Chickpea Chicken Soup.
Welcome to one of the easiest and tastiest soup recipes you will ever meet. Any soup that begins and ends with bacon has to be fabulous, no?
And aside from the minimal amount of bacon grease and the few slices of bacon swimming throughout the soup, this is a quick and healthy meal. The entire thing took about 45 minutes from start to finish, and the bacon produced an outrageous amount of flavor.
It is also packed with quite a few veggies too. A few more than I would like, but the soup ended up being so incredible that I slurped up every last drop. Sometimes veggies are worth it. Not often, but sometimes. Almost always when bacon is involved.
If you have chicken on hand, it is a big one-pot meal. Those are the best, aren’t they? Packed with protein and fiber too. And it’s another non-boring chicken dish! It really doesn’t get much better than this.
I didn’t have high expectations for this soup… in fact, I didn’t really have any expectations. I figured it would be an interesting experiment and a great way to use up the vegetables I had before they went to see the light in my crisper drawer. I certainly wasn’t expecting layers of flavor. I added the bacon to ensure that I would actually eat the soup, but I had no idea the magic that it would work.
Mr. How Sweet was shocked too. He had this soup late last night after he ate more food than humanly possible. He was still hungry. I live with a human garbage disposal.
You can easily make this a vegetarian dish by leaving out the bacon, using olive oil for the bacon grease, skipping the chicken and using vegetable stock. Of course you would be missing out on tons of delicious (bacon!) flavor, but I’m confident that a few more spices could do the trick.
I was actually impressed at how fabulous the chickpeas tasted once added to the onion, pepper, spinach and mushroom mixture. I may eat that alone for lunch one day.
And I really can’t think of one single way to make this soup better.
But a little garnish of cheese can’t hurt.
I’m guessing that it is going to taste even better today, when all the flavors have married. Soup for breakfast anyone?
serves approximately 6-8, depending on your serving sizes
4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 cups raw spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 cup chopped carrots
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 25-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
24 ounces low-sodium chicken stock
Preheat a large pot on medium heat. Add chopped bacon and fry until brown and crispy. While bacon is frying, chop vegetables and prep chicken. You have 3 options for the chicken – you can either bake it while the bacon + veggies are sauteing, you can pan-fry it while the bacon + veggies are sauteing, or you can use pre-made/leftover shredded chicken in the soup. Either way, take the time while the bacon is frying to get the chicken ready.
Once bacon is done, remove and drain on a paper towel. Keeping heat on medium, add onions, mushrooms and peppers to bacon grease and saute until soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic, spinach, paprika and cumin and stir for 60 seconds. Turn heat down to low and add chickpeas, celery, carrots and chicken. Pour in chicken stock and simmer for 30 minutes.
Right before serving, add bacon back into soup. Garnish with parmesan cheese and serve with toast if desired. Season with salt and pepper if needed. I found I needed no extra salt.
If you make one dish this week, this has to be it. You could even sub turkey if you have the leftovers. I can’t though. Turkey is Mr. How Sweet’s appetizer.
I wish I was joking.
108 Comments on “Chickpea Chicken Soup.”
i am definitely making this soup, looks delicious!!
There really is nothing better than cooking up a big pot of soup in the winter.
This soup looks amazing – if I wasn’t so selfish and loved soup so much, I would totally make this for the Husband. But I am a selfish vegetarian who loves soup too much. Meat is added one bowl at a time for him.
Great soup recipe! It looks sooooo good!
My husband makes a chickpea soup that I absolutely LOVE! I think I may encourage him to make it for me tonight. Your soup looks delicious! The colors are beautiful!
Wow… I wish my husband could make things like this. He specializes in eggs and (frozen) burgers.
mmmmm, this sounds perfect since it’s now snowing here…soup season is officially with us!
That is a beautiful, warming bowl of goodness. I love chickpeas in soup. Can you believe we’re back at Monday again? Sighhhh
It came SO fast.
That looks great! Bacon adds so much flavor to soups and stews – I love it! [I hate when people try to use Bac-N-Bits in place of the real stuff though.] :-P
Yikes. No bacon bits here. :)
Mmmmm, soup for breakfast. I’d throw in some brown rice for grains and call it a meal. :D
Isn’t that a stew rather than a soup? A soup is mainly liquid, often with chunks but nevertheless, mostly liquid.
Sure! It can be whatever you want it to be. I actually think it’s more of a stoup.
Stoup… good name for it! :D
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mmm that soup looks scrumptious!
Yum! This looks delicious! I love all the colors in this soup!
what a great way to use up all those veggies! love the addition of the bacon grease + bacon… i’d be ALL over that! :)
Love this soup! I may even get my boyfriend to consider this a “manly” meal so I can make it for dinner. Apparently my soups aren’t manly enough for him :)
This is manly. Kind of.
Well, now I DO want soup for breakfast! Also, I love that bowl!
Adorable BOWL!!! And great recipe. :)
I made brussels sprouts for Tgiving and cooked them in bacon grease and thought to myself… “Jessica would love this.” Not sure if you’d be insulted to know that every time I cook with bacon now, I totally think of you!!
Love it!
Oooh this sounds so so yummy! I’m all about soups right now – they’re definitely my favourite comfort food!
Oh my…you had me at bacon!;-) This looks amazing, and it is so cold in Maryland today that soup is definately on the menu for dinner tonight! Thanks for sharing, Jessica!
So cold here too!
This is my kind of soup. I can’t believe I haven’t had bacon in 3 months. I don’t know what gets me out of bed in the morning
Whaaaat?! That is a sin.
MMMM! I am making this ASAP. I love making soup, it reminds me of what my grandma was doing every single time we went to her house when we were little. She’d serve our soup in two smaller bowls instead of one bowl so it would cool faster.
Aw, I love that!
Yes… anything with bacon should be amazing! I keep looking for new soup recipes to try this winter. Definitely adding this to the list.
PERFECT for this time of year:) MMM!
This soup looks great! It’s finally soup weather. My husband will love the idea of adding bacon to it!
Lovin’ how thick and hearty that looks!
So I think now is as good a time as any to tell you I am coming to Pittsburgh in six weeks.
I’m thinking I might want this soup. And cupcakes. With LOTS of sprinkles.
Yes!!!
This is being added to my to-do list right now. I even emailed it to my mom back home so she can make it for dinner this week!
I think it should be called “make love” soup, though. I mean, it has bacon in it and vegetables. Does it get any more scandalous?
Mmmm bacon makes everything taste better. I love your descriptions of Mr. Sweet :)
How’d you know I’m a Chick-pee-er? Yet this is my fav part of the post: “…..bacon grease”. YES!
This soup is a must do once I get back from vacation.
P.S. This is why I love your blog – you always start out with the best – the bacon! :)
This is exactly the kind of soup we love to eat in our house too. That little bit of bacon goes a long way as far as flavor goes :)
Yummy!
I bet that would be good without the chicken even. Lots of delish flavors going on in there.
It definitely is! I kept slurping spoonfuls without the chicken.
The first thing I saw was bacon….and I was sold.
I’m a huge fan of cooking with bacon grease. Not only does it save you from tossing something useful out, it adds SO much flavor. I love this, sounds like a very finessed chicken soup.
This looks delicious, Jessica! I can’t get enough of warm, cozy soups this season, and this I will have to try soon.
Mmm, I need to make some soup. This looks incredible! There is nothing more satisfying than a hot bowl of chunky soup on a winter night (or at lunchtime). Thanks for the good-lookin’ recipe.
I’m sick. Could you bring me a bowl please? I think it could be my cure. thanksinadvance. :)
I would love to!
Oh my God. I love you.
Feeling is mutual. :)
yum! Saving it!
Mmmm that sounds so yummy and hearty! Looks purty, too :)
this looks so delicious! beautiful photographs!
I’m going to make this soup as soon as I can get to the store and get some of the ingredients I need.
This would be great on a cold day! Like today!! :)
This looks so yummy, perfect for cold evenings!
you had me at bacon, but now chickpeas. So simple and good for soul. YUM!
Can’t wait to make this! Sorry if I posted a bunch of times, I’m trying to figure out whats going on with my site and comments. Looks great!
Looks so delicious and comforting.
I love a good hearty soup.
I LOVE chickpea soup! My favorite is a very simple one with basically just onion, garlic, and chickpeas… and I think cumin is the spice (which I also love!). Very middle eastern.
I love your blog!
Thank you! ;)
love the one pot meal! i have a prewritten post for tomorrow about one pot meals!
and chickpeas + veggies are always a great start to anything, one pot meal or otherwise!