I have a quick and easy stove top recipe for homemade chicken soup on the blog, but I have been wanting to make a crock pot version because 1. it’s slow cooker season and 2. I get requests for crock pot recipes ALL the time. So let’s get started.
The base to any great soup starts with fresh celery, carrots and onion.
First, clean and chop up all of your veggies and add 2 cups of celery and 2 cups of carrots to your crock pot. Saute 1 cup of finely diced onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil with 2 teaspoons Kosher salt. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes until the onions are nice and soft.
Into your crock pot add the cooked onions, 1 pound chicken breast tenders and 5 cups chicken stock. I use homemade stock if I have it on hand, but if not, store bought is fine. When using store bought stock, I recommend adding in a teaspoon or two of chopped fresh thyme.
Cover and cook on low for 2 hours. After 2 hours the chicken will be cooked and should be removed to avoid drying out. Remove the chicken and chop or shred – whichever you prefer. Place in a bowl and set in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Cover your crock pot and cook the veggies and broth on low for an additional hour. After the last hour, add in 8 ounces of dry pasta. I use orecchiette in my recipe because I love how it’s bowl like shape holds the broth. Set the crock pot to high for 30 minutes to cook the pasta.
When the pasta is cooked, add the refrigerated chicken pieces back in and warm though to serve. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to your preference.
This soup doesn’t last long at my house, but if you make it and have leftovers they can be refrigerated for up to 4 days and the pasta will continue to absorb the broth, so it will become more of a thick stew, but still taste just as delicious.
If you follow the Weight Watchers Smart-points Program this recipe, as written, is 24 smart points for the entire batch. So depending on how large or small of portions you divide it into you can figure out how many points your meal is. I made mine into 8 portions so each was 4 smart points. You can play with the serving size and adjust your points accordingly.
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