T’m no food blogger*, but I do love to cook. Clarification, I love to cook other people’s recipes. Give me that banana bread recipe that your grandmother has made forever. Tell me your favorite way to scramble eggs. I’ll follow that celebrity chef’s signature dish to a T. I’d like someone else to do the work of finding the good recipes for me; I’ll just collect them!
*As evidenced by the pictures you’re about to see!
Flash back to about a year ago. I had just finished a workout class and was going over to my friend, Cristina’s, house. I offered to pick up food because I was famished, but she told me she had enough leftover soup for us both. . . Um, soup? Okay, I’ll gamble. Turns out I had THE MOST DELICIOUS SOUP EVER. I helped myself to three servings and then asked her for the recipe. “Oh, it’s so easy. It’s a family friendly recipe I made up; everything that’s in it should already be in your pantry.”
Well, Cristina has a better stocked pantry than I do because I have to go shopping for these ingredients, specifically. But the shopping is the most difficult part. Cristina adapted this recipe from a friend, Jess, which is a fact I just recently found out while trying to give proper origination credit. So I guess it turns out we all want someone else to test the recipes for us?
Green Soup: The Easiest Family Friendly Recipe
I’m not just saying it’s family friendly!
Well, maybe I am just saying that because I’ve never actually served this to children, but I have some rational.
Title: “Green soup” will be a great name for this dinner depending mostly on how picky and/ or wacky your children are. Leading to whether or not the name will disgust them and give them an excuse not to eat dinner. But they really should try it first!
Juuuuust right: This family friendly recipe is SO tasty and full of flavor without being overwhelming or off putting for sensitive taste bites. If your family can handle the heat, you totally have the option to spice it up. Plus, because there are toppings , little ones can be involved with dressing up their green soup to their liking. Or not. Grown ups can use a sharper cheddar to sophisticate the palate a bit!
Leftovers: My favorite thing about this recipe is that it freezes super well. I find we usually get 6 adult-sized servings out of it. I freeze the leftovers in 2 cup glass pyrex containers and take them out to defrost the morning I want to eat them. Makes an amazing, healthy, and filling lunch.
Unbelievably Easy: You can make this recipe as easy or as fancy as you’d like! I consider it kind of semi-homemade since I definitely just buy all of my ingredients off a shelf and combine. But if you want to make your own salsa, use bone broth you slaved over, soak some dried beans over night, and roast your own chicken . . . be my guest! It is also virtually impossible to mess up. You literally chop and combine. I have made this with too much broth, with only one can of salsa, and with Rotel instead of Hatch chilis–tasted totally fine every time! Don’t stress about this one.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 small cans diced Hatch chilis
- 2 jars tomatillo salsa
- 132oz bone broth or chicken stock
- 2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained
- 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
- avocados
- sharp cheddar cheese
- limes
- salt to taste
Directions
1. Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat over medium high until it shimmers.
2. Sauté your chopped onion and garlic until the onions are soft and turning translucent.
3. Add in your Hatch chilis and sauté all together.
4. Add in 2 cans of verde salsa and mix together.
5. Pour in broth and add beans.
6. Add in shredded chicken. (At this point, I usually stir everything up and start shredding the chicken, adding it in as I go. This helps the beans start to soften and since my chicken is pre-cooked, I’m not concerned about how long it needs to be in there. You can also have the chicken prepared ahead of time.)
7. Bring to a simmer and leave on low until you’ve reached your desired temperature/ bean softness levels.
8. Serve with avocado, sharp cheddar cheese, and lime wedges. Pepitas are also so fun for crunch, but I didn’t have any on hand!
Enjoy this delicious family friendly soup recipe!
