Chunky chicken leek soup with the goodness of fresh garlic, spinach & just a dash of coconut oil is an old fashioned remedy for fighting off a cold or the flu. In the old days when they did not rely on medicine as much, chicken soup was the doctor’s prescription for fighting flu and turns out grandma was right – it works. Research has found that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory activity, which may ease cold symptoms. One, by reducing the swelling in sore throats and nasal passages, and two by reducing mucus production, which can help ease coughs and stuffy noses. Adding leeks and fresh garlic further intensifies the anti- inflammatory qualities and promotes healing. My husband was experiencing flu like symptoms yesterday and I made a big batch of chicken leek soup. Chicken soup is a staple in our home and I have different versions of it. Sometimes we just have soup for dinner and I usually add a load of veggies to it to make it a more complete meal. This time I wanted the soup to be more healing and so I just added leeks, celery and spinach to it. It made it a green looking soup and it tasted great. Some pepper, cumin and salt and just a dash of coconut oil spiced it up perfectly. I added the garlic in the end to tap into the healing power of garlic. If your family can’t handle a raw form of garlic, add it while cooking the soup. After making homemade chicken soup I can never drink the canned stuff. Chicken leek soup is so easy to make, I think I sometimes have a harder time opening a can :)! Anyway, soup was great so I am blogging it and hope you enjoy my version. PS: you don’t have to be sick to make this soup :)!
Nutrition Wise!
Chicken is a good source of lean protein and iron, both of which are needed to strengthen your immune system. Leeks are loaded with potassium, calcium and phosphorus, all needed for nerve function and strong bones. They are also a good source of iron and have potent antiviral properties similar to garlic! Spinach, often touted as a super food has a lot of vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin K. Coconut oil has immune boosting functions as well. Put all these together and you have a potent wholesome chicken leek soup that is warm comfort in a bowl !
Chicken Leek Soup with Spinach
Print recipe
| Serves | 10 |
| Dietary | Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Soup |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Freezable, Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
Ingredients
- 4 Cups raw chicken (cut into chunks ( about 3 lbs boneless chicken))
- 1 Large leek (diced and chopped)
- 4 Stalks celery (diced)
- 1 cup spinach
- 4-6 Cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 Tsp thyme (fresh or dried)
- 2 Tsp pepper
- 1 Tsp salt
- 1 Tsp cumin
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
- 4 Cups low sodium chicken stock (optional)
Note
You can use chicken stock as a base or just cook the chicken in water and veggies which will create a stock. If not using chicken stock, cook an extra 20 minutes to allow the flavors of the leek & celery soak in.
Directions
| Dice leek into small pieces right to the green stem. Chop celery into small pieces. Crush garlic . | |
| Boil 6 cups water or 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water. | |
| Add diced chicken, celery, leeks , pepper, cumin, salt and cook for about 30 - 40 minutes. | |
| Add thyme, cilantro, coconut oil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add crushed garlic and remove off the fire. | |
Hi there! I’m Sunithi, AKA Sue, a registered dietitian with a sweet tooth and a passion for eating healthy (quite a combo) currently working as an independent consultant in the DC Metro area. I’m also a blogger, health nut, nutrition geek who jogs to keep sane :)! I love to revamp recipes and add some ‘Nutrition Bytes’ to them. All my recipes are gluten free! I also blog on natural health and fitness! Visit often and drop me a note if you have any nutrition queries!
Mmmm – What a delicious way to fight the flu 🙂
Agree 🙂 !! Thanks for stopping by !
Very nutritious, especially for the winter to keep well hydrated.
Yep ! Great winter soup ! Thanks !
Nummy! Only thing I’d have to change around here is use olive oil for coconut due to allergies but still!
Will be yumm with olive oil too 🙂 Thanks for checking it out !
Nice photos!
Thanks :)! This one is special cause it got accepted on Food Gawker. My first! I used to submit to them before when I first started blogging and got discouraged because they kept turning me down, so stopped submitting. Then 2 days back on impulse I submitted this one & it got accepted. Hoping it’s the first of many more :)! All your photography tips helped. Thanks !!
Fascinating studies have actually been conducted with chicken soups and those who have a cold or flu.
Chicken soup DOES help!
Apparently, in studies, they couldn’t actually determine specifically which chemical makeup of chicken soup helped or contained healing properties, they just know there’s “something” in it that does make a difference!
To quote Star Trek’s Spock: “Fascinating!”
Hi Sunithi,
Lovely recipe intact with the essence of winters. Honestly, the pics are just awesome. I just want to have this dish. Thanks for the share.
excellent post, easy recipe making me feel better just looking at it, lol. I’m also in love with the soup bowl and saucer set how cute is that?
I made this soup a couple days ago when I was trying to fight off a cold. And my god this soup was amazing!! I did not have any cumin so I used garam masala and added some kale. Thanks for delicious recipe, definitely going to be making this again! 🙂
I’m sure that added a nice kick to it! Glad you liked it!
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