wilt two large handfuls of spinach into the pot in the last minute before blending for a deeper color and a mineral edge.
- Fully smooth: Blend the shredded chicken back in with the vegetables so the whole thing drinks without a spoon.
- Turkey pot: Use 1 1/4 lb turkey thigh in place of the chicken and give it 10 extra minutes at a low simmer.
Storage & Leftovers
Cooled and sealed, this keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and thickens noticeably as it sits, since the blended carrot and parsnip continue to set. Store it in a wide container rather than a tall one so it cools quickly, and keep the chives in a separate bag for the mornings after.
Reheat gently in a saucepan over medium-low, stirring, with a splash of broth or water to bring it back to a drinkable consistency. A hard boil will split the olive oil out of the soup and leave slicks on the surface, so keep it just under a simmer and pull it as soon as steam rises.
It freezes well for up to 3 months, which is the best argument for making a full pot. Freeze in single mug portions, thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and expect to whisk it back together as it warms. Add the lemon juice fresh after thawing, since it fades in the freezer.
Notes & Tips
- Grate the ginger, do not chop it: Grated ginger dissolves into the broth and flavors every spoonful. Chopped pieces stay as hot little bites that blend into gritty threads.
- Simmer with the lid off: The reduction is what makes the soup taste of something. A covered pot returns all the steam and you end up with hot carrot water.
- Brown the thighs first: The gold on the surface of the chicken is most of the savoriness in the finished pot, and it takes 6 minutes to get.
- Beat the oil in off the heat: Olive oil whisked into a hot but not boiling soup emulsifies and stays suspended, which is where the smooth mouthfeel comes from.
- Mind the blender: Fill an immersion blender pot no more than two thirds full and keep the head submerged, or you will wear the soup.
- Salt in two stages: Half on the chicken, half at the end. Bone broths vary a great deal from brand to brand, so the last of the salt is a judgment call.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- A mug of soup lives or dies on whether it has any body to it. The roots give this one its thickness and its sweetness, the chicken thigh gives it substance, and the broth underneath ties them together so nothing tastes watery.
- Carrots are the reason this is orange and the reason it is sweet, and cooking them soft and blending them makes the beta-carotene in them easier for the body to take up than it is from a raw stick.
- Chicken thigh is the darker, more forgiving cut, and simmering it whole keeps it tender. It carries protein along with iron and zinc, which is what turns a mug of soup into an actual breakfast rather than a warm drink.
- Ginger grated in at the start goes soft and sweet through a long simmer, and the warmth it leaves at the back of the throat is what keeps a sweet root soup from tasting flat. Lemon at the end does the same job from the other direction.
- Olive oil beaten in off the heat is what gives this its smooth, slightly rich finish, and the fat in it helps the body absorb the vitamin A that comes along with all that carrot.
- As you eat, wrap both hands around the mug and notice how the ginger arrives a beat after the sweetness of the carrot does, and let the first ten quiet minutes of the morning belong to this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs?
You can, but pull it earlier. Breast meat is done at 165°F (74°C) in about 15 minutes of simmering and turns stringy if it stays in longer. Thighs are more forgiving in a pot like this because their fat and connective tissue keep them soft through the whole cook.
My soup came out thin. What happened?
Either the carrots were not soft enough to break down or there was too much liquid for the amount of vegetable. Simmer uncovered another 10 minutes and blend again. Uncovered is the operative word, since that is how the broth reduces and the body builds.
Can I make this the night before?
Yes, and it is better for it. Cook it through the blending step, cool it, and refrigerate. In the morning warm a portion in a saucepan with a splash of broth and add the lemon and chives fresh, which takes about 6 minutes from cold.
Does this fit an AIP elimination phase?
It does. There are no grains, dairy, eggs, nuts, seeds, or nightshades in it, and the seasoning is ginger, garlic, turmeric, and lemon rather than a spice blend. Check the label on your bone broth, since some cartons carry pepper or yeast extract.