Turmeric Chicken Soup

Turmeric Chicken Soup ~ Slow cooked (or not) chicken soup brightly hued yellow by turmeric with golden potatoes, green beans, and cauliflower.I was sick.

I hate being sick.

Elizabeth was sick too.

I hate when Elizabeth is sick.

We’re doing pretty good now. Life is getting back to normal, which actually means craziness is resuming. She’s back to school. I am back to work. We’re both still ignoring the piles of laundry sitting in baskets, so see, life is normal again.

Right before we succumbed to germs, I had purchased some produce and thawed chicken. A couple days went by to where we were only eating that condensed chicken noodle soup that comes in the red and white can. I don’t know why, but I MUST have that stuff when I get sick. I blame my grandmas.

Well, as the energy slowly returned, the produce began looking a bit sad. The chicken wasn’t going to last in the fridge much longer, therefore making my own soup seemed logical. I have been wanting to make a soup where turmeric was the star spice so I took to google and did a search. Not too far down in my search I saw a familiar face, my fellow blogger and friend Sandi from Fearless Dining. I clicked on her post and then used her recipe as a base for mine. Thanks Sandi, hope you don’t mind!

After I made my soup, put in all the spices (I used some Indian spices), let it all mingle together, and then went in for that long desired taste test-it fell flat. It was good. But it was missing something. I went through the spice cabinet–Nothing. Looked in the cupboard–Nada.  Poked around in the fridge–Zip. Nothing came to me. Nothing seemed to be the answer to my lacking taste. Then out of the corner of my eye, sticking out by just a mere quarter-inch from my junk drawer, I spied my answer.Now ladies and gentlemen, when I reveal what this secret item is, you may want to judge me. I will take your judgement. I have NO SHAME in my love for this place.

I added 4 mild Taco Bell sauce packets.

There.

I said it.

I wasn’t going to post this recipe because of that. But the soup was soooo good. I loved it. The next day I fed it to 5 other friends (I made a huge pot, surprise, surprise) and they all loved it too. I even gave the recipe in a private message to a reader and she had no qualms about the Taco Bell sauces.  I decided to share it with you all and be proud of my dish with its odd ingredient. But it worked. That sauce packet was exactly what was missing. Go figure. Taco Bell mild sauce makes one mean Turmeric Chicken Soup.

Turmeric Chicken Soup

Author: Michelle De La Cerda

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Ingredients

• 3-14.5 cans low sodium chicken broth
• 3-14.5 cans of water (in the chicken broth can)
• 1-1 1/2 Tbsp . turmeric powder
• 2 tsp . cumin
• 2/3 tsp . ground ginger
• 2-3 garlic gloves (2-3 tsp. granulated garlic)
• 1/4 tsp . Indian chili powder
• 1/2 tsp . garam masala
• 3/4 lb . golden potatoes; cubed
• 1 small head cauliflower; cut to florets
• 3/4 lb . trimmed fresh green beans.
• 1 1/2-2 lbs . chicken (I used thighs cubed)
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 tbsp . olive oil or butter; plus 2 tsp. more
• 8 oz . greek yogurt (optional)
• 3-4 (or more) Mild Taco Bell sauce packets

Instructions

1. In a heavy bottom pot or pan, add the 2 tsp. oil or butter over medium high heat. Sear the chicken, but it doesn’t need to be cooked through.
2. Remove from pan; set aside if stove-top cooking or add it to a slow cooker.

Slow Cooker:

1. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker except the yogurt.
2. Cook on low for 4 hours.
3. Once cooked, if using the yogurt, place it in a medium sized bowl, and ladle a tablespoon or two of the hot broth in and whisk it into the yogurt. Continue to add a small about of broth to the yogurt until you have fully thinned the yogurt. Be sure to add the hot broth slowly, as you do not want to curdle the yogurt. Add the yogurt to the pot, mix well.
4. Add the Taco Bell mild sauces.
5. Garnish with cilantro (optional)
6. Serve and enjoy.

Stove Pot:

1. Add broth and water to the pan, pull up any chicken bits stuck on the bottom.
2. Add the turmeric, cumin, ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, whisk to combine.
3. Add the onions and potatoes and bring it to a boil, reduce to a medium simmer, add the green beans, cauliflower, chicken and the butter/oil.
4. Let simmer on medium for at least 30 minutes, or until the veggies and chicken are cooked through and the liquid has reduced by at least a third.
5. If using the yogurt, place it in a medium sized bowl, and ladle a tablespoon or two of the hot broth in and whisk it into the yogurt. Continue to add a small about of broth to the yogurt until you have fully thinned the yogurt. Be sure to add the hot broth slowly, as you do not want to curdle the yogurt. Add the yogurt to the pot, mix well.
6. (The yogurt gives this a very tiny bit of creaminess, but it is not a creamy soup.)
7. Add the mild Taco Bell sauce packets
8. Garnish with cilantro (optional)
9. Serve and enjoy.

Thank you for sharing!