Roasted garlic soup with hearty chunks of chicken. This low carb chicken soup recipe makes the perfect winter warm up meal!
I feel as though I have gained a much greater understanding of the lack of personal hygiene in centuries gone by, particularly in the winter months. It has been so chilly here in New England lately, I’ve been tempted to sew myself into some winter-weight long underwear and not take them off until the first signs of spring. Whenever I have to dig myself out of my mountain of warm blankets in the morning, I am struck by how warm the jammies that I am wearing are, and how cold the clothes are that I have to put on for the day. Just imagine in the 17th, 18th, 19th centuries, prior to central heating, how nice that warm layer of woolen long underwear would be, how it would provide a buffer against the chilly undressing and re-dressing in the early morn. Sure, you might be a little stinky come April, but you wouldn’t have had the torture of putting on cold jeans in the early morning hours!
Comforting Low Carb Chicken Soup Recipes
Alas, I am fairly certain that such behaviour would get me committed to the nearest psychological ward. So my defense against the cold weather comes in the form of low carb soup. Hot soup and plenty of it, please! I’ve actually been eating a fair bit of soup for breakfast. Or rather, second breakfast, after I come home from dropping the kids off at school and the house has that extra empty, chilly feel.
I pop something like Chicken Roasted Garlic Soup or Paleo Thai Chicken Zoodle Soup into a pot to heat. Then I pour it into a bowl and settle down at my computer, sipping and slurping my way to warmth. A bowl of soup so infinitely satisfying and warms me right down to my toes. It’s like an internal set of woolen long underwear and it has the added advantages of tasting delicious and not offending the olfactory senses of friends and family.
The idea for this Roasted Garlic Soup Recipe actually came to me while I was very sick over Christmas. Sadly, Santa decided to bring me a case of strep throat for Christmas, and I was trying to battle it through natural means, which meant eating a large amount of raw garlic (talk about offending the olfactory senses of my loved ones!).
Health Benefits of Roasted Garlic Soup
Garlic has plenty of antibiotic properties, but only really in its raw form. Still, the idea of roasted garlic as the base of a low carb chicken soup lodged in my fevered brain and I kept mulling it over for a while. I knew I wanted big, hearty chunks of chicken in the soup as well, preferably thigh meat. I came across a recipe on Epicurious.com for the garlicky, creamy base. I made a few changes that suited me and broiled some boneless, skinless chicken thighs to add to the mix. It made an incredibly satisfying, warming dinner. And a great second breakfast the next day…no long underwear needed.
If you have never roasted garlic before, it’s not difficult at all. If you want to roast an entire head of garlic, Crunchy Creamy Sweet has a post that explains how to roast garlic, and Savory Sweet Life has one that explains how to roast cloves of garlic.
Roasted Garlic Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 20 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 12 cloves garlic peeled
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 ½ lbs cooked chicken thighs or breasts cubed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and place unpeeled garlic cloves in a shallow baking dish. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Roast until garlic is golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Cool and squeeze out garlic with fingers into a small bowl.
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions and cook until translucent, about 6 minutes.
- Add roasted garlic, additional garlic cloves, and thyme and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.
- Puree using a blender or immersion blender. Stir in whipping cream and cooked chicken and season with salt and pepper.
- Warm through and serve.
R Wood says
love this recipe! would it freeze ok without the cream…adding later?
Carolyn says
Probably!
Gini says
This looks lovely. Would it freeze ok?
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried freezing it. Creamy soups sometimes split when they thaw.
Stacy Ellis says
This soup is very tasty. I used a bouquet garni but only because I happen to have the ingredients in the fridge. I don’t know that it made a difference. Really love this recipe thanks so much for sharing it!
Adrienne says
This was awesome! It will definitely be added to my regular meal preps. I ate it by itself. So I also added cauliflower so it would be more filling. Great recipe!
H says
I love this recipe but I’m trying to diet and there isn’t nutritional detail
Protein, fibre etc
Carolyn says
You can easily run the numbers yourself in MyFitnessPal or other online programs.
Adrienne says
That’s what I did. I modified it too so MFP is great when you change things slightly!
samantha steven says
Great recipe!!! I made it last night for dinner and both my husband and I loved it!
Sandy Stamper says
This was delicious! I did as another suggested and added a box of mushrooms. I sautéed them first in a little butter and added them with the chicken and whipping cream. Thank you, Carolyn!
Jacqueline says
I plugged this recipe into My Fitness Pal and I only get 1g of carbs. Where are your 7g of Carbs coming from?
Carolyn says
I think MyFitnessPal is leading you astray. Every single clove of garlic has 1 g of carbs. That means 32g per the entire recipe. Plus an onion, which has about 10 g of carbs for the whole onion. 42g of carbs for the whole recipe, divided by 6 servings = 7g carbs.
Kristin Casebolt says
I only have Chicken broth, what would I need to add if I used this instead of the chicken stock? or would it be better to go out and get some chicken stock?
Carolyn says
It’s fine, you can sub it in.
Foodie says
Just made this and it is everything you think it will be. Delish. A note to some beginner cooks such as myself: My first time roasting garlic today. I did not know they would explode if left for too long. I set a timer and walked away. My oven is now a garlicky mess LOLOL. I will be doing some heavy duty cleaning in the next day or two. I added mushrooms to this soup and used leftover rotisserie chicken from Publix. 4.5 out of 5 stars from me. Thanks for sharing.
Brenda says
Oh my goodness, I saw this recipe yesterday and thought how I really have to try this asap. Well, it is cooking now, and the smell is just incredible! I can not wait to actually get it in my mouth.
Brenda says
And, now, I can officially say that everyone LOVED it, even the picky 4.5 years old 😉 thank you for such a keeper of a recipe!
Carolyn says
Yay!!!
Bernadette Wheeler says
I recently made this soup and it was delicious. I even had a guest who didn’t like garlic rave about it and ask for the recipe! I did use already peeled garlic and added grated cheese and bacon crumbles on top.
Now on to learning how to make a good keto French bread to go with it!
Thank you so much for this post. It will be a winter staple.
Lori says
I always use Trader Joe’s frozen garlic when I cook. Can you replace the roasted garlic with that or will that not work cause it’s not roasted?
Carolyn says
I use those cubes ALL the time, but I am doubtful they would work in this case.