Chicken soup with spiralized zucchini noodles

A fresh, gluten-free version of a family-favourite meal!

It’s probably not a stretch in North American culture to say that for most kids (and probably adults, too), one of their very favourite soups is chicken noodle. It’s nutritious, comforting and – most of all – absolutely delicious. I love using a variety of small pasta shapes in my classic chicken noodle soup but when asked recently for a gluten-free suggestion, my thoughts turned instantly to freshly-spiralized, raw zucchini ‘noodles’. Turns out it was a huge hit! No one missed the gluten, even my carb-crazy husband, and the bowls looked and tasted so bright and fresh. Once your family tries zucchini noodles – and there are some great inexpensive spiralizing gadgets out there to produce them – you may find they’ll enjoy them in many other ways, like with spicy ginger peanut sauce or this flavourful lemon-thyme vinaigrette. Not only is this chicken soup a great way to use up leftover cooked turkey or chicken (including store-bought rotisserie chicken), the added bonus is that it’s ready in less than twenty minutes.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (15 mL) canola or olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) cooked chicken or turkey, shredded
4 cups (1 L) low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon (5 mL) dried thyme or 1 tablespoon (15 mL) fresh thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium zucchini, spiralized or shredded

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot; add onion and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, celery and carrots and sauté 3 minutes more, stirring often.
Add chicken, chicken broth, thyme, salt and pepper to pot. Cover pot with a lid and increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low (to maintain a simmer). Cook for 10 minutes.
Remove lid and add zucchini noodles (or grated zucchini) and cook 2 – 3 minutes longer, until zucchini is tender.

Serves 2 – 3; can easily be doubled.