Immunity Soup: Cooked broth with vegetables, chicken, chickpeas, and kale in a round white dish on a bamboo mat next to raw kale on a white and grey marble surface (with logo overlay)

Immunity Soup

40 Comments / By /

Combine some immunity-boosting superfoods together to make a delicious immunity soup to keep your family healthy all season long.

Jump to Recipe

When it comes to foods, there are certain ones that are better at helping your immune system keep you healthy. This immunity soup combines a bunch of them together to give you and your family that boost of superfoods to help keep you healthy all season long.

Chickpeas: Rich in zinc
Dark Leafy Greens: Vitamin C
Garlic: Allicin
Hot Broth: Steaming stock makes your nose run which helps clear out congestion
Crushed Red Pepper: Also helps clear out sinuses
Mushrooms: Vitamin D

I wasn’t so sure about this recipe at first. That’s a lot of “stuff” to put in one soup, but it ended up being really good! Of course, the boys didn’t really care for it much, so we had a lot of leftovers. Luckily, it also reheats well.

When you read through the recipe, don’t be turned off by the amount of garlic in it. When I first saw 10 cloves I thought it must be a mistake. But since it was my first time making it, I followed the instructions. I have since changed a few other things, but the garlic has been the same. There are so many other flavors in the soup, that you have to have that amount of garlic to even get much of a taste. And since garlic is so good for the immune system, you want a lot of it in there.

Immunity Soup Step by Step

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups onion (chopped)
  • 3 stalks celery (chopped)
  • 2 carrots (chopped)
  • 1 lb mushrooms (sliced)
  • 10 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 4 sprigs thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 lb chicken (shredded)
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 12 oz kale (chopped)

Preparation

Start by getting all your ingredients prepped, chopping the vegetables, etc. Everything gets added in pretty quickly. It helps to have it all ready to go before you start. Chop up the onion, carrots, and celery. Mince the garlic. Slice the mushrooms. And chop the kale up into smaller pieces.

Bamboo cutting board with shredded kale, minced garlic, shredded carrots, diced onion, diced celery, and sliced mushrooms on a white and grey marble surface

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook for a few minutes until they soften slightly.

Large stockpot with prepared vegetables cooking in oil on a white and grey marble surface

Then add the mushrooms and garlic, stirring often, for another few minutes. Tyler loves that we are starting to let him help at the stovetop. He got to help add the mushrooms to the soup,. Tyler commented about how they are “silly feeling on my fingers”.

Immunity Soup
Immunity Soup
Large stockpot with prepared vegetables and mushrooms cooking in oil on a white and grey marble surface

Stir in the broth, thyme, bay leaves, and chickpeas, bringing it all to a slow simmer.

Large stockpot with prepared vegetables and mushrooms cooking in chicken broth on a white and grey marble surface

Add the shredded chicken breast and red pepper. Cover the pot and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Large stockpot with prepared vegetables, mushrooms, shredded chicken, and chickpeas cooking in chicken broth on a white and grey marble surface

Mix the kale in the soup and simmer until the kale is soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you used full leaves for the thyme and bay leaves, find those and remove them from the soup. Then serve the immunity soup warm.

Immunity Soup: Cooked broth with vegetables, chicken, chickpeas, and kale in a round white dish on a bamboo mat next to raw kale on a white and grey marble surface (vertical)

Recipe

Originally Published On: November 17, 2017

Last Updated On: July 27, 2023

Immunity Soup: Cooked broth with vegetables, chicken, chickpeas, and kale in a round white dish on a bamboo mat next to raw kale on a white and grey marble surface

Immunity Soup

Combine some immunity-boosting superfoods together to make a delicious immunity soup to keep your family healthy all season long.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course:
Main Dish
Cuisine:
American
Keyword:
chicken
|
chickpeas
|
soup
|
vegetable
Servings: 8 cups
4.60 from 5 votes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups onion (chopped)
  • 3 stalks celery (chopped)
  • 2 carrots (chopped)
  • 1 lb mushrooms (sliced)
  • 10 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 4 sprigs thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
  • 1 lb chicken (shredded)
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 12 oz kale (chopped)

Recommended Equipment

Instructions

  • Prepare all the ingredients by chopping the vegetables as needed
  • Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat
  • Add onion, carrots, and celery and cook for about 5 minutes
  • Mix in mushrooms and garlic for another 3 minutes
  • Stir in the chicken broth, thyme, bay leaves, and chickpeas
  • Add the chicken and cayenne pepper
  • Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes
  • Add the kale to the soup and simmer for a few minutes, until the kale is soft
  • Remove sprigs of thyme and bay leaves and serve warm
Click the buttons below to share and print this recipe
Pin Recipe Print Recipe
Nutrition Facts
Immunity Soup
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 161 Calories from Fat 72
% Daily Value*
Fat 8g12%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Cholesterol 20mg7%
Sodium 922mg38%
Potassium 775mg22%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 10g20%
Vitamin A 6970IU139%
Vitamin C 74.7mg91%
Calcium 109mg11%
Iron 1.9mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

Other Soup Recipes to try

More Kale Recipes

Other Recipes with Chickpeas

40 thoughts on “Immunity Soup”

  5. Cynthia Salgado

    5 stars
    This is so good! It reminds me the chicken soup my grandma used to make: she would use a lot of cilantro so I will take like 10 minutes to take them all out! 10 garlic cloves sounds indeed like a lot! But I’ll give it a try, love soup!

    Reply
  10. angela@marathonsandmotivation.com

    I just wrote a post on tips for staying healthy during this winter! This soup sounds like a great addition to my plans and it looks delicious!!

    Reply
  13. toastycritic

    4 stars
    I definitely think I need to change my eating habits over the holidays. I am not doing well as I caught some pretty nasty bug that doesn’t seem to want to go away and it causing problems.

    Reply
    1. Stephanie Lynch

      I feel like the plague hit my house last week. We had two with pink eye, an ear infection, a sinus infection, colds for everyone, and my youngest with potential asthma that we are treating. I will definitely be making this again soon to try to give our immune systems a boost after this hit!

      Reply
  16. Flossie McCowald

    Not sure which I like better – the pics of this yummy-looking soup, or of your little helper! This is EXACTLY what we all need at this time of year – no one can afford to be sick around the holidays! 🙂

    Reply
  17. Jolina

    Oh yeah bring on all the soup! It’s been freezing and I haven’t seen the sun in 2 days!! And yes, bring on all the garlic too. We have this ramen we always order at a Japanese restaurant and it’s chockfull of garlic so delicious! Can’t wait to give this a try at home. PS: Cute little helper you got there 🙂

    Reply
  19. Christa

    My grandmother always said there is no such thing as too much garlic! Lol. This soup looks yummy. It’s the perfect time of year to boost the immune system.

    Reply
  20. Courtney

    Ooooo I need to make this ASAP! My daughter has been feeling under the weather and I do not want to catch those germs! Maybe this soup will help my body keep it away

    Reply

Leave a Comment

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

Recipe Rating