Lemony chicken quinoa soup is everything you want in a comforting yet still healthy dish. If you haven’t ever added lemon to chicken soup, then you are going to love this one.

Canned soup and pre-packed soup is filled with MSG and other chemical preservatives. Making your own at home is simple and even better tasting than anything you can buy at the store. It’s healthier, too.

This is one of the most popular recipes from my TV show, Elizabeth Eats on FMTV. I’m excited to share the recipe and full-length episode with you here on the blog today so you can easily print the recipe and follow along at home!

This recipe is:

healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free,
soy-free, nut-free, protein-packed,
simple to prepare, no sugar added,
paleo*, comforting, and delicious

*Make it paleo by eliminating the quinoa.

This dish is perfect to turn your homemade bone broth into a show-stopping meal. The instructions for homemade bone broth are included in the recipe below, and you can read more about its gut-healing and immune system benefits here.

Once you get the hang of making this type of soup, the hands-on time is really pretty short. Add the bone broth ingredients to the pot, simmer 4-24 hours over low heat (or even in a slow cooker overnight), strain, then add the rest of your soup ingredients. Easy-peasy.

Watch the Full Episode to Learn More

If you already have bone broth prepared, simply add the rest of the ingredients per the instructions below for a quick healthy dish.

I usually make this dish from scratch with a whole chicken when they are a good price at the store. You can also buy pre-made bone broth at the store and use cooked chicken leftover from another dish to make this soup come together in a snap.

Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup With Homemade Bone Broth

• Author: Elizabeth Rider
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 4 hours
• Total Time: 4 hours 20 mins
• Yield: 8 1x

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Ingredients

• For the bone broth:
• 1 whole organic chicken
• 2–3 carrots, roughly cut to fit into the pot (5 carrots total)
• 1–2 large ribs celery, cut in 2-3 pieces (4 ribs celery total)
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 large white or yellow onion, cut in half
• 1½ teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 5 liters purified water
• For the Lemony Chicken Quinoa Soup:
• Finished broth and the chicken meat
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 ribs celery with green tops, chopped
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• ½ lemon, juiced
• about 1–2 teaspoons sea salt to taste
• ¼–½ freshly ground black pepper to taste

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Instructions

1. To make the bone broth (if your bone broth is prepared, skip to step 9):
2. Add whole chicken and veggies to a large 6-quart stockpot. Include the neck in the bone broth for extra collagen.
3. Coat with spices and apple cider vinegar. Fill with purified water until the chicken and veggies are just covered.
4. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
5. Cook at a low simmer for 1 hour, then remove the chicken with a pair of tongs and pull the meat off the bones.
6. Add the bones back to the pot and cook for at least an additional 3-5 hours, or up to 8-12+ hours. (If you have a crock pot, you can simmer your bones overnight for even richer, more nutrient-rich broth.)
7. When the broth is finished, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl or pot to collect the bone broth liquid. Discard the rest of the used chicken and veggies from the simmered broth.
8. Store your bone broth liquid in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 6 months.
9. To make the soup:
10. Combine broth, chicken, carrots, celery, and quinoa to the pot and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
11. Season with salt, to taste. Remove from heat and add the juice of half a lemon before serving.
12. Store in airtight glass containers in the refrigerator up to 4 days, or in the freezer up to 3 months.

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If you make this and love it, come back over to the comments and let us know!

Enjoy,