Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowThere’s something about a hot bowl of keto chicken soup that feels like pure comfort. Like most low carb soups, I love making this one every winter. Made with spaghetti squash (my fave keto pasta alternative), this low carb chicken soup has all the traditional components of a classic chicken noodle soup, but with just 4.9g net carbs per serving. Even my kids and very-not-keto friends love this!
Keto chicken noodle soup is just one of my many “comfort food” keto recipes. If this is your thing, you may also like keto pizza, a tasty keto chicken pot pie with almond flour pie crust, or keto shepherd’s pie. These good-for-you swaps will satisfy the comfort food craving in a delicious and healthy way.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for low carb chicken soup, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Olive Oil – For sauteing the vegetables. You can use avocado oil, or butter if you don’t turn up the heat too high.
- Veggies – You’ll need carrots, celery, and onion for that classic chicken soup combination. You could add other veggies, such as peas (for low carb but not keto), zucchini, bell peppers, or cauliflower florets.
- Chicken – You can cook raw chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs right in the keto chicken soup. If you have leftover pre-cooked shredded chicken in the Instant Pot or baked chicken breast, those also work great. Season the chicken with poultry seasoning for more flavor! If you have more leftover chicken, use it to make a low carb chicken salad next.
- Chicken Broth – I prefer to buy reduced sodium or make chicken broth from scratch, but regular broth or bone broth would work as well.
- Italian Seasoning – Make your own Italian seasoning blend in just a few minutes, or simply use store-bought.
- Bay Leaf – For richer flavor in your low carb chicken soup.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
- Spaghetti Squash – You can either bake spaghetti squash or microwave spaghetti squash, but will only need 1/2 of the squash. Use the other half to make spaghetti squash carbonara, classic spaghetti squash alfredo, or spaghetti squash pad Thai.
VARIATION: Use a different type of low carb noodles!
You can use zucchini noodles, kelp noodles, or shirataki noodles instead of spaghetti squash. You can also omit the squash altogether if you don’t want any kind of noodles (like my noodle-free healthy soup recipe), or add a pound of cauliflower rice in the last couple of minutes.
How To Make Keto Chicken Soup
This section shows how to make low carb chicken soup, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Saute the veggies. In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions and saute until the onions are translucent.
- Simmer the soup. Add the chicken, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer.
TIP: If using raw chicken, shred it once it’s tender.
Remove the cooked chicken from the pot, shred it, and return to the pot to continue simmering.
- Bake the squash. While the soup simmers, preheat your oven and poke holes in the spaghetti squash. Place it on a baking sheet and bake until a knife can easily pierce through the skin with only a little resistance. When the spaghetti squash is done cooking and cool enough to handle, slice it in half and use a fork to scoop out the strands.
TIP: Don’t overcook the squash.
Don’t overcook to the point where there’s no resistance at all, or the noodles will be mushy.
- Combine. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the noodles from half of the spaghetti squash. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish keto chicken soup with fresh parsley if desired.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Pour the soup into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Meal prep: You can roast the spaghetti squash in advance to save time. Additionally, you can make the entire soup ahead of time, and it stores well to enjoy later.
- Reheat: Warm keto chicken soup on the stovetop or in the microwave, until hot.
- Freeze: I like to freeze it flat in zip lock bags. Once they are solid, you can store them vertically to save space. Another option is to freeze using souper cubes.
What To Serve With Low Carb Chicken Soup
This keto chicken soup makes a great starter before just about any keto dinner, but you can also double the serving size to make it a meal if you like. The best pairings for soup are:
- Low Carb Bread – 90 second bread is the quickest option, but classic white keto bread tastes great on the side, too. You can also try chaffles (garlic parmesan is my fave with keto chicken soup), some keto dinner rolls, or crusty keto garlic cheese bread.
- Chips or Crackers – Try my easy keto crackers or flax seed crackers. Each needs just 3 ingredients, or you can customize them with spices.
- Salad – Lighter salad options like a wedge salad or cucumber tomato salad make a light meal with keto soup, or try a chopped antipasto salad for a heartier option.
More Keto Chicken Soup Recipes
I love this classic low carb chicken soup, but there are lots of different ways to make one. Here are some of my other favorites:
Recommended Tools
- Dutch Oven – I use a Dutch oven instead of a pot because it heats the soup more evenly.
- Baking Sheet – This is my go-to baking sheet. Its nonstick surface lasts a long time.
Keto Chicken Soup (So Easy!)
You'll love this low carb keto chicken soup! It's easy to make with simple ingredients, just 4.9g net carbs, & tastes like comfort in a bowl.
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onions. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
-
Add the chicken breasts (you can use either raw or precooked), chicken broth, Italian seasoning, and bay leaf. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. (If using raw chicken, remove it after 30 minutes, shred it, and return to the pot to continue simmering.)
-
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (191 degrees C). Poke holes in the spaghetti squash using a sharp knife. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 40-60 minutes, until you can easily pierce through the skin with only a little resistance when using a fork. (Don't overcook to the point where there's no resistance at all, or the noodles will be mushy.)
-
When the spaghetti squash is done cooking and cool enough to handle, slice it in half and use a fork to scoop out the strands (pull with the fork in the same direction as the strands, crosswise across the short side of the spaghetti squash).
-
Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the noodles from half of the spaghetti squash, or about 3 cups of spaghetti squash noodles. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup
Nutrition info is calculated based on using 1/2 of the spaghetti squash. You’ll need to cook the whole thing but only half goes in the soup. You can reserve the rest for another use.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
72 Comments
Lory
0We both LOVED this hearty soup! I’m so happy, as I’ve really been craving chicken soup since starting keto two weeks ago.
Lory
0Haven’t tried this yet, but plan to today. One suggestion would be to make it much easier to find the serving size. 🙃
Taylor
0This is just as soothing as the traditional version I grew up eating with wheat noodles. Sometimes I get the chicken breast with skin and cut it into strips to include with the soup because my toddler loves the skin.
Kate
0My chicken soup turned out so flavorful! I can’t wait to make it again!
Deborah
0This chicken soup recipe is perfect for clean eating. The spaghetti squash is a great alternative to noodles.
Kayla
0This chicken soup is so warm and comforting. It’s like a cozy hug in a bowl. And the best part? My kids ate all the veggies in their soup. Big win for me!
Annie
0What a comforting dish! My family loves this so much and has been asking me to make it again for them.
Leah
0This soup had excellent flavor. I did add garlic (because I happen to love it), and I cheated by using a whole rotisserie chicken and making my spaghetti squash in the microwave. Thanks for providing a great base to play around with. It was a big hit with my picky eaters.
Melissa
0Oh my goodness! The flavor in this soup is spot on delicious, and it was so easy to make! I had a pack of miracle noodles in my cabinet so I just threw those in at the end instead of the Spaghetti squash! It worked out great! But the flavor in this is why I’ll keep making it again and again! Thanks Maya! Maybe I’ll try the Spaghetti squash next time!
Marie
0Could you use zucchini noodles instead of spaghetti squash?
I haven’t made it yet.
Thank you.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Marie, Yes, you could use zucchini noodles. Add them just in the last couple of minutes and eat right away because they will get mushy faster than spaghetti squash.
Carol
0Hi, what is spaghetti squash? I’m in UK ad have never heard if it but I am new to keto. This is my first week.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Carol, Spaghetti squash oblong variety of winter squash that can vary in color from ivory to yellow.
Marty
0I’ve made this many times. I always double it so I can share with my daughter’s family. Another great vegetable in addition to the squash noodles is peas put in at the end because the cook quickly. Love the addition of the green color. I always use chopped garlic, too.
Susan
0Will be making this! I am wondering why it requires a medium spaghetti squash but then uses half. I see many recipes that say 1/2 an onion – why no one small onion? 🙂
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Susan, A medium spaghetti squash is usually easier to find, and then you can also make another recipe from just one squash.
Diana
0Hi Maya do you have any recipes where you use hearts of palm?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Diana, No, I currently do not have any heart of palm recipes.
Gayle
0Very tasty. I froze the soup without the squash and added cooked brown rice after reheated.
Sandy
0I absolutely love this soup! I made it last week and it’s all gone so I’m making more today. One pot for me and another for my son’s family. I can hardly wait for supper time!
Jake
0Great recipe! I don’t follow a keto plan, but have been sticking to a whole food diet. I love the use of spaghetti squash in this soup. I used two raw chicken breasts, cut the chicken broth (no salt added) to 8 cups, and added a tsp of poultry seasoning, but everything else was the same. This is in the top 5 soups I’ve ever made. Definitely will have to make this again.
Shannon
0Can this be made in a crock pot?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Shannon, Yes, that should work.
Dottie Bacon
0I love the fact that I can actually put carrots in the soup!! The soup was excellent, and I didn’t change a thing. GREAT recipe!! Thank you so much!
Kelsey
0Omygosh this was soooo tasty! I bought the smallest squash I could find so I could use the whole thing and not waste half. Adjusted to 25 min at oven temp and came out perfect. Also used all three chicken broth boxes and did the raw chicken breasts in a stock pot. I pulled them out after about 25 min, shredded and put back to simmer and it turned out GREAT! I saw comments about fat content and added half a stick of butter to the mix and it made the taste even better. Literally making this again today because it was so good 😊
Jon Rehbein
0Really enjoyed this recipe. Easy to make and satisfied just like real chicken soup.
Chris Koponen
0This was delicious and so easy! Definitely a keeper! I subbed in a box of ‘zoodles’ for the spaghetti squash out of convenience…thank you for this recipe!
critter42
0My wife and I loved this recipe – I did have one question. This is my first foray into the world of spaghetti squash, and I looked at the article on roasting the squash, but are there any tips for giving the strands a little more flavor? I was expecting a little bit more of a savory, maybe nutty flavor and all it seemed to do was give some more texture to the soup rather than flavor. Not a complaint at all, though, we ate that soup in record time 🙂 .
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi, Spaghetti squash is a very neutral flavor so it can be added to most dishes without affecting the flavor. When roasting you could add more seasoning if you wish to add more flavor.
Terr
0Could hearts of palm linguine be substituted for the spaghetti squash?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Terr, I think that should work for this recipe.
Florence Spratt
0My husband and I enjoyed this soup a couple of months ago, and now I just have to make it again. One question: in your intro instructions, you indicate to put in all the baked spaghetti strands, but in the recipe card you indicate to put in half of the strands. Do I put in all or half of the spaghetti strands into the soup? Thanks so much for all your recipes–they are all winners at our house!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Florence, You are going to use half a spaghetti squash.
Andrea
0Simple, yet flavorful and an easy lunch or dinner to have on hand for busy days. I added maybe a half tsp of granulated chicken bouillon and pinch of red pepper flakes. I took another reviewer’s advice and added a pat of butter on it, but I used it to sauté the mirepoix. I had to use frozen spaghetti squash, which doesn’t shred as well as fresh, but it still tastes great. This will be in the regular rotation for me!
Linda
0Uh-may-zing. Entire family LOVED it! Than you Aa
B
0Can I add cream cheese to this to make it more keto/rich?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi B, Sure!
joan
0Hi
Going to try this, as it looks very good. Just a quick question. how long would this be good in the fridge? and can it be frozen with the squash in there?
I know I will be the only one eating this and it would be great for lunch at work.
Thanks 🙂
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Joan, This recipe freezes well! I like to freeze in individual portions, which makes life a little easier for lunch time meal prep.
Louise Roberts
0Hi
I’ve swapped the squash for zucchini noodles. What would be the net carbs for this? Thanks
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Louise, I don’t know off-hand how the nutrition would change using zucchini noodles. Feel free to enter the recipe into an online recipe calculator to get an accurate idea of what the nutrition would be with that substitution.
Katie
0Delicious!
Kim Demmon
0Thanks for the recipe. I’ve never thought about adding spaghetti squash.
Nancy
0Just made this awesome soup!!! Made it exactly as directed however, I added 1 small chili pepper for heat. The flavor is amazing. A crowd pleaser for 13 guests!
Thank you once again Maya for an easy and great recipe! 🙂
Jessica
0This is so good!! I used green onions rather than regular and it was delicious!
Keely
0Mine came out a little bland and also not hearty at all. I feel like next time I’d cut my veggies bigger, rough chop. Also if add more chicken. 2 cups for 14 servings was a little shy for me. Wondering what seasoning I could add to give it a perk of flavor. I do not care for more Italian seasoning, personally.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Keely, Feel free to customize to your liking! Poultry seasoning would go well.
Lana
0Very good soup. Lacking in fat though. I added a pad of butter on top before I ate, it was even more delicious! Thank you.
Elle
0Hello. Aside from spaghetti squash, what else can you recommend? Because I can’t find spaghetti squash here in the Philippines. Thank you.
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Elle, this would also taste wonderful with shirataki noodles or spiralized daikon radish.
Angel
0Awesome recipe!
Herbalchef
0I discovered this recipe this morning as I awoke with a sore throat and stuffiness. It is simply delicious, healthy and flavorful. I did sauté the onions, carrots, celery in olive oil first then after a few minutes I added the Italian Seasoning.. I used organic Chicken Bone Broth…i only had nine cups so I added a cup of white wine…..I let that simmer and added baby spinach at the end……served with the spaghetti squash…genius Maya! Thank you
Carolyn
0I thought carrots were too carby
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Carolyn, In very small amounts they are fine.
Mary
0I made this for dinner today and it tastes so good with the spaghetti squash. Thank you for the recipes.
Sandra
0Miracle noodles were mentioned here. What are they?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Sandra, Miracle noodles are shirataki noodles – you can get them here.
Cookie
0I am printing this recipe as it looks both easy and flavorful. Not sure why I would put cooked chicken in the mix to cook for an hour. If chicken is already cooked, I would add it at the end just to reheat. I am going to use zucchini noodles as they almost mimic real noodles. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Laurie
0Hey! Just wondering if you’ve ever tried this with cauliflower rice instead of noodles? I’m looking for a creamy chicken and ‘rice’ soup recipe and man! They are HARD to find! Thank you!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Laurie, Not yet but that’s a great idea! I think it should work. Just don’t cook it too long with the cauliflower rice – add it toward the end.
Penny
0Made this last night. AWESOME! I’m storing the cooked squash in separate container & adding to each bowl before reheating. Husband said best chicken “noodle” ever! I wouldn’t change anything about recipe!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Penny! I’m glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
Lisa Smith
0I’m excited to try this recipe tonight! The yield says “14 cups”. How big is each serving size? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lisa, A serving is a cup, but you can see from the nutrition info that the soup is very light, so you can easily have multiple servings. 🙂
Christina
0This popped up in my instagram feed this morning so I though I’d try it since I’m currently battling a cold. It came together super quickly and the spaghetti squash adds an extra layer of filling comfort. A new favorite!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Christina! It’s a favorite at our house, too. I hope you feel better soon!
Sarah
0I can totally relate to having a hard time saying no! Your soup looks amazing!
Stacey Crawford
0I love that there are squash noodles in your soup. Chicken noodle soup would be sad without the noodles 🙂
Kim | Low Carb Maven
0My mother always made me chicken soup when I was a child and I make soup for my kids, too. Spaghetti squash = genius. Thanks for the lesson on stepping back and looking at my week. It is so hard to be good in all of the roles our lives demand of us.
Georgina
0Genius use of spaghetti squash – have never thought to put it in soup!