Chicken and Bacon Soup
This chunky Chicken and Bacon Soup with vegetables is bursting with flavour and guarantees to bring warmth and comfort on wintry nights. It can be cooked on the stove or in the slow cooker.
Equipment
- Chef’s knife + chopping board
- Clean scissors (easiest way to chop the bacon), optional
- Garlic mincer
- Mezzaluna (to chop the thyme), optional
- Large casserole pot / dutch oven or saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 200 g smoked bacon diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 25 g plain flour / all-purpose
- 1.3 litres chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt & pepper to taste, remember the bacon is salty
- 1 kg chicken thighs bone in, skin on
- 3 medium carrots halved lengthways then sliced
- 250 g bag sliced mushrooms
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a casserole pot / dutch-oven or large saucepan over a medium-low heat. Then add the bacon and onion and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the flour, garlic and tomato paste and fry for 1 more minute.
- Gradually add in the chicken stock, stirring as you go.
- Then add in the thyme, bay leaf, salt & pepper. Nestle in the chicken thighs. Increase the heat to high and scatter over the carrots and mushrooms. Level out and bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the pan from the heat and take out the chicken thighs using a slotted spoon. Remove the skin and shred the chicken off the bone. Then add the chicken back into the pan and stir in. Leave the lid off while you do this so the soup cools off a little and remember to remove the bay leaf.
SLOW COOKER
- Do steps 1-3 in your removable slow cooker pot on the stove. Transfer it back into the base and add in the remaining ingredients, ensuring chicken thighs are at the bottom. Cook for 5-8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high. Remove thighs and shred. Stir the chicken back through the soup.
Notes
STOCK
When adding such a large volume of stock, it’s easier to crumble all the stock cubes into a jug with just some of the hot water and stir until dissolved. Then add that into the pan, and measure and add the remaining quantity in hot water.
SALT - I usually don’t add salt as the bacon makes it salty enough!
GO GLUTEN-FREE - just leave out the flour!
Baby & Toddler
You will also need to fry the bacon in a separate pan near the end of the cook and then stir it through the soup once you have dished up baby’s.
BABY-LED WEANING Dish up their soup a slotted spoon and hold it up for a few seconds so the broth can drain away. Finely shred their chicken and chop the mushroom pieces and carrots into bitesize pieces. Fold into together so they can scoop up mouthfuls. Serve with toast fingers or a bread roll torn in half.
SPOON FED-WEANING You can dish their serving up with a slotted spoon to drain away the slightly salty broth (because of the bacon) and add the chicken and vegetables, along with some low or no salt chicken stock to your stick blender pot and whizz into a purée.
TODDLERS Ensure any large pieces of chicken, mushroom or carrots are cut into bitesize pieces.
FUSSY EATERS
If your fussy eater doesn’t like broth usually, use a slotted spoon to dish up theirs and leave behind the broth.
Nutrition
Calories: 3399kcalCarbohydrates: 117gProtein: 250gFat: 211gSaturated Fat: 56gPolyunsaturated Fat: 41gMonounsaturated Fat: 93gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1120mgSodium: 4617mgPotassium: 6198mgFiber: 12gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 32158IUVitamin C: 48mgCalcium: 342mgIron: 17mg
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