Healing Chicken Ginger Soup
Ali Segersten Feb 18, 2011 32 comments
I’ve been making this soup a lot these days. It’s spicy, warming, and deeply nourishing—just the thing to help kick the lingering cold I’ve had. It starts with a simple homemade broth made from bone-in chicken breasts, a generous amount of fresh ginger, a whole head of garlic, fresh lemongrass, and a few cups of chopped shiitake mushrooms. After simmering for a few hours, the broth is strained and returned to the pot with fresh vegetables, the shredded cooked chicken, and some Thai rice noodles.
We serve it topped with crisp napa cabbage, basil, and cilantro—and for the grown-ups only, a few slices of fresh Thai chiles.
What makes this soup so special isn’t just the flavor—it’s the way each ingredient supports the immune system. Shiitake mushrooms contain polysaccharides like lentinan, which help stimulate and regulate white blood cell activity, making them more efficient at identifying and eliminating pathogens. Ginger is healing on many levels—anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory. It acts as a natural antibiotic, helping to soothe a sore throat, ease congestion, and support the body through fevers and chills.
The soup isn’t overly spicy, so it’s perfect for young children too. All of our kids love this soup and especially enjoy adding the toppings—minus the chiles, of course! The clear, warming broth is incredibly grounding and can help you feel better almost immediately.
Lately, I’ve been making double batches just to be sure we have leftovers. Hot, nourishing foods like this are incredibly helpful when you're feeling run down, especially during cold and flu season. I also love sipping on ginger-lemon tea, or serving warm quinoa porridge and my Healing Quinoa Cabbage Soup during times of immune stress.
Remember, when your body is healing, cold foods can increase congestion, so it’s best to avoid smoothies, raw salads, and icy drinks until you're feeling better. Let your meals be warm, simple, and supportive.
Healing Chicken Ginger Soup
My mom always made homemade chicken soup using a whole chicken when I was growing up. I've never made chicken soup using a store-bought chicken broth. Once you make soup this way, you'll never want to go back. The broth is just so fresh and delicious! If you would like to use a whole chicken for this soup instead of the two chicken breasts, simply double the ingredients for the broth and the soup and use an 8 or 12-quart pot instead. Be sure to add the rice noodles to each individual bowl if you plan to have leftovers. Adding them to the whole pot and then reheating the soup the next day can cause the noodles to get quite mushy. This soup also freezes very well, just don't add the noodles or the raw toppings to your freezable portions. Fresh Thai chilies and lemongrass can be found at places like Whole Foods or at your local Asian Market.
For the Broth
For the Soup
Optional Toppings
- To make the broth, place all ingredients for broth into a 6-quart pot. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat medium-low and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
- Strain broth into a large bowl or another pot using a colander. Place chicken breasts onto a plate to cool. Pour the broth back into the pot.
- Once the chicken has cooled, remove the skin, pull the meat from the bone and chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Place all of the veggies for the soup (onion, carrot, celery, and shiitake mushrooms) into the pot with the broth. Cover and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer a minute or two more or until vegetables are cooked to your liking.
- Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a handful of basil, cilantro, and cabbage on top. Sprinkle with Thai chiles if desired. You can also add a handful of cooked Thai rice noodles to each bowl if desired. Squeeze a little lime juice over each bowl.
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About the Author
Alissa Segersten, MS, CN
Alissa Segersten, MS, CN, is the founder of Nourishing Meals®, an online meal-planning membership with over 1,800 nourishing recipes and tools to support dietary change and better health. As a functional nutritionist, professional recipe developer, and author of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, Nourishing Meals, and co-author of The Elimination Diet, she helps people overcome health challenges through food. A mother of five, Alissa understands the importance of creating nutrient-dense meals for the whole family. Rooted in science and deep nourishment, her work makes healthy eating accessible, empowering thousands to transform their well-being through food.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Could this work in a slow…
Could this work in a slow cooker? Has anyone tried and had good results?
Panicked a little today, not sure if it was you or if someone else linked it via reddit back early December, but the wife made this soup and it was amazing! Decided make it again today and couldn't find the recipe, luckily the google force was with us today and we found it again! Going to do a better job saving it this time!
Many thanks!
Best Soup I have ever made! Full Flavor and so nutritious--it's fantastic. Will be my go to soup from now on for weekday meals. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
WOW! Another winner! Daughter not a fan of mushrooms, etc. but was a fan of the broth with just the chicken so I set an edited version aside for her.
I also saved the stock veggies, picked out the whole peppercorns, and used my immersion blender to add them to a pre-made Butternut Squash soup to make a second soup. Yum!
Just made this for dinner. It was amazing. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow. I love Asian cuisine but have never been able to capture it in my own kitchen. Bingo!
I just made this soup last night and it is delicious! I followed the recipe as stated except I added a few star anise since I had some on hand and wanted to enhance the Asian flavor theme happening with this soup. I have a head and chest cold and this soup really feels healing!
I just made this soup last night and it is delicious! Perfect because I have a head and chest cold. I followed the recipe exactly as stated, except I added a few star anise since I had some on hand.
I finally made this, and it's delicious! To use up the veggies from the broth, I blended them separately with some water and it made a delicious creamy soup. So I got two soups out of the recipe. :) Thanks Ali!
This looks delicious. It could be made grain-free by subbing those fresh kelp noodles for the rice noodles. (I'm always looking for a way to use them!) Thanks.
My mom is having a bad cold. I think I'm gonna surprise her with this soup.
Made this today - another delicious, warm, and comforting soup. Thank you!
Just made the soup today. It was well worth the effort and picking up extra ingredients not usually on my shopping list. My boys gobbled it up no problem. Will be sharing some with my neighbor tomorrow! This recipe is a keeper.
I cannot speak highly enough of this soup! As I type this, I am sipping on a cup of the broth. Having made the soup earlier in the week to share with friends, I made a new batch (just the broth, this time) a mere three days later. I'm struggling with a head cold, and the warmth - from the temperature, but also from the ginger and garlic - is so very soothing. The best part, though, is that it tastes SO wonderful! Thanks for teaching me to (finally) make great broth!
This soup was great, definitely took some time to prepare but well worth it. Next time I might add some more chillies, I like it spicy!!
Instead of throwing away the ingredients that make up the broth, I blended it all together with the broth and had that as the base of the soup. Then with the other whole ingredients added, its not pretty looking, but tastes amazing!
Almost makes me want to get sick just to have an excuse to try this soup!! Tee hee hee.
Peace & Raw Health,
Elizabeth
This looks delicious! I'm bookmarking this one to make next time I get to the grocery store!
I made this for dinner after DH had oral surgery. It is very flavorful and filling. There were a couple of modifications. The stock was made from a chicken carcus in the crockpot and cooked overnight. Some leftover rice was added to the soup and the individual servings garnished with cilantro and lime wedges. We both really enjoyed the wonderful combinations of flavors.
Delicious! I made this tonight with a small (teeny-tiny 1.2 lb) whole chicken. Unfortunately I had to use a lot of extra water to cover it up in the broth phase, so I think I missed out on some of the flavor. I would add a LOT more ginger and lemongrass next time. But the soup is still very yummy, and I cannot seem to get enough of the fresh herbs on top! Great job.
Going to make this baby tonight. Evan has some chest stuff that simple green wouldn't be able to touch. I will give you a prognosis after a couple of bowlfuls...
Josh
I made this soup last night and it was AMAZING! I added a little more lemongrass than called for, but otherwise, simply delicious! My 4-yr old son loved it as well. This will be my new go-to soup for the season!
Oh my...this looks so light and flavorful. Nothing is better than a good soup!
I woke up yesterday with swollen glands. I need someone to make me some soup just like this!
I woke up yesterday with cold, and can't wait to try this today. Thanks for always sending a recipe at just the right time!
I love the Ginger and shiitakes in this soup. I always have either chicken backs and wings or already made chicken broth around for various recipes, so I'm sure I could use some for this. Hugs!
I am curious (or ignorant :) ... what do you do with the veggies you used to make your broth? I have the same problem with almond milk ... what do I do with the ground almonds? Thanks!
Mmmm..I bet this makes the whole house smell divine! I'm going to make this tommorow. Love anything warming with ginger and garlic when I'm sick. The lemongrass and mushrooms will make a wonderful addition too. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for ALL your wonderful recipes and info. Your book is open on my cookbook stand in my kitchen right now. I use it constantly. Thanks!
Ali, your Asian veggie stock is perhaps my favorite recipe in your cookbook. I use it to make chicken stock (in fact I made some two days ago), and it has really seen me through this terribly cold winter (in Minneapolis) and some rough colds/bouts of flu. Honestly, thank you!
I'm always looking for ideas for healing foods, and this soup sounds wonderful. Soups are the best way to regain strength when appetites are low.
That soup looks so warm and comforting Ali, and perfect for actually preventing colds too I bet!
Get better soon!
Man does this sound wonderful. I'm wondering if I could get my picky son to eat this in some form or another. I might need to make it into a meatball. He won't eat soups but he'll eat meatballs. Love the mushroom, ginger and peppers! I'm adding all of this to my shopping list I'm working on. I'll let you know about the meatball version too.
I would have this even if I didn't have a cold! I love anything with ginger and garlic and they are the prefect healing foods for when you are sick.