Is there truly anything more comforting than a bowl of chicken soup? Even better when it’s a hot bowl of keto chicken noodle soup with zoodles.
The soup starts with rotisserie chicken or chicken you roast yourself and then mix in some low carb vegetables and you have a hearty and delicious bowl of paleo, gluten-free, keto-friendly and low carb chicken soup.
While the classic chicken noodle soup would have more carrots, we added just a touch to keep the carbs lower at 6 net carbs per serving, with 5 net carbs for a large carrot, this favorite recipe ingredient still has a home on a low carb diet in small quantities.
A printable recipe card is at the bottom of the post!
Keto Chicken Noodle Soup
We eat a lot of soup at home, all year-round actually! But there’s just something special about keto chicken soup made with zoodles instead of noodles. I promise! You won’t even miss them in this recipe.
My favorite classic chicken noodle soup is a simple recipe by Ina Garten, this is a low carb keto chicken and zucchini alternative that is just as wow.
The secret to a fantastic low carb chicken soup (or any chicken noodle soup for that matter?) Is to ROAST the chicken before adding it into the broth and vegetables.
So many recipes just have you simmer raw chicken until it’s cooked through….boring! That leaves you with flavorless chicken and then you need to add a ton of extra ingredients to give it flavor.
But starting with either a rotisserie chicken or roasting your own makes a WORLD of difference in the flavor of your keto chicken noodle soup with zoodles.
Ingredients for Keto Chicken Soup
You might be surprised to learn there’s only 6 ingredients in the best keto chicken soup recipe you’ll ever have (if I do say so myself). Starting with a store-bought rotisserie chicken makes this a 30 minutes or less meal, just prep your ingredients while the broth heats up, cook just until the vegetables are cooked through, and serve!
- 1.5 lb chicken, cooked and shredded
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 1 cup celery, 4-5 stalks chopped
- 2-3 carrots, diced in large pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12-16 oz zucchini noodles
If you’re following a ketogenic diet, you might be wondering where your fats are coming from. We decided to roast the chicken ourselves in butter and olive oil, so there’s fat from the chicken (instructions are included below). You can also use chicken thighs instead of the chicken breast since thighs have a higher fat content.
Adding a little heavy cream at the end will also increase the fat content on the soup. Sometimes we’ll make this a creamy keto chicken soup recipe and other times we’ll skip the extra cream.
But of course if you’re following a paleo diet, then you do not want to add heavy whipping cream, but could mix in a little coconut milk instead.
And are carrots keto?
One medium-sized carrot has 5 net carbs and since this recipe only has 2-3 carrots in it, the carrots are just adding 2-3 net carbs per serving to the soup. While y0u don’t want to go and chop on numerous carrots, using a couple in a keto chicken “noodle” soup will still work for most people.
How to Make Chicken and Zucchini Soup
To make low carb chicken soup with zoodles, there are just a few basic steps.
- Roast your own chicken or cut up a store-bought rotisserie chicken
- Heat the chicken broth
- Prep the vegetables which the broth heats
- Simmer the soup briefly and serve
So easy! The entire recipe from start to finish can be on the table in 30 minutes.
Prep the Chicken
If you bought a pre-cooked chicken for the keto chicken soup, you’ll want to cut up the breast and thigh pieces and will need 1-1.5 lb of chicken meat.
If you’re making your own chicken, here’s the simple recipe we use:
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Lay the chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs) on a greased baking pan
- Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp melted butter, 1/4 tsp sea salt, and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- Roast in the oven for about 30+ mins, or until the chicken internal temperature reaches 165F. How long it takes to reach 165F depends on how big the chicken breasts are. Sometimes I’ll cut them in half or quarters to speed up the baking time.
- Wait until it cools slightly and then cut it up into bite-sized pieces.
Heat the Chicken Broth
Heat chicken broth in a stockpot over medium heat.
I purchase a lot of organic canned and packaged items, but for soup, I almost always buy Swanson’s brand chicken, it has lots of flavor and just the right amount of needed salt for a hearty soup. And no, they did not pay me to say this, its just my favorite for soup!
Turn down to medium-low once the chicken broth is heated.
Cut the Vegetables
I like to prep the vegetables while the broth is heating.
Cut up the celery, 1 cup for us was about 4-5 medium-sized stalks. It could be less depending on how big the celery stalks you purchase are.
We suggest using between 2-33 carrots in the recipe, it might come down to are you following a paleo diet, keto diet, or low carb diet and how many carrots you want in your chicken zoodle soup.
Peel the carrots, cut them lengthwise and then slice again to make small “half coins.” Be sure the carrot is thinly sliced so they’ll be cooked through with such a short simmer time.
Cook the Soup
Add the carrots and celery to the heated chicken broth and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, which will take about 10 minutes.
Add the warm, roasted chicken and the zoodles to the pot and simmer for 1 more minute to heat through.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped, fresh parsley if desired.
The zoodles will continue to cook and you don’t want mushy zoodles, so you’ll want to take the keto chicken soup off of the stove right away and serve immediately.
We had quite a bit leftover the next day, the zoodles were a little soften than when they were first served, but they did not get mushy at all.
This truly makes the BEST keto chicken soup recipe.
Soups on! Serves 6.
Other Keto Soup Recipes You’ll Love
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Keto Chicken Noodle Soup with Zoodles
A low carb keto chicken "noodle" soup recipe with zoodles that cooks in under 30 minutes when you start with a rotisserie chicken. The low carb chicken soup is also paleo and gluten-free. So easy and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb chicken, warm cooked and shredded
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 1 cup celery, 4-5 stalks chopped
- 2-3 carrots, diced in large pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 12-16 oz zucchini noodles
Instructions
- Bring the chicken broth to a simmer over medium heat in a large pot
- Add the diced carrots and celery, simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. If your chicken is COLD, add it to the pot now.
- Add the pre-cooked WARM chicken and zoodles to the pot and cook for 1 more minute until it's heated through. If you just cooked your own chicken or have a warm rotisserie chicken, you can simply cut it up and add it as the last step.
- Adjust seasonings and add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.
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Andrea Hellgren says
Nutrient values will make your recipes useable for me. Thanks.