Tumeric chicken soup is a fantastic cold and flu-busting bowl of comfort food. Once you taste it, you will fall in love with this delicious chicken soup with turmeric!

Make this easy anti-inflammatory chicken soup recipe and check out all of my homemade soup recipes to take you through the cold and flu season. If you suffer from the cold or the flu, you will also want to try my grandmother’s homemade chicken soup recipe! It is Jewish penicillin for the soul.

When you see the ingredients in this clean-eating turmeric chicken soup recipe, you will think I am crazy. This turmeric soup for colds is always on hand during the winter!

How to use turmeric in recipes:

I found that out the hard way when I made these turmeric chicken wings. They stained my fingers and baking sheet bright yellow!

Since both kids love homemade chicken soup, I thought using turmeric would be a great way to get some natural inflammatory ingredients into them in the winter.

Cooking with turmeric is easy. You will also love this easy Turmeric Curry Lime Cauliflower.

Ingredient notes:

Photos of the turmeric chicken soup ingredients
  • Low sodium chicken broth – feel free to use regular if you don’t like low sodium. You can also use chicken bone broth.
  • Chicken – you can use chicken breasts, parts, or whole chicken. Feel free to use bone-in chicken if you want some of the nutrients as bone broth.
  • Turmeric – any brand is fine. I use organic turmeric because it is less likely to be contaminated with lead.
  • Vegetables – Use the basics like onion, celery, and carrots. Or, mix it up fun veggies like I did use peas, parsnips, potatoes, or what you have on hand in your refrigerator.

How to make turmeric chicken soup:

Adding chicken soup ingredients to a pot.

This chicken soup with turmeric can be made in two ways.

If you are using chicken breast:

  • In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium heat.
  • Add onion and cook for 3 minutes.
  • Add other vegetables and cook for 5 minutes until they soften.
  • Add raw chicken breasts, water, broth, and spices.
  • Cover and bring to a boil.
  • Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the chicken breasts are done.
  • Remove the chicken, and with two forks, shred the chicken.
  • Return the chicken shreds to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes so the flavors soak into the chicken.

If you are using bone-in or whole chicken:

  • Using bone-in or whole chicken means this soup will need to cook longer.
  • Think of this more as a slower dump-and-go type of soup. Add everything to the pot.
  • Fill the pot with water above the chicken. Cover and bring the ingredients to a boil.
  • Allow the soup to boil for about 20 minutes, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for another hour. This slow simmer allows the flavors to really build.
  • This soup will taste even better the next day!

Seasoning notes:

You will first notice the almost “neon” yellow color of this gluten-free chicken soup. My son almost wouldn’t eat it because of this. After a few minutes, I finally convinced him to give it a try. After two bowls, he declared this recipe a success:-).

Fun swaps:

Add some greens to make this cold-busting soup even healthier. Kale and spinach are great additions to this soup. You can also add diced pieces of winter squash or sweet potato.

Chicken Tumeric Vegetabe Soup in two bowls. Cilantro is behind the bowls.

If you love chicken as much as we do, you will want to check out my delicious Gluten Free Chicken Recipes! I hope you can enjoy this soup for fun and not because your family is sick!!

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

Can you omit the potatoes?

You can easily omit the potatoes if you can’t eat nightshades or try to make this soup lower-calorie. You really can use any vegetables!

Can you freeze this soup?

I love to make a big pot full of turmeric chicken soup during cold and flu season. This homemade turmeric soup freezes well, too, so be prepared this winter!

How long will this turmeric chicken soup last?

This soup will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.

Serve with:

black soup crocks filled with comforting tumeric vegetable soup

Turmeric Chicken Soup {cold and flu busting soup}

Sandi Gaertner
Turmeric chicken soup is an amazing cold and flu busting, clean eating comfort food. You will fall in love with this delicious gluten free chicken vegetable soup!
5 from 4 votes
dairy free allergen icon
an egg free allergen icon
gluten free allergy icon
nut free allergen icon
soy free allergy icon
a sugar free allergen icon
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Gluten Free Soup Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 10
Calories 155 kcal

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients
  

Using Chicken Breast:

  • 6 cups water
  • 32 ounces low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 large chicken breasts raw
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons salt I added more later so you may want to taste and add salt as needed
  • 1 cup peas (frozen or fresh, not canned)
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 4 parsnips chopped
  • 2 large potatoes diced
  • 1-2 zucchini diced
  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
  • cilantro for garnish

Instructions
 

Using Boneless Chicken Breasts

  • In a large soup pot, heat olive oil on medium heat.
  • Add onion and cook 3 minutes.
  • Add other vegetables and cook 5 minutes until they soften.
  • Add raw chicken breasts, water, broth, and spices.
  • Cover and bring to a boil.
  • Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and cook until the chicken breasts are done.
  • Remove the chicken and with two forks, shred the chicken.
  • Return the chicken shreds to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes so the flavors soak into the chicken.
  • Garnish with cilantro.

Using A Whole Chicken or Bone In Chicken

  • Add all of the ingredients to the pot. Fill with water and broth to cover the chicken.
  • Cover and bring to a boil. Allow the soup to boil 15-20 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat to low and cook an additional hour.

Notes

  1. You can use any vegetables in this soup. I like to use what I have on hand in my refrigerator so sometimes traditional soup ingredients like carrots, onion, and celery, and others parsnips, peas etc.
  2. You can use boneless chicken breasts, bone-in, or even a whole chicken.
  3. This soup will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or in the freezer up to 4 months.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 155kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 13gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 562mgPotassium: 605mgFiber: 4gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 169IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 2mg
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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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Recipe Rating




12 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I made this soup for my mom who came down with COVID. I wanted her to have all the good foods that help the immune system. I started out by preparing the base for Grandma’s Chicken Soup recipe with the whole organic free range chicken, carrot, onion and celery and cooking for 2 hours then saw this recipe for Turmeric Chicken Soup. I followed that pathway at midstream. I added leeks, garlic, zucchini, carrots, fresh peas, butternut squash, kale for the veggies because I had them. Thank you for this recipe.

  2. 5 stars
    This is a delicious soup and soooo easy to make. My husband and my brother rave about it. Brother even wanted the recipe so that says something

  3. What a wonderful easy flavorful recipe. I made some for my neighbor who has been fighting a cold for three days I am sure she will enjoy this. Thank you

  4. I have been trying to add more turmeric to my diet ever since I read an article about how it can be as effective as ibuprofen when it comes to its anti-inflammatory properties. I messed up my back in an accident a few years ago and am trying to add more turmeric to my diet so I can cut back on my daily pain medicine. So I am going to have to try your soup. Thanks for sharing!

    1. I didn’t know it could be as effective Jen, thank you for mentioning that. I hope your back feels better, that must be really hard.