How to Make Chicken White Bean Soup

Serve healthy chicken-based soups to your family.

One-pot dishes like soups, stews and "stoups" give loads of good nutrition with minimal clean up afterward. Busy meal providers can muster up a delicious chicken and white bean soup with regular staples from the kitchen pantry and refrigerator. The leanness of the chicken and hearty goodness from the white beans will make this recipe a favorite any time of the year. Lighten it up in spring by adding some lemon zest. In winter, serve an impressive cold-weather meal by placing individual soups in a heated crock. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Things You'll Need

• Cast iron skillet
• Lid
• Soup pot
• Wooden spoon
• Chicken sausage
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 quart of chicken stock
• 2 cans of white beans
• 1 bag of fresh spinach, washed
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Ladle
• Fresh parsley
• Soup bowls
• Crusty bread

Instructions

1. Cook six Italian chicken sausages in a cast iron skillet. After they brown on one side, turn them over and add 1 inch of water. Place a lid on the skillet and allow them to cook through.

2. Pour 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a soup pot. Turn the heat on medium high. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf to the oil. Stir the ingredients until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken stock to the pot. Remove the bay leaf.

3. Turn the heat down to simmer. Stir the soup while adding the two cans of white beans. Immerse the washed bag of fresh spinach to the broth, pushing the greens down gently in the stock. Let the soup simmer until the spinach is wilted.

4. Remove the chicken sausages and slice them up on a cutting board. Set them aside.

5. Chop up the fresh parsley and set it aside. Place the sausage slices in the bottom of the soup bowl. Spoon the soup into the bowl. Sprinkle parsley over the soup.

Tips & Warnings

• Serve the soup with a slice of fresh, crusty bread.

• Don't overcook the spinach. Serve the soup while it is still a vibrant green.

References

• Rachel Ray: Chicken Sausage, White Bean and Escarole