Chicken & Potato Soup

My Favorite Crockpot Soup of All Time

World, meet the best soup everrrrrrrrrr. Soup, meet your new fans.

Here’s all I could want in a soup: 1) Warmth. Maybe that’s a “duh.” Here it is highly achieved by the delicious, salty broth. 2) Protein. I can’t eat meals without protein. This soup is both filling and satiating with the delicious tasting shredded chicken. 3) Carbs. Give me those potatoes! The potatoes are so dang good and the perfect counterpart to the shredded chicken. 4) Intrigue. That’s where the carrots and celery come in. They brighten things nicely against the heavier and more filling elements of the chicken and potatoes.

And there you have it, the perfect soup. I guess technically this is a stew? But I’m going to call it soup. And this soup — MAN does it pair well with my favorite salad dressing of all time. The combination is ridiculous. The warm, filling soup is the perfect mate to the zesty, tangy, incredibly scrumptious dressing. I could literally eat this meal three times a week and probably never grow tired of it. Add in a great red wine and some bread. Gah, perfection. This meal sustains me in fall and winter, but I relied heavily on its comforting presence during the freeze back in February this year. Whenever the power would turn back on I would run into the kitchen and warm up a bowl before we lost power again.

Things about this soup – I found it here and have tweaked the recipe to my liking. I enjoy lots of broth in each bowl, so I like to always add extra broth and then flavor each bowl with salt and pepper to taste. I also like less chicken than the original recipe calls for.

Assembly is a breeze. Dice all the veggies. Throw everything into the crockpot on high and check periodically. The chicken cooks faster than the potatoes, so once the potatoes are soft and cooked is when I know it’s ready to eat — usually about 6 hours for my crockpot. Once everything is cooked you’ll pull out the chicken, shred it with a fork, throw it back in, mix, and enjoy!

Two 48 oz chicken broth – you’ll use one full one and about half to 3/4ths of the second one

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into small pieces, maybe 1/2 to 1/4 inch pieces (The potato takes the longest to cook – so small pieces is key. I pick big potatoes because I like a lot of potato.)

1 lb chicken (thighs or tenders work fine)

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

3 stalks celery, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

a couple hand fulls of carrots, diced

1 tsp salt, or to taste

pepper to taste (at least 1/4 teaspoon)

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp oregano