Tuscan Chicken and Sorghum Soup packs vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein, and host of other health benefits into each delicious bite. Take some shortcuts when making this soup by using precooked chicken, cooked sorghum, canned beans, and whatever vegetables you have on-hand.
Soup is one of my favorite foods to make and eat during this time of year because it provides a boatload of nutrition, fills me up, and allows me to use up ingredients in the fridge that are about to go bad. And, truthfully, there is just something so comforting about a big pot of soup simmering on the stovetop.
However, I wish I could say that the weather today is freezing which is why I busted out the ingredients to make this warm soup to help chill my cold and tired bones. Truth is, it is 70+ degrees outside today in Alabama and I’ve been in shorts and t-shirts for the last few days. We’ve had a few cold snaps during the last few week here in Alabama that lasted long enough to force me to swap out clothes in closets and buy tights and sweaters for the girls but it’s back to warm.
The good news though is that I made this soup about a week ago when it was cold and it completely hit the spot. And the one thing about it that I realized is that it doesn’t matter what Mother Nature is doing outside because this Tuscan Chicken and Sorghum Soup is going to knock your socks off regardless.
While the soup uses many shortcut ingredients like cooked chicken, canned beans, and low-sodium chicken broth, it also uses one ingredient that may be a little unfamiliar, sorghum. I was given a bag of Whole Grain Wondergrain (a brand of sorghum) to experiment with before a webinar that I led on ancient grains and I’ve loved playing around with this gluten-free grain. Sorghum cooks up and acts alot like small pasta or Israeli couscous. In fact, the flavor is very neutral so it doesn’t compete with the other flavors in the soup but complements them while adding a major boost of fiber, whole grains, and protein.
What I like about sorghum is that you can cook a large amount ahead and then freeze for later use (which is exactly what I did in this recipe). If you aren’t sure about sorghum or don’t have any on-hand, feel free to use small noodles, brown rice, couscous, or other ancient grains like freekeh (similar to rice), farro, or barley.
Recipe Twist: Tuscan Chicken and Tortellini Soup: For a twist on this recipe skip the sorghum and use refrigerated tortellini in its place. I usually use a 16-oz package of Three Cheese Tortellini and add it at the same time that I add the spinach. The brand I use cooks in 2 minutes but if you’re using a dried variation or a brand that cooks longer (some say 7 minutes), add a few minutes before stirring in the spinach. Because the tortellini soaks up quite a bit of broth, the soup becomes more of a stew-like consistency. I love it like this but if you prefer a brothier soup, add another 12-16 ounces of chicken stock or broth.
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