Dollop
Chicken and white bean soup
A light, lemony, high-protein soup of shredded chicken, creamy white beans and kale that fills you up without weighing you down.
- 50 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $2.69 a serving
- 440 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 chicken bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 3 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 6 cups water
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 440 calories, 41 g protein, 46 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $2.69 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No kale? Baby spinach works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, carrots and celery, the garlic, and and the beans.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, about 6 minutes.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic, rosemary and pepper flakes for 30 seconds, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
Add the water, bouillon cubes and beans, lay in the chicken whole and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, cover and for 18 to 20 minutes, until the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest part.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 19 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Lift out the chicken and it with two forks. Stir it back in with the kale and simmer for 5 minutes, until the kale is tender.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Low heatTimer: 5 min
Turn off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and pepper, taste for salt, and serve with parmesan.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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