Cheesy Garden & Chicken Soup
Cheesy Garden & Chicken Soup
Sometimes the ideas in my head for a recipe actually work. Like really work. I’m comfortable in announcing that I have created my new favorite soup.
I’m not actually big on soups…but rather..stews. Or as Rachael Ray calls them “Stoups.” Rather than having a liquid/brothy based soup, I prefer thick and hearty meals. They fill me up, keep me full and helps me to stay out of the kitchen for a while afterward.
One “stoup” I’ve never quite re-created {until now!} is a cheesy broccoli soup. I’ve had ideas of how to do it, but also didn’t want to actually attempt to call something broccoli and cheese soup. There is so much fat and cream in the traditional version- no mock version to cut calories could do it justice.
Rather than trying to re-create the same type of soup, I decided to do a spin on it with a healthy approach. I use the word “Garden” in the name of this soup because it uses a lot of variety of veggies! Similar to a “garden salad” we’ll go with a “garden soup.” But how to make it creamy or cheesy without so much fat? I used a half a can of fat-free condensed soup (150 calories for half the can in the entire pot…not bad), unsweet/unflavored almond milk and reduced fat cheddar cheese. It gave it just the taste of a creamy cheese based soup without the fat and calories.
Flavor = awesome. Speed of preparation = awesome. Amount of leftovers = awesome.
Cheesy Garden & Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lbs chicken breast, cut in cubes
- 1 crown broccoli, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 6 oz fat-free evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup unsweet, unflavored almond milk
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
- 4 oz 2% cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven to medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add chicken cubes and cook about 1 minute.
- Add onion and garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring on occasion. Add carrots, celery, broccoli, and chicken broth. Turn to low and cover to cook about 5 minutes.
- Add 6 oz fat-free evaporated milk and unsweet/unflavored almond milk. Stir well. Cover and let cook another 5 minutes.
- Shred cheese and add to the pot. Stir well until melted. Season with salt & pepper and serve.
How many servings?
The servings are listed in the upper right corner…I would say this makes 4 generous bowls or 6 smaller ones :)