Chicken, white bean and kale soup
50 min · 47 g protein · 438 cals / serving
A thermos lunch that tastes like it simmered all morning: tender shredded chicken, creamy white beans and silky kale in a garlicky, rosemary-scented broth with a little chili warmth, brightened with lemon and finished with a shower of parmesan. Some of the beans are mashed into the broth, so it is hearty without any cream.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 5 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breast, whole breasts
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cans (15 oz each), drained cannellini beans
- 1 small bunch (about 5 cups chopped) kale, stems removed, chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To serve
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan
Steps
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and a pinch of the salt and cook, stirring now and then, for 8–10 minutes, until soft and starting to turn golden at the edges.
- Add the garlic, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme and chili flakes and stir for 1–2 minutes, until the paste darkens and the garlic smells sweet.
- Pour in the broth, add the whole chicken breasts, the bay leaf and a parmesan rind if you have one (it melts its flavour into the broth), and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook, partly covered, for 15–18 minutes, until the chicken is 165°F in the thickest part. Lift it out and shred it with two forks.
- Add the beans, then mash about a cupful of them against the side of the pot to thicken the broth. Stir in the kale and simmer for 5 minutes, until tender, then return the chicken.
- Take off the heat, remove the bay leaf and what is left of the rind, and stir in the lemon juice, pepper and the rest of the salt. Taste; it should be bright and savory.
- For the thermos, use a 25 oz food flask: fill it with boiling water and let it stand 5 minutes while you bring the soup back to a rolling boil. Empty the thermos, fill it with the piping-hot soup and close it straight away. Pack the parmesan in a little pot to sprinkle over at lunch.
Good to know
How long does it stay hot in a thermos?
A good 25 oz vacuum food flask, preheated with boiling water and filled with soup at a full boil, keeps it above 140°F for about 4–5 hours; eat it by then. Fill it to the top, since an air gap cools it faster.
How long does it keep?
Four days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer. Reheat a portion to a rolling boil each morning before it goes in the flask; do not fill a thermos with soup that is only warm.
Shortcut?
Use about 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, skin removed, and add it with the kale; simmer the broth for 10 minutes with the vegetables first so it picks up their flavor.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 67
- Protein
- (45%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (31%)
- 6 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 303 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1751 kcal goes into the pot and 2879 g of ingredients comes out as about 2610 g of food: 67 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.