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Creamy chicken, bacon and lentil soup with ciabatta

Creamy chicken soup is the ultimate winter meal – this version gets a flavour boost from bacon, lentils and a dollop of sour cream. Served with crunchy warm bread, I can’t think of anything better!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Main, Soups and Salad
Servings 4
Calories 534 kcal
Diabetic, Gluten Free, Kid Friendly

Ingredients
  

Creamy chicken, bacon and lentil soup

  • 250 g streaky bacon diced
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 carrots peeled and diced or grated
  • 3 celery stalks diced
  • 1 leek white and pale green part only, thinly sliced
  • 450 g chicken thighs boneless, skinless
  • 1-2 tablespoons thyme chopped
  • ½ cup split red lentils
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup sour cream

Chipotle sour cream

  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon chipotle sauce optional
  • 1-2 tablespoons parsley

To serve

  • ¼ cup parsley chopped
  • ciabatta or other bread warmed or toasted sliced (omit for gluten-free, or replace with gluten-free bread)
  • pinch of paprika or smoked paprika

Instructions
 

  • Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pot on medium to high heat. Add bacon and cook for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, carrots, celery and leek. Stir, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are just tender.
  • Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt. Add to pot with thyme, lentils, stock, water and salt and bring to a simmer while stirring. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked and lentils are tender.
  • In a small bowl mix all chipotle sour cream ingredients together.
  • Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from soup, roughly dice or shred and return to pot. Stir in sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • TO SERVE, ladle soup into bowls, add a dollop of chipotle sour cream and sprinkle with parsley and paprika. Serve with ciabatta on the side.

Notes

This is a great recipe to cook up and freeze in portions for a rainy day. If you wanted to make this creamy chicken soup dairy-free you could replace the sour cream with some coconut yoghurt or even coconut cream.
This recipe is out of the latest My Food Bag cookbook What’s For Dinner?