This warming golden chicken soup with turmeric and ginger is packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients to soothe and fight flare ups!

Why You’ll Love It

Chicken soup is known for its healing properties when it comes to the flu and the common cold. But this soothing chicken soup with turmeric and ginger kicks things up a few notches by including several anti-inflammatory foods to soothe, heal, and reduce flare ups. It also promotes a healthy gut!

Though I developed this soup as a means to help those with inflammatory issues, anyone can spoon in and take advantage of its benefits. This soup is *super* flavorful—the whole family will love it!

How This Soup Is Beneficial

This soup is made up of a ton of nutritious ingredients, and 7 of them are known to fight inflammation. This is great for anyone dealing with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn’s disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Lupus, Psoriasis, and Metabolic Syndromes like Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension.

Hand spooning into a bowl of chicken soup with turmeric and ginger.
Close up of chicken soup with turmeric and ginger brimming with veggies and shredded chicken.

Quick Tip

If you want to bulk this soup up a bit, forbidden rice (black rice) is a great option that offers up antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Quinoa is also a great choice that promotes heart-health. Both are naturally gluten-free.

Ingredients & Benefits

Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients

Exact measurements in the recipe card below.

  • Olive oil. How nice and convenient that we’ve got an anti-inflammatory oil to simmer our veggies with! (1 ✓)
  • Garlic. Every soup needs a good dose of garlic. It’s a total bonus that it also offers up antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. (2 ✓)
  • Kale. You could also use baby spinach if you prefer. Both of these leafy greens are known to decrease inflammation. Kale isn’t my favorite green when it comes to salads or smoothies, but in soup, it’s a winner. (3 ✓, 4 ✓)
  • Turmeric. This spice has played a big role as an anti-inflammatory in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. Store-bought turmeric is said to be less potent than some other forms, but it’s still said to have antioxidant properties. Additionally, when it’s paired with piperine (back pepper!), absorption is increased by 2000%,. A soup with turmeric is a great opportunity to do this. (5 ✓, 6 ✓, 7 ✓)
  • Cayenne. Not just here to kick things up, Cayenne has a lot of health benefits. One of them being that it fights swelling. (8 ✓)
  • Fresh ginger. This gives the soup a little zing and adds to its anti-inflammatory properties. Not to mention it has myriad other benefits, like aiding the gut! (9 ✓)

Other Ingredients

  • Chicken tenderloins. You could also use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
  • Sea salt & cracked pepper. To taste!
  • Yellow onion. I like using yellow onion for the bit of sweetness, but white or red will also work!
  • Carrots.
  • Celery.
  • Italian seasoning. Give my homemade Italian seasoning a shot!
  • Chicken stock. If you have bone broth kicking around, I highly recommend using it here since studies back that it works against inflammation, and it’s rich in electrolytes, various amino acids, and collagen. (10 ✓, 11 ✓)
  • Lemon. This adds a nice pop of freshness at the end.

How to Make Chicken Soup With Turmeric & Ginger

Prep and chop all of your ingredients for ease. Season the chicken tenderloins with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. When hot, reduce the heat to medium-low. Place the chicken into the pot and let it cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until the internal temperature of the chicken registers at 160-165º F with a meat thermometer.

Wooden cutting board with uncooked chicken tenderloins on it.
Pot with cooked chicken tenderloins in it.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside.

Add a little more oil to the pot and a splash of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. (Those crispy brown bits that the chicken left behind will bring a lot of flavor to your broth!)

Transfer the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and kale to the pot. Stir in a pinch of salt and pepper, then add the Italian seasoning. Let everything simmer for about 5-7 minutes until the veggies soften and the kale wilts down.

Pot with uncooked vegetables in it.
Pot with cooked down and wilted veggies.

Add the broth to the pot, stir in the turmeric and cayenne, and bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat. Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes to bring the flavors together. During this time, shred the chicken or roughly chop it.

After 5-10 minutes of simmer time, decrease the heat to low and add the chicken. Stir in the lemon juice and the zest. Taste, and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Then serve!

Brothy soup with turmeric and ginger in a pot being stirred.
Completed soup with shredded chicken in it.

Storage, Freezing & Reheating

  1. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
  2. To freeze, store the soup in airtight freezer-friendly containers for up to 3 months. For convenience, consider storing the soup in single servings by using a silicone soup tray with a lid.
  3. If using glass jars for storage, be sure to leave about an inch of space at the top of the jar, then loosely screw the lid onto the jar. Don’t fully tighten it until the broth is completely frozen, due to expansion. Also be sure to freeze with the jars standing upright.
  4. To reheat, simple transfer leftovers to a small pot and heat over medium-low until warmed through.
Bowl of chicken soup with turmeric and ginger.

Have You Made This Recipe?

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More Delicious Chicken Soup Recipes

Bowl of chicken soup with turmeric and ginger.

Healing Chicken Soup With Turmeric & Ginger

This warming golden chicken soup with turmeric and ginger is packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients to soothe and fight flare ups!
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Author: Dana Sandonato

Ingredients

  • 1-2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1-1.5 lb chicken tenderloins
  • 1 yellow onion, diced Can also use white or red onion
  • 1 large carrot, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
  • 2 ribs of celery, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
  • 3 cups chopped kale, ribs removed
  • 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • Sea salt and cracked pepper, to taste
  • 1 TBSP Italian seasoning
  • 1 TBSP turmeric
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1 TBSP freshly grated ginger
  • 8 cups chicken broth (bone broth will give you even more health benefits, if you have it)
  • 1 large lemon, zested and juiced

Instructions

  • Chop all of your vegetables for ease and set them aside; season the chicken tenderloins with salt and pepper.
  • In a Dutch oven or stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once it's hot, reduce to medium-low and transfer the chicken into the pot. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken registers at 160-165º F with a meat thermometer, flipping the tenderloins halfway through. Remove them from the pot and set them aside on a clean cutting board.
  • Add an extra splash of oil to the pot and a bit of the chicken stock; deglaze the pan over medium low heat. All of those crispy brown bits from the chicken will add a ton of flavor to your broth.
  • Pop the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and kale into the pot, then stir in a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the Italian seasoning. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the veggies soften and the kale is wilted down.
  • Pour the broth into the pot, then stir in the turmeric and cayenne. Bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat. and let it go for about 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, shred or roughly chop the chicken.
  • After 5-10 minutes of simmering, bring the heat down to low. Stir in the chicken followed by the lemon juice and the zest.
  • Give it a taste, and season with more salt and pepper if needed, then serve!

Notes

*Be sure to read the post for recipe and storage tips, and extra information on the benefits of these ingredients.