Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon

This Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon can also be made with leftover turkey when you’re lucky enough to get some! And if you haven’t’ cooked with collard greens, you might be surprised that they’re much less bitter than many other leafy greens.

PIN Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon to try it later!

Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon is an interesting and delicious soup that is also low in carbs! And any type of soup recipe that uses leftover chicken can also be made with leftover turkey when you’re lucky enough to get some.

This new low-carb soup is adapted from a very old soup recipe that had chicken, brown rice, collards, and a lot more carrots, and here’s the printer-friendly link if anyone was a fan of that version. The original soup didn’t have lemon, but I highly recommend adding it even if you make the brown rice version!

And Kara and I absolutely loved this tasty soup when we tested the recipe. I was happy to end up with some of the leftovers and I ate my re-heated soup with Savory Almond Flour Bread, which made the soup even more satisfying!

And of course this would be a great way to use leftover turkey in a low-carb soup. But if a soup with collards is never going to be a go at your house, I recommend making Low-Carb Turkey Soup with Zucchini with your leftover turkey instead.

What Ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link), or other chicken soup base of your choice
• chicken broth
• onion
• carrots
• Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link)
• collards
• diced chicken or turkey
• frozen cauliflower rice
• red pepper flakes
• fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• lemon wedges for serving (optional)

What are Collard Greens?

Collards Greens are a member of the plant family that includes kale, turnip greens, and mustard greens. They’ re popular in the southern United States, and are an essential ingredient in Hopping John which is often served for New Year’s Eve. And I love them in my popular Hopping John Soup. Collards have thick stems, which need to be cut away before the greens are cooked, and the collard greens need to be cooked using moist heat such as braising or cooking in soup.

What if you’ve never had Collard Greens?

Please don’t be suspicious of the collard greens in this soup, because collards are delicious and so much sweeter than some types of greens. And the use of a generous amount of lemon really brings out the flavors in this tasty soup that uses frozen cauliflower rice to make it quick and easy. This soup would be perfect to make after work on a cold night!

What Other Greens Could Be Used in this Chicken Soup:

You can make this soup with kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, or Swiss Chard if you don’t want to use collards greens. I think spinach would also be tasty, but it will cook more quickly than the other types of greens.

How low in carbs is Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon?

Whether you make it with chicken or turkey, this tasty soup has only 6.5 net carbs per serving with 31 grams of protein!

How to Make Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon:

(Scroll down for complete printable recipe with nutritional information.)

1. Combine chicken soup base and chicken stock and start to simmer.
2. Chop onion and carrots and add to the soup with Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link).
3. Wash collard greens if needed, trim away ribs, and coarsely chop collards.
4. Add collard greens to soup pot and continue to simmer, for a total of 20-30 minutes.
5. Cut up enough leftover chicken or leftover turkey to make 4-5 cups.
6. Measure one cup frozen cauliflower rice (or use the whole package if you have a 10 oz. package).
7. Add diced chicken and frozen cauliflower rice to the soup and simmer about 20 minutes more.
8. Add red pepper flakes and lemon juice, and season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste, then simmer the soup about 5 minutes more.
9. Serve Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon hot, with lemon to squeeze on at the table if desired.
10. This soup reheated well. I think it will freeze well, but I haven’t pulled any out of the freezer yet!

More Soups with Turkey or Chicken:

Check out Low-Carb and Keto Turkey Soup Recipes for lots more ideas for tasty soups with turkey, chicken, or ground turkey!

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Yield: 8 servings

Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Chicken Soup with Collards, and Lemon can also be made with leftover turkey if you have some of that! And this tasty low-carb soup is quick and easy to make!

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 T chicken soup base (see notes)
• 12 cups chicken broth (see notes)
• one medium onion, chopped small
• 1/4 cup chopped carrots (or more if you don't mind a few more carbs)
• 1 tsp Poultry Seasoning (see notes)
• 1 bunch fresh collards, washed, trimmed, and chopped small (about 6 cups chopped collards)
• 4-5 cups diced chicken or turkey
• 1 cup frozen cauliflower rice (or use a 10 ounce package if that's what you have)
• small pinch red pepper flakes (the kind that's sprinkled on pizza)
• 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• lemon wedges for serving to squeeze into the soup (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine chicken soup base and chicken stock in large soup pot and start to simmer over very low heat.
2. Chop onion and carrots and add to the soup with the Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link).
3. Wash collard greens if needed, and spin dry in a salad spinner. Trim away thick ribs, and coarsely chop the collards.
4. Add collard greens to soup pot and continue to simmer over very low heat, for a total of 20-30 minutes simmering time.
5. While soup simmers, cut up enough leftover chicken or leftover turkey to make 4-5 cups diced chicken or turkey.
6. Measure out one cup frozen cauliflower rice (or just use the whole package if you have a 10 oz. package).
7. Add diced chicken and frozen cauliflower rice to the soup, stir, let soup come back to a simmer and then simmer about 20 minutes more.
8. After 20 minutes, add red pepper flakes and lemon juice, and season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste; then simmer the soup about 5 minutes more.
9. Serve Chicken Soup with Collards and Lemon hot, with wedges of lemon to squeeze on at the table.

Notes

I like Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base (affiliate link) for this recipe.

I would use my homemade chicken stock if I had some, but canned or cartons of chicken stock will also be fine.

Poultry Seasoning (affiliate link) adds a lot of flavor to the soup.

I would use my fresh-frozen lemon juice.

Use low-sodium chicken broth to make this lower in sodium.

This recipe was inspired by Chicken Soup with Collard Greens, Carrots, and Brown Rice.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 827Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 3.6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7.9gCholesterol 342mgSodium 1859mgCarbohydrates 13gFiber 6.5gSugar 3gProtein 31g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Low-Carb Chicken Soup with Collards, and Lemon is a great recipe for low-carb and Keto diet plans, and for any phase of the original South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Soup Recipes to find more tasty low-carb soups like this one! Use the Diet Type Index photo index pages to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This soup recipe was first posted in 2007 as a recipe with chicken, brown rice, collards, and a lot more carrots! The recipe was updated into this lower-carb version in 2019. It was last updated with more information in 2025.

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