I’m meal prepping for a few busy weeks that lie ahead and this southwestern chicken and vegetable soup turned out so delicious that I absolutely had to share it on the blog. The weather hasn’t exactly cooled down yet, but the rains brought by hurricane Florence nudged me to get going on a few soups this week. Not only that, but soups are so easy to freeze and I’m currently stock-piling food that can be thawed and reheated after a long day of staring at the computer.

I try to give frequent tips for meal planning and prep, but I want to offer a few words of encouragement when it comes to finding time to get prep work done in the kitchen. I’m currently writing this as 4 whole chickens, nearly 2 gallons of soup, and 6 loaves of plantain bread sit on the countertop to cool. A small portion of this food will be eaten this week, but the vast majority will be frozen and saved for later.

The view into my kitchen is not a pretty sight. There are jars of cooling chicken fat and broth, bags of chicken bones to be frozen for future broths, piles of dirty dishes, foods that will have to be dealt with later in the day, and a mess that is guaranteed to take at least 20 minutes to clean. But the amount of time that I’ll save in the future from this messy endeavor is well, well worth the investment.

Bulk cooking saves times. Period. I don’t care how big of a pain in the ass it is to have a dirty kitchen after spending 2hrs hacking away at prep work. The reward is that I now have multiple meals made from wholesome ingredients to feed my family over the next few weeks.

My recommendation is to stop messing around by preparing recipes that yield just 4 – 6 servings and start doubling or even tripling those recipes so that you make life a little easier in the future. And luckily, I’ve created a soup recipe that yields about 20 servings and can therefore act as the perfect starting point. 

Southwestern Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Recipe by Leah WebbCourse: Recipes

Servings

20

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

A hearty, yet delicately light soup accented with the southwestern flavors of fresh lime and cilantro.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, about 4 lbs

• 12 cups homemade chicken broth, divided (see note)

• 2 onions, diced

• 4 carrots, cut in thin rounds

• 1 bunch celery, thinly sliced

• 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

• 2 green peppers, diced

• 1 red pepper, diced

• 2 heads garlic, minced

• 1, 18.3 oz jar crushed tomatoes

• 2 tbsp dried parsley

• 1 tbsp chili powder

• 1 tbsp cumin powder

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• 2 bunches cilantro, minced

• 2 limes, juiced

• 2 limes, juiced

• chives (optional, for garnish)

Directions

• Place the whole chicken onto the steam rack in an electric pressure cooker along with 1 cup of chicken broth. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, release the steam when done, and break the chicken apart onto a plate allowing it to cool. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, coat the chicken in olive oil, and bake the chicken at 375*F for about 1 hour and 20 minutes (20 minutes per pound of chicken).
• Prepare the vegetables while the chicken cooks by sautéing the onions, carrots, and celery for about 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Add in the radishes, peppers, and garlic and saute for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
• Stir in the crushed tomatoes and dried spices, and allow the vegetables to simmer until the dish is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
• Dice the chicken into bite sized pieces and place the chicken into the soup along with the remaining chicken broth and the broth in the bottom of the pressure cooker (if using the pressure cooker method). Bring the soup to a simmer and remove it from heat.
• Stir in the lime juice, cilantro, and salt to taste.
• Serve immediately or store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Notes

• You can find a number of recipes online for homemade chicken broth. Be sure to save your chicken bones in the freezer for your next batch of broth.