This chicken soup recipe is part of a delicious frugality series called How to stretch a whole chicken into many healthy meals. To start this plucky series from the beginning, read the clucky introduction.
If you have a cup of leftover cooked chicken, a slow cooker, a few vegetables hanging around your refrigerator, and a cup of dried lentils, then give this healthy soup recipe a try.
Chicken and Lentil Soup Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 2 cups homemade chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 1 cup dried green lentils, or a can of lentils
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5-6 cups chopped spinach
- 1/2 squeezed lemon
This recipe makes around 6 servings.
Three Easy Steps: Chicken and Lentil Soup
Step One: In slow cooker, combine cooked chicken, onion, carrots, celery, dried or canned lentils, oregano, bay leaf and salt.
Step Two: Add chicken stock and water. Stir. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or until lentils and vegetables are tender.
Step Three: Add chopped spinach. Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes or until wilted. Discard bay leaf. Stir in lemon juice.
Serve with quinoa, rice, or a whole wheat wrap.
Read the rest of this chicken stretching series:
| Frugal Chicken Series: |
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Your two cents:
One thing that I’ve done with Chicken is- Chicken Enchiladas (almost homemade)
Torillas, Put pieces of chicken in torilla, add what ever cheese you want and roll up, place in baking dish. Pour 1 Can of Progresso Chicken Enchilada soup over top. Bake 350 til heat all way through. Serve on bed of lettuce with sour cream if desired.
This taste so good that I am making my 2nd pot now. Do you think I will obtain the same results if I use the same ingredients and methods for other beans, like lima beans. Thanks.
Kim
why do you need to use cooked chicken if you are cooking it for 6 hrs?
thanks
@FC — To cook the lentils.
I may be really stupid….but why can’t you use raw chicken? It is cooking for 6 hours, so why would you cook it first?
Couldn’t you do this same recipe, but with raw chicken? I thought that was the point of the slow cooker – that you throw things in raw and they slowly cook?
Sorry if these are dumb questions!
@FC the reason she used cooked chicken was probably because this recipe is part of a series on how to stretch one whole chicken. It begins with roast chicken, and uses the meat and stock in other things. I’m sure you could also use raw chicken just the same.