Coconut Chicken Soup from Before Baby!

Coconut Chicken Soup

This used to be a sales post for Before Baby but now it's just an awesome soup recipe. I hope you love the recipe as much as I do.

Cheers!

Coconut Chicken Soup

coconut chicken soup

Makes  4 quarts
Prep Time  20 minutes
Cook Times
Stovetop  50-60 minutes
Slow Cooker  6 hours on low

This is, hands down, Ben’s favorite soup.  We make it with 2 teaspoons of green curry paste because I’m a spice wuss, and then Ben adds more curry to his bowl.  I prefer to add toasted sesame oil instead.  Either way, we’ve found that you need a little more green curry when making this soup in the crock pot.  

For extra creamy goodness, replace the second can of coconut milk with coconut cream if you can find it.  It’s how my family prefers the soup!

Ingredients
   1   tablespoon olive oil (Stovetop only)
  ½   onion, diced
   2   large carrots, diced
   4   cloves garlic, minced
  ¼   teaspoon red chile flakes
 3+   teaspoons green curry paste (4+ teaspoons in the slow cooker)
   8   cups chicken broth
   2   chicken breasts (approximately 1 pound)
  ½   cup brown rice
 10   ounces or 1 bunch kale, torn into bite-size pieces
   8   ounces or 1 head broccoli , chopped into bite-size florets
   8   ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch chunks
   2   14.5-ounce cans full fat coconut milk (use coconut cream if you can find it)
   1   lime’s juice

 Optional Garnish
    Ume plum vinegar
    Toasted sesame oil
    Cilantro
    More green curry paste

To Make the Soup on the Stovetop
Sauté the Aromatics   Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and carrots, turning down the heat to slightly below medium, and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and carrots are soft.  Add the garlic, red chile flakes and green curry paste and cook for 30 seconds, until the spices are fragrant but not burned.

Make the Soup   Add the chicken broth and bring soup to a boil.  Add the chicken breasts and brown rice, cover, bring back to a boil, and then turn down to simmer.  Cook the chicken breasts 15-20 minutes, until cooked through, and then remove to a plate with tongs.  Cook the rice an additional 10 minutes and then add the kale, broccoli and green beans.  Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes more, until the veggies are tender but not mushy.  While the veggies cook, shred the chicken into bite-size pieces, and then add it back into the soup along with the coconut milk and lime juice.

To Make the Soup in the Slow Cooker
Place the onion, carrots, garlic, red chile flakes, green curry paste, chicken broth, chicken breasts, and brown rice in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 5 hours.  Add the kale, broccoli, green beans and coconut milk (or coconut cream) and cook for another hour.  Turn off the slow cooker and remove the chicken breasts to a plate.  When they are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized chunks and return to the soup.  Stir in the lime juice.

NOTE   This soup will not suffer one bit if you add the vegetables at the beginning of the cook time, they’ll just be softer.  Definitely still add the coconut milk (or coconut cream) and lime juice at the end.

To Make it Vegetarian    This soup is just as tasty when veggie!  Substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth and use 16 ounces firm tofu in place of the chicken.  Add the tofu when you add the green vegetables.  You could even bump up the brown rice to ⅔ cup for a bit more substance.
To Make it Veggie-licious   Add zucchini and/or cauliflower with the other vegetables.

Enjoy!