We’ve reached the last meal in our challenge to see how many meals we could create with 2 rotisserie chickens from Whole Foods. I would say I accomplished what I set out to do. 5+ meals for $62 isn’t too shabby for a mostly organic frugal budget meal plan. After the salads and pasta meals depleted our chickens, I broke the carcasses down for a slow cooked Chicken, Bean, and Veggie Soup. Without picking off extra meat or anything, I threw both carcasses in, added 6 cups of water, and set the slow cooker on low for the night.
In the morning I had a lovely chicken broth to start my soup with. The worst part was pulling out the bones, fat, and cartilage. I made this job a little easier by pouring everything through a colander and letting it cool for about 30 minutes, or until it was cool enough to handle. Then I poured the liquid back into the slow cooker, added the chicken, beans (Skip the can! Make them yourself), veggies, and seasonings, and set it back on low for the day. When dinner time arrived I had a beautiful soup ready to serve with some homemade bread – blueberry corn muffins, pumpkin cornbread, or whole wheat cheddar biscuits, The bread all depends on what I’m in the mood for.
If it’s too hot for soup you can either freeze the meat and broth together or make the soup then freeze it for chilly fall days. I chose to make the soup and divide it. Since it makes enough for 2 meals I used one half for supper and the other half is in the freezer. It will likely get used next week when homeschool is back in session and I can’t figure out which way is up.
PrintChicken, Bean, and Veggie Soup
Ingredients
- 2 rotisserie chicken carcasses *See notes for alternative options.
- 6 cups water
- 1 – 24 ounce canned diced tomatoes
- 1 – 16 ounce frozen cauliflower
- 1 broccoli crown, finely diced, along with leftover broccoli stalks from week
- 1 – 16 ounce can cannelloni beans
- 1 – 16 ounce black beans (You can make them yourself!)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 medium carrots, sliced thin
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- *Slow cook chicken carcasses in 6 cups water overnight on low.
- Separate bones, cartilage, and fat away from broth and meat.
- Put meat and broth back into slow cooker.
- Add rest of ingredients.
- Slow cook on low for 4-8 hours.
- If your slow cooker is digital, set to warm after 4 hours for best results.
Notes
*If using chicken breast and stock/broth, skip steps 1 and 2. Cube 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1/2-1 inch chunks and add chicken and 4 cups stock/broth and 4 cups water to slow cooker.
** Alternately, you can use 2-4 cups pre-cooked shredded chicken and 4 cups stock/broth and 4 cups water to slow cooker.
**
More Chicken Recipes
Roast Chicken, Strawberry, and Kale Green Salad
More Black Bean Recipes
Great Black Bean Recipes
Save Money and buy dried black beans: Slow Cooker Black Beans
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