
Spring chicken minestrone soup
- Published: 24 May 22
- Updated: 26 Nov 24
Stretch one chicken breast to feed four people in this budget-friendly chicken soup recipe. Our spring chicken minestrone is packed with pasta and veg and is flexible, so use up what’s already in your larder and fridge.

For more comfort in a bowl, check out our chicken soup recipe collection.
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Serves 4
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Hands-on time 15 min. Simmer time 25 min
Ingredients
- Glug olive oil
- Knob unsalted butter
- 4 large garlic cloves, crushed#
- 2 leeks, cut into 1cm rounds
- 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- 3 tbsp white miso paste
- Finely grated zest and juice 1 lemon
- 1 reduced-salt stock cube
- 1 large free-range skinless chicken breast
- 100g small pasta shapes such as orzo, macaroni, ditalini (see Tips)
- 200g frozen broad beans, edamame, peas or a mixture (see Tips)
- Small bunch dill, roughly chopped (see Tips)
- Soured cream or greek yogurt and crusty bread to serve
Method
- Heat the oil and butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic, leeks, fennel and chilli (if using), season with salt and black pepper, then cook for 4-5 minutes until starting to soften (see Flavour Boost). Add the miso, lemon zest, stock cube and 1 litre water, then bring to a simmer. Add the chicken breast and reduce the heat to low. Cook very gently for 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through, then remove the chicken, roughly shred the meat and set aside.
- Add the pasta to the pan and increase the heat. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 6-8 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked. Add the beans/ peas and shredded chicken to the pan. Top up with a bit more water if the soup looks too thick, then cook for 2-3 minutes more until the beans/peas are tender.
- Stir in the lemon juice and dill, then season to taste. Serve in bowls with a dollop of soured cream or greek yogurt, and crusty bread on the side.
- Recipe from May 2022 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 322kcals
- Fat
- 10.5g (2.6g saturated)
- Protein
- 21.2g
- Carbohydrates
- 29.4g (6.8g sugars)
- Fibre
- 12.7g
- Salt
- 1.4g
delicious. tips
Easy swaps: Swap in green beans, sugarsnaps or mangetout, add soft herbs, or switch the pasta for rice or pearl barley and adjust the cooking times accordingly.
Flavour boost: Toast 1 tsp each cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a dry pan for 1 minute, then crush in a pestle and mortar. Add to the pan with the garlic. Or fry some smoky bacon before adding the garlic.
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