This page contains some affiliate links. Please review my disclosure policy.

The easiest chicken soup you’ll ever make! Just throw a whole chicken into a slow cooker and top with veggies for a full meal-in-one.

This recipe was a long-time coming. I’m Jewish which means my veins are filled with chicken soup, not blood. I should have called this recipe, “chicken soup for the maven soul”. Are they still publishing those books?

Anyway, it’s a right of passage as a Jewish female to master your very own chicken soup recipe. I’ve made chicken soup with my bubby, chicken soup with my Mom and chicken soup for my friends at Chabad, but never have I made chicken soup all by my lonesome. But now that I no longer live in my parents house, I figured it was time to step up to the plate and tackle my own version. 

When I set out to create my chicken soup, I text my mom to see what I should put in it. Her response was, “Salt”… super helpful. Thanks, Mom! So then I text Lexi who suggested carrots, parsley and celery. Much more helpful! I am a sucker for slow cooker recipes so I threw all of my ingredients in the slow cooker and patiently waited to see how it turned out. Spoiler alert: it’s delicious. 

Chicken Soup Ingredients

  • Whole chicken
  • Carrots
  • Celer
  • Onion
  • Fresh parsley
  • Liquid – I used a combination of chicken stock and water.
  • Bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper
  • Curry powder (optional)

How to Prep a Whole Chicken

If you’ve never cooked with a whole chicken, I know it can be intimidating. Like I mentioned, I grew up making this soup so whole chickens have never freaked me out! The first thing you want to do is remove the giblets. Reach inside the chicken and remove the giblets which are usually wrapped in a cloth bag. You can discard or save for another recipe if you have one! Rinse your chicken well with water and then you’re ready to get cooking!

How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

STEP 1: Wash your chicken and remove the giblets. Add the chicken to your slow cooker and top with celery, carrots and onion.

STEP 2: Tie together the parsley with a string and place on top of the vegetables along with the bay leaves. 

STEP 3: Pour in the liquid and add salt. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. 

STEP 4: Remove hate bay leaves and parsley from the slow cooker and use a couple of large spoons to remove the chicken. Set aside to cool slightly.

STEP 5: Remove meat from the bone (it should fall of easily) and chop or shred into bite-sized pieces. Place the meat back in the slow cooker with the veggies. 

STEP 6: Taste and add additional salt, pepper and add in the curry powder if using.

Storing Leftovers

Let cool slightly before storing leftover in an airtight container. It will last in the fridge for up to one week. One thing to note is that a layer of fat usually forms on the top of the container after storing in the fridge – you can scrape that off or simply heat it up and mix it in. Fat is where the flavor is, right?!

Print

Slow Cooker Chicken Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

The easiest chicken soup you’ll ever make! Just throw a whole chicken into a slow cooker and top with veggies for a full meal-in-one.

  • Author: Davida Lederle
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 4 hours 0 min
  • Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Slow Cooker
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 3 lb whole chicken
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 3 stalks of celery, sliced
  • 1 medium onion, sliced
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 cups of liquid (I used 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups of water)
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt (add more if desired)
  • pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Instructions

  1. Remove giblets from chicken.
  2. Add chicken to slow-cooker and top with celery, carrots and onion.
  3. Tie together parsley with string and place on top.
  4. Add bay leaves and pour in liquid.
  5. Stir in salt.
  6. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
  7. Remove bay leaves and parsley from slow-cooker and using large spoons remove the chicken. Let cool for 10 mins.
  8. Meat should easily come off the bone and then chop into bite sized pieces and place back into slow-cooker with veggies. Remove as much meat as you can.
  9. Add in additional salt if desired, pepper and curry powder if using.
  10. Serve warm or keep in fridge for up to one week.
  11. If keeping in fridge, the next day feel free to remove layer of fat from top using a spoon.

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 Comments

  1. I had fun with this, I couldn’t find a 3 pound organic chicken so I put my 4 pounder up with lots of celery, carrots and onion and bay leaves and parsley. I also added a peeled three inch piece of ginger with the curry. I put it on low and let it cook all night . In the morning I let it cool off, took all the meat off the bones and strained the broth which tasted great.
    I kept the carrots and tossed the other veggies. The soup is now cooling off. I made matzah balls yesterday and tonight I will put it all together. So thanks for the inspiration. Namaste, Clare






  2. I only recently started making chicken soup. I grew up eating canned (usually condensed) chicken soup, which should not even be allowed to be called chicken soup. I made this recipe first and immediately felt like I had been neglected or deprived of something as a child lol. This recipe is easy to make and tastes fantastic. It really does make toy feel better when you’re sick too! I don’t even know how that works, but it does. I tried a couple other recipes after this one, but I was only disappointed. This is definitely the recipe to use!






  3. I’m pregnant and suffering from the most rotten cold. I’m not allowed to take all my usual cold remedies so I have followed your recipe to the letter and it’s in cooking just now! Smells amazing! Can’t wait to try it, fingers crossed it helps me!