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The Crock Pot Soup Recipe Everyone Bookmarks Before the Week Starts

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A meal prep crock pot soup built with sturdy farro, seared chicken, and a bright lemon-garlic finish so it tastes fresh from Sunday through Friday.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup dry farro (or pearled barley)
  • 1 can (15 oz) white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 parmesan rind (optional but recommended)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cups chopped kale, stems removed
  • For the finishing kit (per bowl): 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 small raw garlic clove (minced), 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear 2-3 minutes per side, just until browned. Transfer to the crock pot.
  2. In the same skillet, soften the onion, carrots, and celery for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, until fragrant, then deglaze with a splash of the chicken broth, scraping up the browned bits.
  3. Pour the skillet mixture into the crock pot. Add farro, white beans, remaining broth, parmesan rind, oregano, salt, and pepper.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or high for 3-4 hours, until the chicken shreds easily and the farro is tender but still has bite.
  5. Remove the chicken, shred it with two forks, and return it to the pot. Discard the parmesan rind. Stir in the kale and let it wilt for 5-10 minutes with the lid off.
  6. Taste and adjust salt — slow cooking dulls seasoning, so it will likely need more than expected.
  7. To serve, ladle into bowls and top each portion with a pinch of lemon zest, a bit of raw minced garlic, and chopped parsley. Store leftovers without the finishing kit and add it fresh to each reheated bowl.

Notes

Skip small pasta shapes entirely — they blow out into mush by the second reheat. Farro and pearled barley are the only grains that hold their texture through a full week of leftovers. Keep the lemon-garlic-parsley finishing kit separate from the pot and add it bowl by bowl; it’s what keeps the soup from tasting flat by Wednesday. Freezes well in individual portions for up to 3 months since the base has no dairy.

Find it online: https://www.receipster.com/the-crock-pot-soup-recipe-everyone-bookmarks-before-the-week-starts/