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If you’re looking for a soup which is hearty, vibrant and delicious, you’re going to love this Peruvian Chicken Soup – aka aguadito de pollo.
Made with a vibrant mix coriander, lime and chilli, this soup is refreshing and spicy all at the same time.
It’s packed with rice, veg, chicken and potatoes, making it more of a meal soup.
It’s hearty, flavoursome, and will definitely fill you up for lunch or dinner.
Usually I find myself transitioning away from soups when spring and summer sets in.
But this is light enough to enjoy on a warmer day.
It’s heavy on the coriander (cilantro) though, so coriander haters better look away now!
Perhaps my roast chicken soup is a better option for you!?
A great gluten free lunch
I don’t know about you, but I have been getting extremely bored over lockdown of just eating the SAME. DAMN. THING.
The lack of eating out has stifled my creativity and I’ve found I’m just cycling through a list of about 10 ‘safe’ dishes every evening.
So I’ve taken to Pinterest and decided to make a real effort to try some a new cuisine each week.
It all started through buying a new Simply Cook kit each month – and when we tried the Peruvian Chicken one, I was intrigued.
I realised I didn’t know anything about Peruvian food and after some research, this Peruvian chicken soup caught my eye.
It’s been an absolute game-changer this last few weeks and saved me from bland and boring lunches – I just love it.
A traditional Peruvian soup
Aguadito de pollo is a traditional chicken soup in Peruvian cuisine and while mine may stray slightly from the original, it’s still largely the same.
The soup starts with a base of onions, garlic and green chilli, which then incorporates potato, carrots and rice.
The vegetables cook in a chicken broth until tender, and then you add in shredded cooked chicken.
This makes this a superb dish to use up any leftovers from a roast dinner, and you could even make your own stock from the chicken carcass.
The real fun comes from the vibrant mixture of coriander, lime juice, garlic and green chillis, blended up with some extra stock until a bright green mix.
Added to the soup, this gives this Peruvian chicken soup a flavour kick and also the best colouring ever!
I do love it’s vibrant green hue and I think this is also what makes it the best soup to enjoy on a warmer spring or summer day.
Ingredients you’ll need
A lot of the original recipes I found for Peruvian Chicken Soup are American.
This means they didn’t have items I could readily buy here in the UK – so I had to adapt!.
For example, most recipes used fresh jalapeño peppers, but I could only find green chillis here in my local shops.
All-in-all though, after a few attempts I’ve finally made this recipe just the way I like it!
There’s a full printable recipe card down below, but for the shopping list you’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1200ml chicken stock
- 2 cooked chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of meat from a roast chicken carcass)
- 2 green chillis
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 lime (juice only)
- 1 bunch of coriander leaves and stalks (around 30g)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 medium potatoes
- 150g basmati rice
- 2 spring onions
I find this soup is best when using a homemade chicken stock, but you can easily use a stock cube.
There’s a whole list of gluten free stock cubes here so you can find one that’s safe.
I roasted two large chicken breasts then shredded them for this recipe.
However, you could also use the leftovers after a roast. Just pick the meat from the carcass and use what you have.
Whether it’s thigh or breast is your preference but I found chicken breasts shred well and therefore work better for my liking.
Storage and reheating
This Peruvian chicken soup will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days after being cooked.
However, you may find that the rice and potatoes absorb a lot of the water in the fridge and it turns into more of a risotto!
It’s absolutely fine to reheat and enjoy like this if you’d rather have it as more of a meal.
Otherwise, when reheating this soup I tend to add a ladle-full of hot water per portion to the saucepan, so it becomes more soup-like again.
I don’t find this dilutes the flavours at all.
You could freeze this soup but the rice and potatoes may go a bit mushy, so I’d recommend avoiding this for best results.
The taste won’t be affected but it will not be the same texture.
My Peruvian chicken soup recipe
If you’re looking for a gluten free lunch recipe or a light dinner which is healthy and tasty, you have to give this Peruvian Chicken Soup recipe a try.
It’s gloriously green and apparently even known for curing hangovers.
Got to be worth a try, right!?
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. I love seeing your bakes!
And please do leave a review to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me.
Peruvian Chicken Soup
This Peruvian chicken soup - aka aguadito de pollo - is a delicious gluten free chicken soup with coriander (cilantro), chilli and lime. This recipe is enough for 6 people - or 4 very hungry people if you want a bigger bowl!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 green chillis
- 1200ml chicken stock
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 medium potatoes
- 150g basmati rice
- 2 cooked chicken breasts (or equivalent amount of meat from a roast chicken carcass)
- 1 lime (juice only)
- 1 bunch of coriander leaves and stalks (around 30g)
- 2 spring onions
Instructions
- First prepare the base of the soup. Finely chop the red onion, de-seed and finely chop one of the green chillis. Peel and crush 3 garlic cloves.
- Add the olive oil to a large, lidded pan and place over a low heat. Tip in the onion, chilli and garlic and cook on a low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. You want the onions to soften, not brown.
- In the meantime, shred the chicken up into pieces. Peel and cut the potatoes into 1.5cm cubes and peel and cut the carrots into similar sized chunks.
- When the onions have softened, add the potatoes, carrots and rice to the pan, stir and fry for a minute. Add the shredded chicken and stir to mix again.
- Pour in 1000ml (1 litre) of the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through.
- In the meantime, add the second chilli, 1 clove of garlic (peeled), the juice of a lime, the remaining 200ml of chicken stock and the coriander to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- When the potatoes and carrots are cooked, pour in the blender mix. Stir and leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes for the flavours. If the soup has thickened too much you can also add a little extra hot water to make it more liquid.
- Serve the soup up straight away and sprinkle with sliced spring onions.
Notes
- This soup will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days - to reheat, you may need to add a ladle of water to the pan when heating up as the rice and veg may absorb some of the liquid in the fridge. If not, enjoy it as more of a risotto!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 457Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 1000mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 4gSugar: 7gProtein: 32g
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Need some more healthy food inspiration?
Want to have a go at some of the other gluten free dinner recipes on the blog?
Give some of these other gluten free meals and sides a try and see what you think!
There are plenty to choose from – here are a couple of easy gluten free dinner ideas to get you going:
- Slow cooker chicken noodle soup
- Herb-crusted salmon tray bake
- Carrot, Lentil and Red Pepper Soup
- Mexican frittata recipe
If you do make this recipe please let me know! I’d love to see your photos using #theglutenfreeblogger, share them in my Facebook group or tag me on Instagram.
And if you have any recipe suggestions, please let me know in the comments what you’d like to see next!
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Like this Peruvian Chicken Soup recipe?
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