Dairy Free Creamy Chicken Soup

My son is a toddler now and I’ve been trying to introduce him to new foods, which is why I came up with this easy chicken soup recipe. Right now he is into the usual chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, pizza, etc. He isn’t the best at eating vegetables (is more of a fruit guy), so this dairy free chicken soup is the perfect way to sneak in some veggies. Unfortunately, he’s had a dairy allergy since he was a baby. It started as MSPI and he had to be on special formula and now he drinks Ripple milk. Still to this day if he has frosting or milk in anything he gets a bad rash and reaction.

This dairy free creamy chicken soup is so easy to make and my son loved it! If you don’t want to make it dairy free, that is no problem. You can always use heavy cream in place of the 1/2 cup almond milk + 1/2 cup canned coconut milk. Let’s make it!

Ingredients (Dairy Free Chicken Soup)

• Olive oil
• Yellow onion, diced
• Carrots, peeled and diced
• Celery, diced
• Salt and freshly cracked pepper
• Garlic
• Italian seasoning
• Dried bay leaves
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken
• 5 cups chicken broth (if using raw chicken) or 4 cups chicken broth if using already cooked chicken
• Ditalini pasta, or any small pasta will do in this recipe
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk + 1/2 cup canned coconut milk (OR if you don’t want it to be dairy free you can use 1 cup of heavy cream)
• Fresh spinach

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery, cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add 5 cups chicken broth if using raw chicken OR 4 cups chicken broth if using cooked chicken. Bring the broth to a boil.
4. Reduce to a simmer, add the raw chicken to the pot. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Once the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees F, remove and shred. Set aside.
6. Bring the soup to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to package instructions (8 minutes for ditalini pasta).
7. Once the pasta is cooked, add 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, and the shredded chicken to the pot. Stir until all is combined. 
8. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Serve immediately.

I used Ditalini pasta in this soup recipe, but you can use any small pasta that you like or even egg noodles would work well too. Think of this soup as a fancier chicken noodle, so anything that you would add to chicken noodle soup you can add to this one.

Looking for more soup recipes? Give these a try:

• Creamy Chicken Poblano Soup
• The Easiest Chili Recipe
• 30-Minute Meatless Red Lentil Chili

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