Lentil soup with chicken: recipes and cooking tips

Legends can be added to the benefits of lentils. Firstly, it is rich in vegetable protein, which is necessary for muscle growth. Secondly, lentils include vital amino acids, fiber, vitamins and minerals, which are necessary for the normal functioning of the whole organism. Thirdly, this representative of legumes is perfectly digested, providing satiety and not leaving a feeling of heaviness after dinner. This article proposes to cook lentil soup with chicken - one of the most delicious and healthy first courses. Below are step-by-step recipes for dishes.

Cooking recommendations

The first lentil dish has a rich taste, pleasant texture and a delicious aroma. But before proceeding with its preparation, a number of important recommendations should be taken into account:

1. To cook the soup, you can take red or green lentils. In the first case, the dish will have a creamy texture. This is explained by the fact that red lentils are a product peeled from the shell, therefore it is quickly and very well boiled. This allows you to use it when preparing mashed potatoes and cream soup.
2. To get a decent first course, you need to find out how much lentils are cooked in the soup. But it all depends on the variety. So, red lentils do not require soaking and cooked for no more than 15 minutes. But the green one takes about 1-1.5 hours. However, it does not boil and retains a dense structure.
3. The most delicious lentil soup is cooked in chicken broth. And for this you need to know how much time to cook the chicken. In this case, it all depends on the size of the carcass. On average, the broth from a small chicken is cooked for 35 minutes, while the bird should be placed in cold water, and after boiling, it is imperative to remove foam from the surface of the water. Then the broth will turn out tasty and aromatic.

Simple Lentil Chicken Soup

Hearty, bright and fragrant first course can be cooked according to the following recipe. A step-by-step instruction on how to cook lentil soup with chicken is as follows:

1. Chicken meat (200 g of any parts of the bird) put in a pan, pour water (2 l), wait for boiling, salt and cook over low heat for 20 minutes.
2. Rinse red lentils (200 g) under running water. Add to the broth and cook for 15 minutes with the bird.
3. Remove the chicken from the soup and separate from the bones.
4. Dice the onion and chop the carrots into strips.
5. Fry vegetables in vegetable oil (2 tbsp. L.) Until the onions are soft and add them to the soup.
6. Cook the dish for another 10 minutes. Do not forget to salt and pepper.
7. When serving, put chicken slices in each plate and sprinkle with greens on top.

Red Lentil Soup with Chicken and Tomato

This nourishing soup will help to forget about the feeling of hunger for a long time. It turns out thick and rich, but very light, because the calorie content of 100 g of such a dish is only 48 kcal. The direct recipe for lentil chicken soup consists of just a few steps:

1. Chicken breast (200 g) cut into small pieces.
2. Pour vegetable oil (3 tbsp.) Into a pan with a thick bottom, heat and put the prepared chicken in it. Fry until golden brown over medium heat.
3. Chop the onion and garlic (2 cloves) and put in the pan to the chicken. Add paprika (1 tsp) and a pinch of salt. Pass the vegetables together with pieces of poultry and spices for 5 minutes.
4. Cut carrots and pumpkin (250 g) into cubes and add to the pan. Fry all together for another 7 minutes.
5. Pour the vegetables with water (2.5 l).
6. Put red lentils (160 g) in the soup , bring to a boil, salt to taste.
7. After 15 minutes, add tomatoes (350 g), peeled and finely chopped, to the pan.
8. After boiling the soup, cook it for another 5 minutes. Adjust the taste by adding spices.

Green Lentil Chicken Soup

The next dish is not only tasty, but also bright. It perfectly combines both red bell pepper and green lentils, which do not boil in the soup, preserving their rich taste. To prepare such a dish is as easy as shelling pears:

1. Cook the chicken thigh broth (2 pcs.). After 30 minutes, get the bird, divide it into pieces.
2. In the broth (1.5 l) put green lentils (¾ tbsp.). To make it cook faster, it is recommended to pre-soak it for several hours. In addition, you need to know in advance how much lentils are cooked in the soup. If it is a green variety, then in this case the heat treatment time is 1 hour.
3. Cook lentils until half cooked, then add potatoes (3 pcs.), Diced, into the soup.
4. In a sunflower oil, fry the onions, grated carrots and sweet pepper, chopped into cubes until soft.
5. Add the fry to the pan, salt.
6. Continue cooking soup for another 10 minutes. At the end of cooking add pepper, bay leaf and Provence herbs.

Lentil soup with mushrooms and chicken

To make the dish as aromatic as possible, it is recommended to use dried forest mushrooms when preparing it. However, there is no doubt that lentil soup with chicken and mushrooms will come out no less tasty.

Prepare the dish in the following order:

1. In the pan, put half of the domestic chicken and pour 2.5 liters of cold water into it. Bring to a boil, then drain the first water, and pour the bird with the same amount of clean. Add the whole onion here. Cook the broth for 1-1.5 hours, depending on the age of the chicken.
2. Soak a handful of dried mushrooms in water for 1 hour.
3. In the finished chicken broth, add the potatoes into cubes (4 pcs.).
4. After 10 minutes, pour red lentils (1 tbsp.).
5. At this time, fry the onions and carrots and also add them to the soup along with soaked mushrooms.
6. To taste, add salt, pepper and turmeric (1 tsp) for a beautiful color. After 15 minutes, the soup can be removed from the heat.

Slow Cooking Lentil Soup Chicken Recipe

This nourishing soup will perfectly warm you in the cold winter. It turns out to be surprisingly tasty, and it’s easy to prepare:

1. First of all, boil 200 g of chicken meat until ready, cool and take it apart.
2. In the "Frying" or "Baking" mode, fry the onions and carrots in oil for 15 minutes. Add chopped tomato to this.
3. Put the chopped potatoes (2 pcs.), Chicken, 150 g lentils into the bowl with vegetables.
4. Add salt and spices (sun hop hops, basil, a tablespoon of soy sauce).
5. Pour the ingredients with water (2 L).
6. In the "Soup" mode, cook lentil soup with chicken for 40 minutes. When serving, you can add sour cream and greens to the plates.