Juli's Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly, and Frugal

I love ways to repurpose leftovers. Chicken frames are often leftover after people make a whole chicken and they are a great base for soups. With Thanksgiving just passed, people still have leftover turkey, many have turkey frames, and I'm sure those would also be amazing for this soup recipe from my friend Juli. (And since she has shared so many recipes here already, I decided to make her her own tag for posts so you can find them easily.) I hope you like this. Can't wait to try it myself!

Hey again! It’s me and I am sharing one recipe we have made a few times in the last few months and really enjoy. I’ve been on a kick where I get a whole, already-roasted, chicken from a local grocery for $5. They are fairly large which means that I can use the chicken for dinner and then the frame for a second dinner. That means I am feeding 6 people twice and only spending $5 on the protein. I dunno about you, but we are pinching as many pennies as we can and we have found this is one way to do that easily.

I’ve tried to get creative with how I use and then reuse, the chicken. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to share a few more of those ideas with you but for today I want to talk about this recipe. This is one is based fairly loosely on a Greek chicken recipe we love. It has the lemon and pepper, and the artichoke that I really enjoy in that dish but in a soup instead of baked in the oven. To start with, caramelizing the lemon juice and reducing it adds such a great flavor to the soup without overdoing it on the acidity and throwing the balance off. It’s got a tang, but it’s not sour. So you have the flavor from that, and then since I so like some sour in my soup I add a little more back at the end for some zip.

Feel free to change it up however you like. I like to roast veggies but you can skip that step and boil them with the rice. I like the char the oven gives them but it’s not required. Then you can leave out the rice and replace it with a small pasta. Or leave them both out for a lower-carb option. And then the veggies are infinitely customizable. You can add more or leave them out to suit your tastes and still enjoy the flavors.

Lemon Chicken Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 leftover chicken frame
1 onion, chopped
½ c. lemon juice
6-8 c. water
4 tbsp. olive oil
Salt or bouillon cubes to taste
3 medium zucchini, chopped
½ c. cherry tomatoes halved
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1-2 c. artichoke hearts, bottled or frozen
½ c. uncooked rice
1 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Oregano
¼ tsp. Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat half of the olive oil in a large soup pot. 

2. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent. 

3. Turn the heat to really high and then add half of the lemon juice and cook until it is almost all evaporated. 

4. Add the chicken frame and enough water to cover. Simmer for 2-3 hours until the broth taste like chicken and the meat pulls off the bone easily. Alternatively, you can do this in a pressure cooker. Place in the instant pot and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Allow to naturally release for 30 minutes and then release the remaining pressure.

5. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450. Add the artichoke hearts, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers to a baking tray. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, salt, and half the garlic. 

6. Placevegetables in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Stir and roast again for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

7. Strain and reserve the broth from the frame. Return the broth to the heat. Taste and add more bouillon or salt as needed. 

8. Add the rice, remaining lemon juice, garlic powder, black pepper, and oregano to the broth and simmer until the rice is tender.

9. While the rice is cooking remove the meat from the frame. 

10. Once the rice is tender add the chicken and the roasted vegetables to the soup. 

11. Taste and adjust salt or lemon as needed and serve right away.

Enjoy!

How do you repurpose chicken frames? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?