Chicken and Vermicelli Soup With Lime
Updated Jan. 23, 2025

- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1small or ½ large yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1medium Yukon Gold potato, diced into small cubes
- 1large carrot, finely chopped
- 2tablespoons tomato paste
- 1boneless, skinless chicken breast
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
- ¾cup broken wheat vermicelli noodles, broken angel hair pasta or fideo
- 1tablespoon chopped parsley, plus more for serving
- 1tablespoon lime or lemon juice, plus more as needed
- Lime or lemon slices, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes; you don’t want the onion to take on any color. Sprinkle in the turmeric and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the potato and carrot, then stir and cook for 2 minutes.
- Step 2
Adjust heat to medium-low and add the tomato paste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the tomato paste releases its color into the oil, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Step 3
Place the chicken breast on top of the vegetables and season with 2 teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Add 6 cups of water and stir. Partially cover, increase heat and bring to a boil, then cover completely, adjust heat to low and simmer gently for 40 minutes.
- Step 4
After 40 minutes, transfer the chicken to a medium bowl and shred with two forks while the soup continues to simmer. Taste the soup and adjust salt as needed. Add the shredded chicken and vermicelli, stir and increase heat to bring the soup to a lively simmer. Cover, adjust heat to low and simmer until the noodles soften and the flavors come together, 10 minutes.
- Step 5
Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and lime juice and let sit, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lime juice, salt or pepper as needed. Serve with lime slices and garnish with more parsley.
Private Notes
Comments
This was so tasty. I increased the tumeric to 1 tsp and it really shines through. Also used cilantro instead of parsley. I only had a frozen chicken breast on hand and it was nice and tender after simmering for 40 mins. Will be making this again!
How are you keeping your single chicken breast tender with 40 minutes of simmering? Thank you.
This looks like an amped-up Sopa de Fideos, one of my favorite Mexican soups. Here in Tucson, a package of fideos, which are vermicelli already broken up, is readily available in the Mexican/Hispanic foods section of any grocery store.
I added garlic, ginger, and bok choy. I replaced the parsley with cilantro and tripled the amount. I also tripled the carrots and used mostly chicken stock instead of water. It turned out delicious but it would have been bland without the additions. oh and I used about 1lb of chicken thighs instead of a single breast.
This recipe is amazing with just a few tweaks: *Chicken stock/broth instead of water adds amazing richness. I just limit the salt if I use broth. *Double the chicken- I use pre marinated lemon pepper chicken breasts from a local grocery chain that fit nicely into the soup *Orzo instead of Vermicelli offers a nice bite but makes it more of a stew, which I prefer for meal prepping purposes *Adding curry powder complements the other flavors nicely, my first attempt at this recipe I only had curry powder and really enjoyed it In general, increase the flavor elements, add more chicken and orzo if you want a hardy or thicker meal
Great anytime. Doubled the turmeric, added garlic, added