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For most of my life, I typically only ate soup when I was feeling under the weather. Noodle-packed Vietnamesephoand collagen-rich Japaneseramenwere go-tos, but only when I had a cold. Hearty mulligatawny? Reserved for when I was at an Indian buffet and, even then, only a little bit of it so I wouldn’t fill up on broth in favor of tandoori-blistered meats and warming curries.
It’s only been a recent change, since I’ve become more devoted to fitness and better eating habits, that I’ve realizedthe positive impact of soup. When I initiallylost 30 poundsa decade ago, I did some of it with protein powder mixes. Now that I’m in my 40s and more committed to nutrition, I’ve discovered avariety of soupsthat are delicious and satiating. But whileCreamy Cucumber SouporPureed Broccoli Soupmay be bursting with flavor and necessary vitamins, I knew I needed to add a protein boost to them to make them more filling.
The #1 High-Protein Ingredient You Should Be Adding to Your Overnight Oats, According to a Dietitian
The #1 High-Protein Ingredient to Add to Your Soup
I’m not a nutrition professional, so I called one to get some advice.Allison Tepper, M.S., RD, owner of Tepper Nutrition in Alexandria and Leesburg, Virginia, was happy to answer my questions. Though she admits that the best ingredients to add to any recipe are dependent on your family’s preferences, her pick is chicken.
“It’s the protein that comes to mind as being most versatile,” Tepper says. “It’s a little bit tricky because I wouldn’t say it’s best. Preference-wise, if you’re feeding the whole family, it’s likely to satisfy everyone.”
A ¾-cup serving of chopped chicken is loaded with a whopping 29 grams of protein.That’s right in line with the25 to 30 grams of proteinper meal that experts recommend to best support muscle mass. With 250 calories per ¾-cup serving, it’s no coincidence that our collection ofSoup Recipes for Weight Losscontains plenty of chicken-based options.
Perhaps even more important, there are real health benefits to eatingchicken soup, especially during cold and flu season. Of course, depending on what you add to your potage, you can also benefit from countless nutrients—alongside the immune-supporting zinc that naturally occurs in chicken.
The Best Recipes for Adding Chicken to Soup
Growing up, my ultimate cold-recovery food was my Jewish grandmother’schicken soupdotted with grated carrots. It was the real deal, with homemade broth strained of fat, then filled with egg noodles. But who has time for that?
I hate to admit it, but I almost always buy ready-made chicken broth for the soups I whip up at home. If I’m feeling ambitious, I like to cube raw chicken thighs and sear them before adding them to dishes like my favoriteChicken Chile Verde. But when I don’t have time for that, I’ll happily grab a pre-roastedrotisserie chickenat the grocery store and take it apart to add to the broth. I just make sure to use it withina few days of buying it, even if that means making more than one soup with it, then freezing it. And I can use the carcass to make more stock! For a pantry-staple option, you could add canned chicken for a quick protein-boost to your favorite soup.
Soups are among the best ways to access global cuisines at home. A recent visit to Morocco led to me becoming enchanted with spice-permeatedchorba, a vegetable soup that I now make at home with chicken wings.
The Bottom Line
While there are plenty of great ways to add protein to soup, chicken is the one that’s most likely to please a crowd. But I usually make soup just for myself, and I still rely on the meaty texture to placate my meat cravings, paired with the protein burst to keep me full from lunch until dinner.
There’s a reason that chicken soup is categorized as good “for the soul.” There are few foods as satisfying, even to a formerly soup-indifferent eater like me.
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central.Chicken, broilers or fryers, meat and skin, cooked, roasted.
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central.Chicken, broilers or fryers, meat and skin, cooked, roasted.
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central.Chicken, broilers or fryers, meat and skin, cooked, roasted.
