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Slow Cooker Chicken Soup + VIDEO

This slow cooker chicken soup is a basic but comforting soup. You can also make this noodle-free soup in the Instant Pot.

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Updated 2019 with Instant Pot instructions

Chicken Soup

Chicken soup. I don’t know about you but whenever I’m sick, the first thing I make is a bowl of chicken soup. It’s the ultimate comfort food. But if you look at the ingredients, it’s pretty basic (and healthy). Classic chicken soup consists of chicken, broth, vegetables, salt, pepper, and herbs. Most chicken soups are served with some sort of carbohydrate like pasta, rice, or dumplings. This version does not use any noodles. It’s noodle-free, grain-free, low-carb, paleo, and whole30. If you’re looking for a chicken noodle soup recipe see HERE.

pic of raw chicken, broth, celery, onion, and carrots in the slow cooker for Slow Cooker Instant Pot Chicken Soup (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30) (1)

before (slow cooker)

Chicken Soup Recipes 

Chicken Noodle Soup

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Caprese Chicken Soup (Low-Carb)

Chicken Zoodle Soup

after cooking pic of chicken, broth, celery, onion, and carrots in the slow cooker for Slow Cooker Instant Pot Chicken Soup (Low-Carb, Paleo, Whole30) (1)

after (slow cooker)

What Cut Of Chicken To Use

I recommend using a bone-in cut of chicken like thighs, breasts, or legs (skin on or skin off, it doesn’t matter) with this recipe. Thighs and legs because dark meat in general tends to have more flavor and it’s less likely to overcook. Bone-in chicken breasts are a good alternative if you don’t want to use dark meat. If you’re use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lower the cooking time by an hour or two because it will cook faster than the other cuts. Whatever cut of chicken you use, cook it until it shreds easily. If you’re using skin-on chicken, the skin will pull off after cooking. Or you can remove it before cooking, I just never take the time to do so.

cooked chicken on a plate, shredded

I know I left some of the ingredients vague on purpose. 2-3 celery stalks, 2-3 carrots. I believe you should use ingredients that you have or can find easily. If you only have 2 celery stalks, rather than going to buy more celery, use 2 instead of 3. Don’t care for cooked carrots (like me)? Use 2 carrots instead of 3. Like a lot of broth? Use the full 8 cups rather than 6. I us 7 cups of broth if you’re curious. Make this recipe for you. I only use 1 teaspoon of salt but I tend to under-salt my recipes in general. Add more salt to this if you want to, I will not be offended.

cooked chicken soup in the slow cooker

While I usually use dried herbs to make this, in the video I used fresh herbs. If you use fresh herbs, remove them when the soup is done cooking along with the bay leaves. I used a small 3.5-quart slow cooker but you can double this recipe and use a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot to feed a larger crowd.

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Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

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5 from 1 review

This slow cooker chicken soup is a basic but comforting soup. You can also make this noodle-free soup in the Instant Pot.

  • Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 pound bone-in chicken
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 2 medium size carrots, sliced or chopped
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or more)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 23 sprigs fresh)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 23 sprigs fresh)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tablespoon oil (for Instant Pot only)

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. Add all ingredients into the slow cooker. Stir gently.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 or LOW 6-8.
  3. If using fresh herbs, remove the sprigs along with the bay leaves, and chicken. Discard the bay leaf & sprigs, the chicken skin, and the chicken bones (if yours has it). Shred the meat and then stir the chicken back into the slow cooker.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the Instant Pot and select Sauté. Once hot add oil to the pot.
  2. Add celery, carrots, and onion and cook 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
  3. Add garlic and cook an additional minute or so.
  4. Pour broth and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  5. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
  6. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure and cook for 8 minutes.
  7. Natural release pressure for 10 minutes then manually release the remaining pressure.
  8. If using fresh herbs, remove the sprigs along with the bay leaves, and chicken. Discard the bay leaf & sprigs, the chicken skin, and the chicken bones (if yours has it). Shred the meat and then stir the chicken back into the pressure cooker.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 3 hours
  • Category: Main

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 214
  • Sugar: 2.7 g
  • Fat: 6.6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.2 g
  • Carbohydrates: 5.9 g
  • Fiber: 1.2 g
  • Protein: 31.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 82.7 mg

If you have lots of soup leftover, you can always freeze it for later use.

close up of the bowl of chicken soup

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

 

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”JrKVPhv1″ upload-date=”2019-10-02T02:05:00.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Chicken Soup” description=”Chicken soup is a basic but comforting soup. Low-carb, paleo, and whole30 this noodle-free soup can be made in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.”]

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup + VIDEO
Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Melissa

Saturday 19th of October 2019

Delicious! Loved this one, Shannon!

Sarah

Sunday 17th of December 2017

Do you shred and discard the bones at the end?

Fit SlowCooker Queen

Monday 18th of December 2017

You can. Depending on how may bones you have, you can use them to make a homemade stock as well.