Hearty Italian Chicken Vegetable Soup

A hearty chicken soup good for cold weather. This is a scratch recipe of my own creation. Can be done in a crock pot

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Yields: 16 3/4 cup serving

Ingredients

• 2  lbs chicken breasts (diced)
• 2 (12 ounce) cans tomatoes (diced)
• 1  cup celery (diced)
• 1  cup onion (diced)
• 1⁄2 cup corn
• 1⁄2 cup peas
• 1⁄2 cup carrot (diced)
• 1⁄2 cup green beans (diced)
• 1  cup potato (diced)
• 6  cups hot water
• 6  chicken bouillon cubes
• 1  tablespoon basil
• 1  tablespoon oregano
• 1  tablespoon garlic powder
• 1  teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4  tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (4 ounce) can tomato paste

Directions

1. In a large stock pot on high heat, Sauté the chicken, onions, and celery in olive oil until chicken if browned and onions are translucent, (if using the crock-pot, uses a skillet for this step).
2. For Stove top: Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. Once the soup comes to a medium boil reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Soup should just gently bubble from here on out.
5. After 30 minute do a taste test of the broth add additional spices to your taste.
6. simmer for an additional hour then test vegetables for doneness.
7. For Crock-Pot: Transfer ingredients from skillet and add remaining ingredients.
8. Set crockpot on high for two hours then reduce to low.
9. After 2 hours do a taste test of the broth add additional spices to your taste.
10. Let simmer for an additional 4 hours.
11. (Warning if you have a high powered crock-pot and the soup begins to boil to hard reduce the setting to warm if it has one, otherwise unplug your crock-pot for awhile).