This is the best healthy chicken soup for when you’re feeling a little sniffly and achy. Or just need a big comfort food hug! Couscous chicken soup is loaded with health-supporting ingredients like ginger, garlic, turmeric, and lemongrass, and its light and cheery flavor is comfort food at its best. (Now with Instant Pot instructions!) Updated August 2019
I knew this winter was going to be a tough one when my annual, knock-down-drag-out cold arrived in October. I really hope that I’ve paid my cold dues for the season, but judging by the red-noses and saggy faces of folks schlepping around the grocery store, looking like death warmed over, cold season has arrived with claws extended.
I don’t care if there’s science behind it; I don’t care if it’s a placebo effect of memories from my youth, sipping healthy chicken soup when sick. Can chicken soup can really help cure a cold? {shrugs}
What I do know is that there’s just no better comfort food than chicken soup when you’re under the weather. It’s pure comfort and nourishment on a spoon!
When you’re sick, the last thing you need is something store-bought and loaded with salt and weird preservatives. Fresh, homemade chicken soup is just the ticket!
This delicious couscous chicken soup includes health-supporting ingredients like:
- ginger
- garlic
- lemongrass
- turmeric
- and a big squeeze of lemon
Anti-inflammatory, nutrient-loaded, and wonderfully tasty, these amazing aromatics create a light and bright soup: Comforting and good for you! It’s absolutely a win-win, whether you’re sick or not.
These ingredients, especially the ginger, are what make this couscous chicken soup so special and delicious. Even if you’re not a big fan of ginger, I encourage you to try it here.
It’s the right amount to add a little citrusy zing to the soup without being spicy and noticeable.
I’m a big fan of pasta in my chicken soup (when I was young, it was chicken and stars), so I always add pearl couscous to my soup. Pearl couscous is the perfect size and texture for chicken soup, mostly because it’s far easier to keep on the spoon than noodles!
You know what I’m sayin’ — you don’t want to struggle with your soup and those long, splish-splashy noodles when you’re sick.
Use a little couscous for a brothy soup, as seen in the video at the top of this post, or a lot of couscous for a hearty stew, as in the photos (<< my favorite!). Good, good stuff.
Here’s what Pinterest users are saying about Cold-Fighting Couscous Chicken Soup:
“This is delicious! Definitely a keeper! I’ve made it Twice in 2 weeks!”
~ Laura
“I have made this many times. The lemon and lemongrass give it a kick that is wonderful.”
~ Emily
“Thank you for giving an Instant Pot version of the recipe! I loooooove this soup and just got an instant pot for Christmas! The soup turned out amazing; I’ll definitely make it again and again!”
~ Jessa
Now with Instant Pot instructions!
This is one of the soups on this blog that I make all the time, summer and winter. And, being a fan of Instant Pot soups, I made sure to update this post to include directions for the pressure cooker — just in time for cold and flu season. I recommend a 6 qt Instant Pot (affiliate link).
If you’re printing the recipe, you’ll have both stove top and Instant Pot instructions on one page. Both methods are easy, so whichever you chose, you’re just minutes away from a satisfying bowl of soup.
Can you freeze couscous chicken soup?
This is the most frequently asked question I get. And the answer is: yes and no. The soup base freezes wonderfully. Pasta, however, does not hold up well in the thawing process.
Make the soup as directed, but don’t add the pasta. Let cool, and freeze this soup base. Then, at serving time, prepare the couscous separately while the soup reheats, and stir it in when everything is hot and ready to go.
Tip: if you’re in a hurry, or just can’t get yourself vertical long enough to cook up some pearl couscous, substitute instant rice. It might not be cool for a food blogger to admit, but, I do keep a certain brand’s pre-cooked microwaveable rice cups in my pantry, just for emergency situations, such as being too sick to cook! #keepingitreal
So delicious, light, and healthy, couscous chicken soup is easy to make, too — you’re just a half hour away from a big fragrant pot of soup! Make lots, eat some, freeze some.
Winter is coming, and I’ll start soup season by making a big pot of the couscous chicken soup base, dividing it into individual servings, and stashing it in the freezer. I’m always so grateful to have this soup ready to add some fresh pasta to, for when a cold hits the house!
Stay healthy, everyone, and eat lots of healthy couscous chicken soup!
Karen xo
Cold-Fighting Couscous Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped onions about 1/2 of a medium
- 3/4 cup sliced leeks about 1 medium, white and light green parts only
- 1/2 cup sliced carrots about 1 medium
- 1/2 cup chopped celery about 2 ribs
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon minced lemongrass or paste
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon chicken seasoning (optional)
- 8 ounces cooked, shredded chicken (FOR STOVE TOP VERSION) (rotisserie chicken is great)
- 3/4 pound raw chicken breasts (FOR INSTANT POT VERSION)
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1/2 of a lemon
- salt and pepper
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
Stove Top Directions:
- Heat one tablespoon of the stock in a 4 to 5 quart Dutch oven or stock pot over medium. When it begins to sizzle, add the onions, leeks, carrots, and celery. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 6 minutes. Stir in the ginger, lemongrass, and garlic, and heat until aromatic. Sprinkle the turmeric over the vegetables and stir.
- Add the stock, chicken, and couscous, and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer; cook for 15 minutes. Squeeze the half lemon into the soup, taste, and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Top with parsley before serving.
Instant Pot Directions:
- Turn on the Saute function on your IP. Add the oil and heat until shimmering. Add the onions, leeks, celery, and carrots, and saute until all are soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the ginger, lemongrass, and garlic, and heat through until fragrant. Sprinkle the turmeric over the vegetables and stir. Turn off the unit.
- Add the chicken broth, Better Than Bouillon (if using), and couscous. Lay the chicken breasts in the pot.
- Secure the lid and make sure the valve is set to Sealing. Set the Instant Pot to manual high pressure, for 5 minutes. When the cooking is finish, allow to naturally release for 7 minutes, then carefully quick release the remaining pressure.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the pot and shred with two forks (or chop). Return the chicken to the soup. Squeeze the lemon over the soup (taking care to catch the seeds), and add the parsley. Taste, and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
Nutrition
Pin Cold-Fighting Couscous Chicken Soup recipe for later:
Pinterest fans, if you’d like to save this recipe for later, use these images (or any image above) to pin to your boards (they’re small here, but thanks to the magic of the interwebs, they’ll be full size when you pin them). Thanks for sharing, and most of all, thank you so much for reading this post! Blogging wouldn’t be any fun without you!
Karen Gibson is the head soup chef, vegetable chopper-upper, and dishwasher here at SoupAddict.com, where she shares recipes for all manner of foods-in-bowls.
Liat a says
I’ve made this recipe several times with a few adjustments that have worked well for me. I make the couscous as per the directions on the box And add it to each bowl when serving. I’ve found that cooking the couscous directly in the broth and veggies makes storage a little tricky as the couscous continues to absorb the liquids. I also cook the chicken a bit differently than stated in the recipe. I use chicken drumsticks lightly coated in olive oil salt and pepper and cook them on a baking sheet at 425F for 35 minutes. Like with the couscous, I add the chicken to individual bowls before serving and store leftovers separate from the soup. I also triple the turmeric, double the carrots, and add a pinch of cayenne. Love this recipe! My go to when I’m starting to feel under the weather.
Alicia says
This is one of my all-time favorite chicken soup recipes!
Making it the second time in the course of a week (tho I’ve made it before). I love that it is chock full of cold-fighters!! Lemongrass, Garlic, ginger, turmeric!! Kids love too!
Alicia says
I will say that I added more stock/can’t believe it’s not bullion because my couscous soaked up so much of the liquid & we like broth!!! Went generous on the tasty stuff (heaping spoons of garlic/ginger) yummy!!!
Susie says
This was so delicious! Hearty like a stew but light and refreshing because of the citrus bites in the spices! Such a fan! Thank you!
Melissa says
I loved this soup! The flavor was incredible, better than any chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had, and I didn’t even use the bouillon. The only problem was that I couldn’t find pearl couscous, only regular couscous, so my texture turned out kind of gloppy and grainy. I think next week I will try making this again with egg noodles instead and double the stock.
Char says
I’m excited to try. I am not a good cook. The beginning said something about precooking coscous anf the recipe did not mention it. Drop it in cooked or raw. Also how much couscous for a thicker soup?
Jean says
Made this soup last night. It was AMAZING! Even my husband likes it and he doesn’t usually go for more unusual foods.
Kym says
VERY tasty soup–really hit the spot! I made a huge batch to bring some to my mother-in-law who is recovering from surgery and needs a soft food diet, so this fit the bill perfectly.
I also could not find lemongrass in any form, so I just used an extra splash of lemon juice at that point in the recipe. Of note, I used two large chicken breasts that were frozen and put them in the pressure cooker with about 5 cups of water, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, cooked for 15 minutes. Voila–chicken was cooked and I had my stock!
I just love the unique combination of flavors in this soup and using the Israeli couscous is the perfect way to keep that Middle Eastern feel that sets is apart from just another chicken soup recipe. I’ll be putting this in the regular rotation.
Jean says
I found lemongrass paste on amazon. I plan on trying this soup very soon!
Olga says
Karen, bravo! What a great idea! Love this. I’m sure this is incredibly delicious!
Lindsey says
This has been my go-to chicken noodle soup recipe for a few years now, and just wanted to let you know how much my family loves it! Tonight I’m making it for my two year old son that has a little cold, but we’re all excited to eat it!
SoupAddict says
I love hearing that! Not that your little one has a cold 🙁 just that the soup brings some comfort!
Doreen H says
After so many glowing reviews of this recipe, I looked forward to making this soup for dinner. I did it exactly as written (including the optional bouillon) using my instant pot, but we found it bland and underwhelming. Maybe if we had been fighting colds, the mild flavour would have been more appealing to us, but I wouldn’t make it again without some tweaking to make it more flavourful. Thanks for sharing though. It was worth a try, and the cooking time was spot on.
Meghan says
Found this soup last winter and made it at least 4 times. Come this winter and all I can think about is this soup. On my second round this winter, and I’m sure there will be many more to come! Thank you!!
SoupAddict says
As soon as I get the least little ick, I start craving this soup. Doesn’t even have to be a full on cold – it’s just “bleh” followed immediately by “soup!”
Jennifer Quijano says
I’ve made this recipe a dozen times over the last two years and just this evening decided to give it a vegetarian spin. I doubled the garlic, lemon grass and ginger and then added two russet potatoes diced small along with two cans of cannellini beans rinsed along with one diced tomatoe. My husband thought it was better then the normal version I’ve made before. I even blended some up and feed it to my 13 month old daughter who also approved. It was so delicious I figured I’d shared in case anyone was looking to make it vegetarian or just wanted some add-ons to bulk up the meal. Excellent recipe overall.