Soups on! I am back in the full swing of making big pots of soup at least once a week. Even though I am a year-round soup-lover, this summer was pretty soup-less save for the occasional pot.
This Punjabi Style Chicken Soup with Cabbage was born from my desire to find more creative ways to get my family to eat more of two things; cabbage and turmeric.
Cabbage because it’s really cheap, filling and I personally love it and turmeric because it’s an anti-inflammatory powerhouse.
At its core, this is a simple soup, easy to make, full of clean ingredients, a bit of protein, some veg, a bit of fat from the coconut milk and the perfect amount of spice to keep it interesting.
NOTES:
- As for spiciness, if you want this soup MILD, omit the serrano chile. If you want it MEDIUM, include the serrano but don’t use the ribs or seeds. If you want it SPICY, use the serrano including seeds and ribs.
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast cut into 1″ chunks would also work well, just allow the pieces to sear a bit longer than the ground chicken so you can ensure it is cooked through.
- I used plain homemade chicken stock (chicken bones, garlic, kosher salt and water). My Flu-Fighter Stock would also be a fantastic base for this soup and add an additional layer of flavor. If you use packaged chicken broth, you may need to adjust the salt. Make sure to start with less as most packaged broths tend to be on the salty side.
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Punjabi Style Chicken Soup
- 2 tablespoons Ghee or Coconut Oil for dairy free
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 large yellow onion pureed
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
- 4 large cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/2 small serrano or jalapeno chile finely chopped (see NOTES for spiciness)
- 3/4 pound ground chicken thighs or boneless, skinless chicken thighs cubed
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 1/2 pounds green cabbage core removed and thinly sliced
- 6 cups chicken broth or stock
- 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
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Use the food processor or blender to puree the yellow onion. (If you don't have either machine, just chop it as fine as you possibly can)
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Peel ginger using a small spoon by gently rubbing the edge of the spoon down the sides.Mince and set aside.
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Remove core from cabbage, cut in thick slices turn and thinly slice.
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Finely chop garlic. Remove seeds from serrano chile and finely chop., measure spices, stock and open coconut milk. Chop cilantro, measure 1/3 cup and set aside.
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Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add Ghee or butter then cumin seeds. Cook, stirring constantly for 30 to 45 seconds until fragrant.
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Add pureed onion and cook 8 to 10 minutes until soft.
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Next add in serrano chile, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute until fragrant.
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Add chicken and cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown. Next, stir in salt, garam masala and turmeric, cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant.
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Toss sliced cabbage into pot and stir until well coated with spice and chicken mixture. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cabbage starts to soften and reduces a bit.
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Pour in broth and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk, reduce light to a simmer and simmer 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in chopped cilantro, serve and Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
Would like to make it in the near future but wondering if the coconut milk will make it taste very coconut-y. Not a huge fan of coconut in savory dishes. Subtle or should I replace with something? Thanks!
Hi Irina, The coconut milk taste is not very strong in this dish (my husband is also not a fan of coconutty savory dishes) but you could substitute heavy cream or half and half if you want to avoid any hint of coconut! Just make sure to remove the soup from the heat, stir in the milk product and serve instead of continuing to cook like you would with the coconut.
My children HATE cabbage but they loved this soup. I made my own stock with chicken so added the cooked chicken after the cabbage. Putting the cabbage in all the spices first allowed it to absorb all the flavor. Would definitely make again.
That’s awesome Diana!! So happy to hear it – thanks for taking the time to share with me 🙂
Just wanted to leave you a note to tell you how much I love this soup! I’ve been making it for years and it’s one of our favorites, especially since the weather has turned cold and rainy.
Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know Candace!! It makes me so happy to hear this 🙂
If I dont have cumin seeds can I use ground cumin ?
Absolutely!
Thanks so much for this great recipe Alyssa! I’ve made this a few times before and it’s a favorite. I made it yesterday for the first time using fresh turmeric root instead of ground. I treated it like the ginger and it worked beautifully.
Hi Susan! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know about the fresh turmeric. So glad that this is one of your favorites!!
Thank you so much for posting this delicious recipe! I couldn’t stop eating it! My family loved it as well.
Love hearing that Alisha!
I did a google search on cabbage and chicken soup, as I had both cabbage and chicken on hand, and found this recipe. Wow! I loved it and will make it again and again! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Hi Deva! One of my favs as well – so glad you liked it! 🙂
Great Recipe! Great Blog! You need to add a subscribe button:)
Hi Shannon! I have a pop up enabled but that is definitely something to consider adding on the sidebar. Thanks for your feedback and for reading! 🙂