Chicken Spinach Pesto Soup

October 28, 2009 { }

gluten-free-sugar-free-chicken-spinach-pesto-soup

I am really good at taking care of my husband and everyone else and sometimes forget that I need to take care of me. I saw a soup similar to this in my favorite magazine, Eating Well, and have thought about making it for quite some time. Well, I finally made it for myself and it’s become my favorite lunch. One pot is enough for an entire week of lunches for me. I like it with a nice green salad.

I put the soup into pint jars so that I can pull it out of the refrigerator and pop it right into the microwave. I even eat it right out of the jar. Makes clean-up simple.

I’m a spinach and pesto fiend. I eat spinach almost every day, probably a pound a week or even more. I like it raw with nothing on it, in salads, with my fruit and cottage cheese, in omelets. I use pesto in so many things, too – as a salad dressing, a dip, on my eggs. They’re both full of good nutrients -so of course I thought they’d be great in a soup. Joe even likes spinach now.

Another quick kitchen tip: When I roast chicken breasts for dinner I always roast a few extra for sandwiches, soups, and salads. It makes for a quick and healthy lunch or dinner. I like to make this soup with the extra chicken.

How do I roast bone-in chicken breasts? Place them skin side up on an aluminum foil covered sheet pan, rub with a little good quality olive oil, season with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Pop them into a 350 degree oven for 40 – 45 minutes, until juices are clear and they temp at 170 or so. Cover & let rest for 10 minutes.

I wanted to share with you a favorite kitchen gadget of mine – a digital kitchen scale. At first, I didn’t think it would be much use to me but now I don’t know what I’d do without it. Some things I’m good at eyeballing, other things I need some help.

scale bowl

I love that I can put a bowl on the scale, set it to zero, and then weigh whatever I need. It’s particularly helpful when baking. When writing this recipe, I used it to weigh out 6 ounces of spinach.

scale spinach I only used four ounces, but now I know exactly how much I used so I could tell you. I’ve also used my scale to weigh meats for marinades, for cooking recipes written with metric measurements or in pounds/ounces, in baking, and in so many cooking recipes.

This particular model, the EatSmart Precision Pro Food Scale, will be one of the give-aways during Holiday Food Fest – which starts next Thursday! I like it because I can see the display easily when using large bowls and stock pots. It’s also light-weight, easy to store, and cleans up easily. The price point is good when compared to similar models.

I’m still collecting recipes for an e-book to help raise funds for St. Jude Hospital and kids with cancer. Please send your recipes to amy2804 (at) gmail dot com.

This post is linked to What Can I Eat That’s Gluten-Free hosted by The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and Healthy Fats hosted by Kitchen Stewardship.

This is also linked to Pennywise Platter Thursday at Nourishing Gourmet.

Print friendly recipe
Chicken Spinach Pesto Soup
serves 4 – 6

1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into ¼ inch rounds
1 large clove of garlic, grated on a microplane
5 cups good quality, homemade chicken stock
1 ½ teaspoons marjoram
4 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 large bone-in chicken breast, roasted
1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans or great northern beans, rinsed
1 ½ tablespoons good quality pesto
fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed stock pot over medium high heat. Add carrots and cook for several minutes, until they begin to soften. Add garlic while stirring and cook for another minute or just until garlic begins to color. Add stock and marjoram. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, until flavors begin to infuse through the soup. Add spinach and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove chicken from bone and shred with fingers into bite-sized pieces. Add chicken, beans, and pesto. Heat through. Taste and season with fresh pepper and more pesto as desired.

Enjoy!

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Comments

32 Responses to “Chicken Spinach Pesto Soup”

SnoWhite
October 28th, 2009 @ 9:04 am

that looks so good right now!! I finally found a no-nut pesto recipe — so, maybe I can actually try this!!

[Reply]
Kim, The Food Allergy Coach
October 28th, 2009 @ 9:52 am

YUM! I’m putting this on my to make list.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 9:55 am
@Kim, The Food Allergy Coach, Let me know how it turns out. I love it.

[Reply]
Kelly
October 28th, 2009 @ 10:05 am

YUM! And I’m too lazy to make my own pesto, but I found a gfcf one at the store -woohoo!

[Reply]
Sandy Gillett
October 28th, 2009 @ 1:52 pm

You have wonderful meals. The key has got to be to plan ahead. This soup looks really good and I love spinach too. I love the way I feel after eating it, uplifted and energetic. Joe is one blessed man.

[Reply]
Lauren
October 28th, 2009 @ 4:16 pm

This sounds amazing! I especially love the idea of placing them in jars/containers & just reheating the container! The flavours sound perfect!

About the St. Jude’s I just have to make my entry, then I’ll post & email you. It should be done by Friday.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
@Lauren, I’m so happy that you’re going to add a recipe to the St. Jude e-book. Thank you so much!

[Reply]
Linda
October 28th, 2009 @ 6:11 pm

Yum! I hope you have another great recipe for next week’s soup theme. I love using the microplane I won to grate garlic.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
@Linda, I’m so glad you love your microplane!! I couldn’t live without mine. I just might have a great soup cooking for you.

[Reply]
gfe--gluten free easily
October 28th, 2009 @ 10:00 pm

I love how you are so honest and so helpful, Amy! That scale looks like it will be a geat tool and wonderful prize for the Holiday Food Fest.

This soup looks so nourishing and so tasty. I can just imagine the taste. I’ve become quite addicted to spinach myself the last few years and before I’d turn my nose up at it. It’s amazing how great it tastes I think. I throw some in my scrambled egg, in smoothies, in salads, etc. I’ll definitely give this one a try. It sure would come in handy for lunches like you said.

Thanks!

Shirley

[Reply]
Bake in Paris
October 28th, 2009 @ 10:52 pm

Since the last Vietnamese Phor on Daring Cooks’ October challenge, I have been so into making soup, and this Chicken Spinach Pesto Soup will be my next thing. Simply delicious and thanks for sharing!

I recently read about your comment to Jenn Cuisine regarding moving to a personal hosted blog. I have been thinking about doing so but don’t have a clue just how to go about doing it. Anything I can read about? Besides registering a url with a hosting company, I am blank about the rest…

Thanks,
Kris

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 8:54 am
@Bake in Paris, I actually took a class that taught me all about WordPress, how to set it up, what plug-ins to use, etc. I also got someone to design my blog. I didn’t how to go about the process and the class really helped. I used to own a small business and I paid a ton of money every year to have my site hosted and maintained. I learned how to do it in this class myself for much less. If you want more info, shoot me an e-mail.

[Reply]
Alta Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 10:26 am
@Amy, Where did you take this class? Since we’re neighbors and all…

[Reply]
Ali @ The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
October 28th, 2009 @ 11:44 pm

Yum, that soups sounds awesome Amy! I love my kitchen scale too, though your looks much nicer than mine.

I could eat soup practically every day this time of year, Happy Cooking! -Ali

[Reply]
Alta
October 29th, 2009 @ 10:26 am

This soup sounds wonderful. I love clear-broth soups, so healing and yummy. And spinach in it sounds awesome!

[Reply]
Pennywise Platter Thursday 10/29
October 29th, 2009 @ 10:28 am

[...] Yesterday, I shared about my experiences shopping for frugal, but organic local produce. If you haven’t already, go over there and add your two cents! Amy @ Simply Sugar and Gluten-Free – Chicken Spinach Pesto Soup [...]
Jen
October 29th, 2009 @ 3:12 pm

This looks great – thanks for sharing, cannot wait to try it!

[Reply]
Greta @ Mom Living Healthy
October 29th, 2009 @ 9:12 pm

This soup looks delicious! I am saving it to use in the next couple of weeks. Thank you

[Reply]
Sandy Gillett
October 29th, 2009 @ 9:16 pm

I made this this evening and it is delicious Amy! Thank you so much.

I am very interested in your planning process. You have wonderful fully nutritous meals every day, 3 meals a day and I know it must take a good amount of planning. I’m wondering if you would consider doing a post sharing your weekly planning, shopping, cooking, etc. procedure? I am very organized, sequential, methodical and list driven but I can’t seem to get the meals happening. Thank you.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
@Sandy Gillett, I know that you mentioned my planning earlier and your comment slipped through – I’m so sorry. Yes, I can work on a post. It might take a couple of weeks but what I can tell you up front is to take things slow and not try to do too much change at once. I often eat the same meal several times a week just for simplicity’s sake.

Anyway, too much for here but if you have any specific questions shoot me an e-mail.

[Reply]
Sandy Gillett Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 8:39 am
@Amy, Thank you Amy.

[Reply]
Katrina (gluten free gidget)
October 29th, 2009 @ 10:03 pm

OMG YUM!!!!!!!

[Reply]
Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship
October 31st, 2009 @ 4:40 am

Mmmmm…a great way to use the ton of pesto I have frozen from the summer! Thank you so much for joining the (last) October Fest Carnival of Super Foods! It’s been great fun…Katie
PS – could you add the link to the carnival in your post, please, so others can find the great recipes there?

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 3:37 pm
@Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship, Absolutely – I thought I did. Maybe I didn’t hit ‘update’ after making the changes. Thanks for letting me know.

[Reply]
Gretchen
October 31st, 2009 @ 6:29 pm

Going to try this. I’m getting out the old cooking pot. I do not cook greatly. Never purchased Pesto before. What is a “good quality pesto?” Any examples? I wouldn’t know good from poor. Thanks

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:48 am
@Gretchen, I use homemade pesto. If you’re not a cook, though, you probably don’t have any in your freezer. It’ just a puree of basil, Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not Kraft), olive oil, garlic, and pine nuts. I add walnuts to mine, too.

By good quality I just mean one that tastes good and has quality ingredients. It flavors the soup so if the pesto isn’t good, your soup won’t taste good. You might look at your local health food/alternative/specialty grocery store. Funny – I’ve never bought it so I don’t know what section to look in.

[Reply]
Gretchen Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 3:51 pm
@Amy, At some point maybe throw the recipe up on your blog… of course not if it is a secret, secret recipe.

Thanks again for your response. Off to the grocery store.

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
@Gretchen, Will do. Let me know how it goes….hope you love the soup.
Gretchen
November 3rd, 2009 @ 7:24 pm

Soup to die for… Going to make again for family at Thanksgiving. Do you freeze your soup in jars or plastic?

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
@Gretchen, I am so glad you like it. I freeze it in wide-mouth glass jars but I leave extra head space at the top because it expands. Even the freezer bags would get little tears in them and they were a nightmare to defrost.

[Reply]
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet
November 4th, 2009 @ 6:46 pm

This looks very yummy (and frugal). Thanks for sharing (and I didn’t even notice that you hadn’t linked to me, LOL)

[Reply]
Amy Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
@Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet, I’m glad you didn’t notice but it’s just not very polite. LOL. Looking forward to this week’s event!

[Reply]

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