Madeline’s Favorite Chicken Soup
This soup is perfect for toddlers from 1 ½ – 4 years old. I’m dedicating this recipe to my little cousin Madeline, the most recent toddler to try this soup!
In Mexico, babies are given little bits of tortilla dipped into a bland soup that they can then suck on or eat. This gives them protein from the meat juices and beans, but doesn’t introduce them to vegetables.
With three kids of my own and 11 nieces and nephews that I took care of a lot, I wanted to come up with a recipe that would be a good introduction to solid food and vegetables in particular. (FYI – you have to start this habit early! As a result of eating my soup, my kids and their cousins developed a taste for vegetables! True story!)
So I came up with this recipe, which is loaded down with plenty of vegetables, far outweighing the meat and pasta. This is a very bland soup, perfect for young children, but you could also add more bouillon to spice it up and serve it to adults.
- 1 32oz. box of low sodium chicken broth
- 1 chicken breast (or white meat from a store bought roasted chicken), cubed
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/4 tsp of chicken bouillon (recommended – Knorr)
- 1 cup of carrots
- 1/2 cup of celery
- *1/2 cup of chayote squash
- 1/2 cup of zucchini
- 1 Roma tomato
- 1/2 cup of cannellini beans (white kidney beans) or butter beans
- 1/2 cup of mini penne pasta (or any small, fun shaped pasta)
- 1 tbsp. of tomato paste (recommended – Trader Joes)
In a soup pot, combine chicken broth, chicken bouillon, and water and bring to a boil.
While the broth boils, cut all vegetables and chicken into cubes that are roughly the same size; big enough for a little one to pick up and eat with their hands, but not small enough for them to choke on.
When the broth is at a boil, add carrots, celery, and chayote to the pot. Lower the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Add beans, pasta, tomato, zucchini, chayote squash, cubed chicken and tomato paste and stir. Cook for another 15 minutes.
To serve: let cool and spread pieces across a sectioned toddler plate. For older children who can use utensils, serve in a bowl with a spoon.
* To cut chayote squash – peel off skin, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut out the center like you would a pear, then cube the rest. Thankfully, chayote squash is not as difficult to find as it used to be. You can now purchase it at most large supermarkets like Pavillions or Ralphs.
