This comforting immunity soup is cozy, flavorful, and made with whole-food ingredients to nourish your body. It’s a staple in my house during cold and flu season, and honestly any time I’m feeling run down. It’s super easy to make and the perfect comfort meal the whole family will enjoy ❤️.
- Nutrient-rich ingredients: Immunity boosting
- Soothing, warmth
- Amazing flavor
Key Ingredients
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs: I love the flavor and juiciness of chicken thighs, but chicken breasts (or even shredded rotisserie chicken!) will also work. You’ll cook the chicken right in the pot of soup, and then pull it out to shred it before returning to the soup.
Homemade immunity paste: The homemade immunity paste for this soup truly can’t be beat! You’ll blend together the carrot, celery, garlic, white onion, lemon juice, parsley, red pepper, turmeric, and lemon juice into a chunky paste.
All the veggies: In addition to the veggies in the immunity paste, this soup also packs cauliflower, sweet potatoes and green peas.
Bone broth: Bone broth packs amazing flavor and nutritional benefits. If you can’t find bone broth, you can substitute for chicken broth.
Lemon juice: Fresh lemon juice gets added right at the end, and the bright citrus-y flavor helps to bring out all the other amazing flavors in this soup.
Fun pasta: I like to use small ring pasta (what’s in the photos!), but feel free to use your favorite pasta shape. I’ve also made this with bow tie, penne, ditalini and rigatoni.
How to Make Immunity Soup
- Prepare the immunity paste: Add the carrot, celery, garlic, white onion, lemon juice, parsley, red pepper, turmeric, and lemon juice to a blender or food processor, and pulse into a chunky paste.
- Sauté the sweet potatoes and immunity paste: Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium/high heat. When the olive oil is fragrant, add the immunity paste and the sweet potatoes and sauté for a few minutes.
- Brown the chicken thighs: Push the sweet potatoes to the side and add the chicken thighs to the pot, and brown for for a few minutes on each side.
- Add the cauliflower, bone broth, and ginger to the pot: Bring it all to a boil.
- Add the pasta to the pot: Cook until the pasta is al dente.
- Shred the chicken: Remove the chicken from the pot, and shred with a fork, and return to the pot.
- Add the peas, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar: Bring the soup to a gentle simmer.
- Serve and enjoy!
Swaps & Variations
- Chicken: This recipe calls for boneless skinless chicken thighs, but chicken breasts will work as well. I’ve also made this soup with shredded rotisserie chicken when I’m short on time!
- Broth: Bone broth is not only nutrient dense, but it offers amazingly rich flavor. Don’t want to use it or can’t find it at your grocery store, chicken broth or veggie broth will also work just fine.
- Make it spicier: I love a little heat in this soup, and if you do, too, feel free to add a pinch of cayenne to the pot when it’s simmering.
- Amp up the ginger flavor: This soup has subtle ginger flavor, so if you’d like it to be more prominent, feel free to increase the amount of ginger you use.
Ways to Serve It
I love serving this immunity soup with crusty bread, or if I have time, my high-protein dinner rolls.
Want to pair it with a salad? I recommend my caesar salad or French carrot salad, both are delish.
Storage Notes
Store this immunity soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
When it comes to freezing soup, my biggest tip is to make the noodles later. That’s right, I do NOT recommend freezing noodles because when reheating, they will likely become soggy. To freeze this immunity soup, follow the directions as is, but do not add the noodles. Once the soup has cooled completely, transfer it into a freezer-safe container or gallon-size bag. Then, remove as much air as possible and seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Microwave: If you’re reheating just one serving of soup, I suggest the microwave. Place 1 serving of soup into a microwave-safe bowl and reheat for 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
Stove top: If you’re reheating multiple servings of soup, I suggest reheating on the stove. Place soup into a large stockpot (or just keep the leftovers in the pot you made it in!), and turn heat to medium/high. Reheat until boiling.
Tutorial
How to Freeze Soup & Chili
Learn how to freeze soup and chili with this easy How to Freeze Soup tutorial. We’ll share all of our tips and tricks to perfect freezer soup.
More of My Favorite Soup Recipes
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 large celery stick, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ¼ small white onion
- Zest from one small lemon
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, separated
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1.5 teaspoons sea salt, separated
- 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 8 cups bone broth, I used chicken
- 2 tablespoons fresh, grated ginger
- 4 oz. small ring pasta
- 12 oz. frozen peas
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
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Prepare the immunity paste for this soup. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, white onion, lemon juice, parsley, red pepper, turmeric, and lemon juice to a blender or food processor. Pulse all of the ingredients together until it turns into a mixture that is a chunky paste.
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Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium/high heat. When the olive oil is fragrant, add the paste to the oil until fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes to the pot and season with ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté the sweet potatoes for 2-3 minutes.
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Push the sweet potatoes to the side and add the chicken thighs to the pot. Brown the chicken thighs for 1-2 minutes on each side.
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Add the cauliflower, bone broth, and ginger to the pot. Bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the pot and cook until the pasta is al dente, about 7-10 minutes.
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Once the pasta is cooked and the chicken thighs are cooked through, remove the chicken from the pot and add the peas and remaining salt to the pot. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer.
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Shred the chicken and return it to the pot. Add the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to the soup and stir.
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Once the soup has reached your desired temperature, serve it immediately. Option to salt and pepper to taste.
- Feel free to add more ginger to taste.
- I recommend adding a pinch of cayenne pepper to the pot if you like a little heat.
Calories: 454 kcal, Carbohydrates: 39 g, Protein: 42 g, Fat: 15 g, Fiber: 8 g, Sugar: 9 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by: The Wooden Skillet
