Slow Cooker Chicken Kale Soup – lighter & flavorful!

At a glance

What stands out: This soup recipe is straightforward, convenient, and so satisfying.

How long it takes: 15 minutes to prep, 4 hours on HIgh or 7 hours on Low
Equipment you’ll need: slow cooker (crockpot)
Servings: 10

Hearty Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

Lots of colorful vegetables. This slow cooker chicken kale soup is packed with hearty vegetables like kale, carrots, onions, celery, and tomatoes. And because it’s so rich, you’ll find yourself rejoicing in how straightforward it is to eat all those vegetables.

Straightforward to mix. Crockpot chicken kale soup is a snap to make. Simply put everything in the slow cooker, turn it on, and forget about it. It’ll be ready when dinner time rolls around.

Round out the meal. This kale and chicken soup is rich with warm bread or muffins. Try lighter whole wheat cornbread. We love to sprinkle from-scratch croutons on the soup.

How it comes together

Pile everything into your slow cooker and let it work its magic! Shortly before serving the soup, remove the chicken breasts to a plate, cool slightly and shred the meat. Put it back into the slow cooker and mix it in. Add a splash of red wine vinegar for a touch of acidity to brighten the flavor.

What goes in

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts (use thighs if you prefer)
• Kale – lots of it, 6 cups! So good for you.
• Carrots, celery, onion, garlic – These aromatics add lots of great flavor.
• Canned cannellini beans – or any other white beans
• Canned diced tomatoes – use fresh tomatoes if you prefer.
• Chicken broth – look for unsalted or low sodium broth to keep the sodium content low.
• Bay leaf, dried thyme, salt and pepper – simple seasonings from your pantry
• Red wine vinegar – just a dash of vinegar adds surprising depth to the broth. Lemon juice works too.

Maybe you’re wondering how to make your chicken soup taste richer and more flavorful, more like a restaurant soup. We find that dark meat is a bit more flavorful and richer. Add lots of seasoning like garlic, onion, and herbs. Use good quality stock or broth. Adding a bit of acidity at the end of the cooking punches up the flavor too. Try adding red wine vinegar or lemon juice.

Ways to change it

• Vegetarian: Omit the chicken. There’s plenty of protein in this soup without it. Add a second can of beans if you want. Serve it with a sprinkling of cheese.
• Keto/Whole 30: Omit the beans.
• Sweet potato is a tasty alternative to carrots. Peel a sweet potato and dice it.
• Not in the mood for soup? Try our crockpot chicken and rice with vegetables.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: This chicken kale soup recipe makes a big batch, about ten servings. The good news is that it’s great reheated the next day, either in the microwave or on the stovetop. Lighter chicken kale soup soup makes a wonderful lunch!

Freeze: It can be frozen for up to month, too. For best results, thaw it overnight in the fridge and reheat gently.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #98. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

Browse Meal Plans

Vegetable Soup Recipes

Soup is a reliable way to eat a bunch of veggies all at once. Try one of these vegetable-loaded soup recipes:

• Vegetable Soup (7 vegetables in this one!)
• Instant Pot Minestrone Soup or Crockpot Minestrone Soup With Quinoa
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Turkey Quinoa Chili (under 400 calories!)
• Ground Turkey Soup with Beans and Spinach (20 minutes!)
• Straightforward Hamburger Soup Recipe
• Chicken Corn Chowder

For more soups that include kale, try Zuppa Toscana, Italian Sausage Stew with White Beans and Kale or Chicken Barley Soup with Kale and Butternut Squash.
Looking for more kale recipes? Check out our list of 20 memorable kale recipes.

Crockpot Soup Recipes

• Yield: 10
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 8 hours
• Total: 8 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (see note)
• 6 cups lightly packed, roughly chopped kale (about 1 bunch)
• 2 cups sliced or diced carrots ( 3 medium carrots)
• 1 ½ cups sliced or diced celery (3 stalks)
• 1 cup chopped onion ( 1 medium onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 cans (15.8 oz.) cannellini beans, undrained (see note)
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained (preferably no-salt added)
• 1 ¾ teaspoons coarse salt
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste (or coarsely ground black pepper)
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, or to taste

Method

1. Add all ingredients, except red wine vinegar, to 6-quart slow cooker, making sure chicken is submerged in liquid.
2. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 7 to 8 hours.
3. Remove chicken to plate, cool slightly, and shred with two forks. Return shredded chicken to crockpot.
4. Add red wine vinegar, stir well, and taste. Add more vinegar, salt, and pepper if needed.

Notes

Prefer dark meat? Boneless skinless chicken thighs may be substituted if you prefer dark meat.

Canned bean alternatives: Use any white bean, such as cannellini, great Northern, or navy beans. If you prefer, rinse and drain the beans before adding them to the soup.

Storage: Leftover soup can be refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to one month. Thaw overnight before reheating.