Linda’s Chicken Vegetable Soup for your Slow Cooker or Instant Pot

Nothing is more comforting in winter than a nice, warm bowl of soup. And this dairy-free chicken vegetable soup recipe is a cool weather favorite. It’s healthy, nourishing, and will warm your bones after a long day of work or play, or if recovering from a cold. And it’s naturally allergy-friendly, with no need for any substitutes!

Dairy-Free Chicken Vegetable Soup for your Crockpot, Instant Pot, or Stove Top

This delicious slow cooker dairy-free chicken vegetable soup was originally shared with us by Linda Coss, from her second cookbook, What Else is to Eat? The Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook. Linda always focuses on family-friendly recipes using everyday ingredients. She knows how to balance nutrition with simple flavors that kids of all ages enjoy. We’ve recently updated her recipe and have also added alternate cooking methods and recipe options below.

Alternate Cooking Methods for Dairy-Free Chicken Vegetable Soup

Linda works at home and loves the “set it and forget it” ability of a Crockpot or slow cooker. But you can make it in another vessel if preferred. Here are quick instructions for each.

Instant Pot

You could simply use the slow cooker setting on your multi-cooker, but you can use the pressure cooker option if you want soup in a hurry. It will take about 25 to 30 minutes for the chicken cubes to cook through, from start to finish (including time to pressurize and depressurize). Drain the corn liquid into your Instant Pot with the rest of the ingredients, but reserve the corn and add it after everything is done cooking. If you have a small multi-cooker, you might want to halve the recipe. It’s important not to fill it up, or it won’t pressurize properly.

Stove Top

Just follow the directions, but cook the soup in a large soup pot on the stove. Bring the soup up to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer the soup for about an hour. If you want the dairy-free chicken vegetable soup to cook more quickly, sauté the onion, celery, and carrot for 5 minutes in a little olive oil in your pot over medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and sauté another 5 minutes, or until mostly cooked through. Stir in the remaining ingredients, and bring the soup just to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are tender. This should take about 15 minutes. You can also dice large carrots and potatoes for faster cooking.

Oven

I would use Linda’s Stew Option, if cooking in the oven. Put all of the ingredients in a medium to large Dutch oven, but  use just 1 can of chicken broth (1 3/4 cups). Cover and bake it at 325ºF for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through, and the potatoes and carrots are tender.

Dairy-Free Chicken Vegetable Soup Substitutions & Options

• Chicken Breast Meat – You can use chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, but they are a little dryer. The soup will be a little richer and the chicken a little more tender with chicken thighs. But both types work.
• Potatoes – Yukon gold potatoes or yellow potatoes can be substituted for the Russet potatoes, and they don’t need to be peeled. You can substitute sweet potatoes, but they will become softer with the long cook time.
• Broth – You can use a low sodiumvegetable broth or vegetable stock in place of the chicken broth, if desired. If you use a regular (not low sodium) broth, I would omit the garlicsalt, and add 1/4 teaspoongarlic powder plus salt, to taste.
• Other Additions – Green beans and other root vegetables, like parsnips, make great additions to this dairy-free chicken vegetable soup. If you want to add delicate leafy greens or fresh herbs, like baby spinach or fresh thyme, I might add them near the end of cooking. But heartier greens like chopped kale or cabbage can cook for longer.
• Accompaniments – Of course, it is delicious comfort food as is. But you can serve this soup or stew over leftover rice or with crusty bread or pita bread. Or you could garnish it with dairy-free croutons, dairy-free cheese shreds, green onions, fresh parsley, or crushed crackers, like saltines.

Meal Prep Notes

This is a great make ahead soup. It will last for up to three days in the refrigerator for weekday lunches or easy evening dinner. It also freezes well since it doesn’t contain any noodles, rice, or creamy alternatives. You can store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Chicken Vegetable Soup

By ingredients, this recipe is naturally dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, and generally top allergen-free. Just be sure to choose a broth or stock that suits your dietary needs.

For vegan and vegetarian soup, use vegetable broth, and substitute 1 to 2 cans of drained and rinsed chickpeas or other beans for the chicken. You can reduce the cook time in the crockpot to 6 to 8 hours, and in the Instant Pot by about 5 minutes.

Linda Coss

Dairy-Free Chicken Vegetable Soup

5 from 1 vote

This family-friendly soup recipe is naturally dairy-free and allergy-friendly, but boasts all of the comforting flavors you grew up with. It's wonderful on a cold day, and will warm you from head to toe! See the post above for recipe options.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time 8 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 7 servings

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Calories: 177

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 pound russet potato
• 1 medium yellow onion chopped
• 1 stalk celery thinly sliced
• ¾ cup sliced baby carrots
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes in tomato juice, not drained
• 1 8.5 ounce can unsalted whole kernel corn, not drained
• 3½ cups dairy-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt
• ½ teaspoon ground sage
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Method

 

1. Put the potato, onion, celery, and carrot into a 5-quart slow cooker.
2. Place the chicken on top of vegetables in slow cooker.
3. Pour the canned tomatoes and corn, with their liquids, on top of chicken.
4. Pour about 1 cup chicken broth into a small bowl or measuring cup. Add the mustard, paprika, garlic salt, sage, and pepper, and whisk to combine.
5. Pour the seasoned broth ad the remaining broth into your slow cooker.
6. Cover and simmer the soup on low for 8 hours.

Nutrition

Serving: 1.33cupsCalories: 177kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 17.6gFat: 4.1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 454mgFiber: 2.8gSugar: 2.3g

Notes

Stew Option: Use just 1 can of chicken broth (1 3/4 cups).

Nutrition Notes: One serving of this soup provides about 75% of the RDA for vitamin A and 20% or more of the RDA for potassium, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12.

Credit: This recipe is reprinted with permissions from What Else is to Eat? The Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook.

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Also Try My Dairy-Free Chicken Barley Soup Recipe!