On a chilly day, nothing beats a warm bowl of soup! And this Gingery Chicken Soup with Bok Choy has all the ingredients of a classic chicken soup, plus a deeply aromatic ginger-infused broth (the secret? Smashed ginger root!) and a few extras like coconut aminos, sesame oil, and lime juice to place it in a category of its own. It’s a wonderfully comforting recipe that comes together in under an hour.
Ginger chicken soup that’s built for the coldest of days
👉🏼 It’s no secret that I love chicken soup; take one quick look at the dairy-free soup recipes on NK, and you’ll find recipes for Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric Chicken Soup (one of the most popular recipes on my site!), Seriously Good DF Chicken and Broccoli Soup, and Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Soup, that are all favorites at our house and yours.
But since I’m pretty adventurous with our weekly meal plan, I’m always looking to try something new. For a long time, I’ve wanted to work on a gingery chicken soup recipe you can make during the colder months! So here we are, ginger chicken soup problem solved 😉
When I first set out on developing this recipe, I had some other ingredients in mind that I wanted to use. But when I actually started testing it, I decided to keep as simple as possible so it’s easy to make on a random chilly day when you or someone in your house could use a little soup comfort.
Which means that it’s made with basically the same ingredients you’d use in a classic chicken soup (onions, carrots, garlic, celery), plus lots of fresh ginger, bok choy for something green, and, of course, some complementary garnishes to bring it all together in the best way.
Recipe testing notes
If you peek at the recipe below, you might be wondering why a ginger chicken soup wouldn’t include any minced ginger.
There’s a good reason, and here’s why:
The first time I tested this recipe, I added a few dried spices and minced ginger to the vegetables while they sautéed. The flavor was really good, but I felt like the dried spices and chopped pieces of ginger overpowered some of the other flavors in the pot.
So during my second round of testing, I not only omitted the spices, but also the chopped ginger from the sauté. I LOVE ginger, but I don’t always love the bite of tiny pieces of ginger in a dish.
Instead, I chose to rely only on smashed ginger pieces that simmer with the soup. This method gives a more even ginger flavor throughout the broth, with a warm spiciness that’s SO GOOD and present in every bite without being overpowering.
After that, I also experimented with grating a little fresh ginger into the soup using a microplane during the final simmer and found that’s a great way to get a little more gingery flavor if that’s what you’re craving. This option is ideal because it lets you customize the ginger intensity to your preferences!
A few key ingredient notes
The chicken
Picking up a warm rotisserie chicken is one of my favorite ways to add already cooked chicken to a soup like I do in our Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie recipe.
When the chicken is still warm, it’s more tender and moist, so it’s easier to remove the meat and shred it. The breast meat from a rotisserie chicken is also just about the perfect amount of chicken for this recipe. And, as a bonus, you can use the leftover meat and bones to make a simple homemade chicken stock!
Big pieces of ginger
It might seem like a lot of ginger – 2 4-inch pieces – but since it’s just simmering in the broth for a relatively short amount of time, it does the perfect job of imparting the right amount of ginger flavor into the soup.
No need to peel it; just buy fresh-looking pieces of ginger and give them a good scrub under water before using.
Bok choy
Bok choy is so lovely in soup and cooks very quickly.
If you can’t find bok choy or prefer a substitution, a few large handfuls of baby spinach would make a good alternative.
How to make gingery chicken soup
Serving suggestions
This soup is perfect as it is, right out of the pot! But if you want to serve it with a scoop of rice, of a tangle of rice noodles those additions would be delicious.
If you enjoyed this ginger chicken soup I’d love it if you would take a moment to rate and review it below! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 It’s also a great place for questions, and super helpful for other readers if you share any modifications you made to the recipe.
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Gingery Chicken Soup with Bok Choy
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Paleo
Description
On a chilly day, nothing beats a warm bowl of soup! And this Gingery Chicken Soup with Bok Choy has all the ingredients of a classic chicken soup, plus a deeply aromatic ginger-infused broth (the secret? Smashed ginger root!) and a few extras like coconut aminos, sesame oil, and lime juice to place it in a category of its own. It’s a wonderfully comforting recipe that comes together in under an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 leek, light green and white part cut into half moons
- 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 medium carrots, diced
- 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced on a diagonal
- 2 4-inch pieces of ginger root, cleaned very well, tough ends trimmed, and cut in half lengthwise
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 7–8 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken (about 1 pound)
- 10 ounces baby bok choy, or 2 medium sized bunches, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional garnishes: Thinly sliced green onions, chili oil, cilantro, and extra lime wedges
Instructions
Time-saving tip: Prep the bok choy and shred the chicken while the veggies sauté or while the soup simmers.
- Prep the ginger. Place trimmed, cleaned, and halved ginger root pieces flat side down on a cutting board and firmly smash with the side of your knife, a meat pounder, or a rolling pin until the flesh cracks in some spots.
- Sauté the veggies and aromatics. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add the diced onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and cleaned ginger pieces. Sauté for 12-14 minutes, until the ginger is fragrant, onions are translucent, and everything is starting to caramelize.
- Simmer the soup. Pour 7 cups of broth into the pot with the veggies and bring to a simmer, scraping up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until carrots and celery are tender and the broth is deeply aromatic from the ginger.
- Finish assembling the soup. Add the shredded chicken and bok choy to the soup pot and stir to combine. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is warm and the bok choy is done to your liking. For a brothier soup, add an additional cup of broth. Add the coconut aminos, sesame oil, and lime juice, and season the soup to taste with salt and pepper. At this point, you can remove the ginger pieces and grate a little extra fresh ginger into the soup with a microplane for more ginger flavor. Ladle into bowls, garnish with thinly sliced onions, cilantro, and chili oil if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
This soup should keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Asian
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