One-Pot Chicken Vegetable Soup With Potatoes and Delicata Squash

This chicken vegetable soup with potatoes is made in one pot on the stovetop with bone-in chicken, fresh mirepoix, Swiss chard, celery leaves, and delicata squash. The chicken cooks directly in water with the vegetables, making a light homemade chicken broth without needing boxed stock.

The delicata squash, also known as sweet potato squash, becomes very soft during the long simmer. Some of it stays in tender pieces while some breaks down into the broth, giving this otherwise light chicken soup a subtle buttery squash flavor without adding cream.

This soup actually started with the celery. I was redoing my homemade mirepoix mix so I could take fresh photos and happened to find gorgeous locally grown Canadian celery at our farmers market. Celery isn’t something many growers attempt in our growing zone, so finding it locally was a bit of a score. I already had locally grown rainbow Swiss chard and squash, and those vegetables became the basis of this simple autumn soup.

Quick Answer

Chicken vegetable soup with potatoes is a one-pot stovetop soup made with bone-in chicken, mirepoix, potatoes, Swiss chard, and delicata squash. The chicken makes its own light broth as it cooks, while the soft squash gives the finished soup a mild buttery flavor and a little extra body.

The locally grown celery really determined the direction of this soup. I was already preparing a new batch of mirepoix for photographs when I found it, and because I try to buy locally grown Canadian produce when it’s available, I wanted to make good use of the whole bunch. The leafy celery tops went into the soup along with the mirepoix, rather than being discarded.

The rainbow Swiss chard and delicata squash were also locally grown. As the soup cooked, I noticed the squash became soft enough to partially disappear into the broth. It didn’t turn it into squash soup; it simply gave the mild chicken broth a richer, slightly buttery finish.

Why You’ll Love This Chicken Vegetable Soup

One Pot: The mirepoix, chicken, homemade broth, potatoes, squash, and greens all cook in the same stockpot.

No Boxed Broth Needed: Bone-in chicken and vegetables flavor the water as the soup simmers.

Uses Seasonal Vegetables: Delicata squash, potatoes, Swiss chard, carrots, onion, and celery all work naturally in this autumn soup.

Uses The Celery Leaves: The fresh leafy tops add more celery flavor instead of becoming kitchen waste.

How To Make Chicken Vegetable Soup With Potatoes

Start with three cups of mirepoix and three tablespoons of oil in a large stockpot. Cook the onion, carrot, and celery over medium heat until they have softened. You aren’t trying to deeply brown the vegetables; you just want them softened and beginning to release their flavor before adding the chicken.

Add the two chicken backs and pour in approximately eight cups of water, or enough to cover the chicken. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce it to a steady simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot. At this point the skin should slip off fairly easily, so remove and discard it. Separate the bones from the chicken meat and cut the meat into smaller pieces. Some pieces may already be cooked through while others may still be partially raw, which is fine because the chicken is going straight back into the pot to continue cooking.

Return the chicken meat and the larger intact bones separately to the broth and simmer for another 20 minutes. If any of the bones have broken into a number of small pieces, don’t put those back into the pot. Tiny chicken bones become much harder to find once the remaining vegetables are added.

After that second simmer, remove and discard all of the bones before continuing with the soup.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Wash the potatoes well, peel them if desired, and cut them into roughly 1-inch cubes.

Wash the delicata squash, cut it in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and stringy centre with a spoon. Delicata has a ridged shape that can make peeling it rather awkward. I find it easier to cut the squash into smaller sections first and then carefully remove the skin with a vegetable peeler or paring knife before cutting it into roughly 1-inch cubes.

Put the loose celery leaves into a colander and rinse them very well under cool running water, moving the leaves around with your hands so the water reaches both sides. Wash the Swiss chard thoroughly too, paying particular attention to the folds in the leaves and around the stems. Locally grown farmers market greens can sometimes have small insects or eggs tucked into them, especially when the grower uses little or no spray, so I give them a careful rinse.

Remove the long lower stem beneath each Swiss chard leaf, but you don’t need to cut every bit of stem from the centre of the leaf. Roughly chop the leaves.

Add the cubed potatoes, celery leaves, Swiss chard, cubed delicata squash, and dried oregano to the broth. Season with salt and black pepper, cover, and let the soup simmer gently for about one hour.

Check the vegetables rather than relying only on the clock. The potatoes should be completely tender, and the delicata squash should be very soft. Some squash pieces will stay intact while others will begin breaking down into the broth. That’s what gives this mild chicken soup a little more body and its subtle buttery squash flavor.

Taste the soup once everything is tender and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. This is meant to be a mild broth-based soup, so the chicken and vegetables should still be the main flavors.

Serve hot with fresh bread, rolls, biscuits, or thick toast for dipping.

Ingredients:

This chicken vegetable soup uses simple seasonal vegetables, bone-in chicken, and pantry seasonings to build the broth right in the stockpot.

Mirepoix: I used freshly chopped onion, carrot, and celery as the base of the soup. Homemade frozen mirepoix also works well if you already keep some prepared.

Cooking Oil: Use a neutral cooking oil for softening the mirepoix without adding a strong flavor of its own.

Chicken Backs: Chicken backs give you both meat and bones, so they help flavor the broth while the soup cooks. Bone-in chicken thighs are the easiest alternative if backs aren’t available.

Water: The water becomes the broth as it cooks with the chicken, bones, mirepoix, and vegetables, so there is no need to start with packaged chicken stock.

Celery Leaves: Don’t throw away the leafy tops from fresh celery. They add extra celery flavor and are especially useful when you have a fresh locally grown bunch.

Rainbow Swiss Chard: Look for crisp leaves without wilted or damaged areas. Farmers market chard should be washed particularly well around the stems and folds of the leaves.

Delicata Squash: Also called sweet potato squash, delicata has a mild flavor that works well with chicken and becomes very soft as it simmers. The ridged skin can be awkward to peel, so this is one ingredient where prep takes a little patience.

Potatoes: Red, yellow or other all-purpose potatoes work well because they become tender while still giving the soup some substance.

Dried Oregano: Oregano gives the broth a mild savory herb flavor without overpowering the chicken and vegetables.

Salt And Black Pepper: Add these to suit your own taste once the broth and vegetables have had time to cook together.

Substitutions And Add-Ins For Chicken Vegetable Soup

This soup is fairly flexible with the vegetables, but substitutions should still preserve the simple chicken-and-vegetable broth that makes up the recipe.

Mirepoix: Fresh or previously frozen mirepoix can be used. Frozen mirepoix may release more moisture while sautéing, so give it a little extra time before adding the chicken.

Cooking Oil: Use another neutral cooking oil that you normally use for sautéing vegetables.

Chicken Backs: Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the best practical substitute because the bones can still contribute flavor to the broth. Larger thighs may require more cooking time before the meat reaches a safe temperature.

Water: I would keep water rather than automatically replacing it with commercial chicken stock. Part of this recipe is allowing the chicken, bones, and vegetables to create the broth themselves.

Celery Leaves: If your celery has very few leaves, simply use what is available from the bunch rather than buying another ingredient specifically to replace them.

Rainbow Swiss Chard: Regular green or red Swiss chard can be used in exactly the same way. The rainbow variety changes the stem color, not the basic role of the chard in the soup.

Delicata Squash: Another winter squash will behave differently, so I would keep delicata when possible. The way it softens and partially breaks down is one of the characteristics of this particular soup.

Potatoes: Use an all-purpose or yellow potato that becomes tender without disappearing completely into the broth.

Dried Oregano: Another herb would change the flavor profile, so oregano is my preference for keeping this version of the soup the same.

Expert Tips, Serving And Storing Suggestions

Tip #1: Keep The Bones Easy To Find: Return only the larger intact chicken bones to the broth for the second simmer. Small broken pieces are harder to remove safely from the finished soup.

Tip #2: Remove The Bones Before The Vegetables: It is much easier to check the broth carefully for bones before adding potatoes, squash, celery leaves, and Swiss chard.

Tip #3: Let The Delicata Become Very Soft: Don’t worry if some of the squash starts falling apart. In this soup, that softened squash gives the light broth some body and a subtle buttery flavor.

Tip #4: Taste Before Adding More Seasoning: This is deliberately a mild chicken vegetable soup. Let the chicken and vegetables remain noticeable rather than continually adding salt or herbs because the broth isn’t strongly flavored.

Serving

Serve this chicken vegetable soup with fresh bread, dinner rolls, or my Cornbread Biscuits With Sour Cream for dipping into the broth. If you want something a little more substantial, my Pizza Dough Garlic Pull-Apart Bread is another good soup side.

The chicken and potatoes make it filling enough for lunch or supper, while bread is useful for soaking up the mild broth. If you like vegetable-heavy stovetop soups, my Turkey White Bean Soup also starts with a mirepoix base and combines meat, broth, and hearty greens in one pot. For a much quicker broth-based option, my Cappelletti Soup With Kale uses the same onion, carrot, and celery foundation with leafy greens but is ready in about 20 minutes.

Storage

Transfer cooled chicken vegetable soup to covered containers and refrigerate it promptly. Health Canada recommends keeping soup refrigerated for about 2–3 days and reheating leftovers to 165°F or 74°C.

The potatoes and squash will continue to soften while the soup sits. If the broth seems thicker the following day because the vegetables have absorbed some liquid, add a small amount of water while reheating.

I have not tested this particular batch after freezing, so I wouldn’t make a quality claim about freezing until we’ve tried it.

This soup came together because I was working with the vegetables I could get locally as the season began to change. For another way to make the most of fall produce, my Carrot Orange Ginger Soup turns a big batch of fall carrots into a smooth stovetop soup.

If you make it with locally grown vegetables, I’d be interested to know which soup vegetables are easiest—and hardest—to find from growers in your area.

Meet Amber

I’m the home cook and recipe creator behind A Cents For Cookery. I learned to cook growing up off-grid in Northern Ontario, where meals were made on a woodstove and preserving, baking, and making ingredients stretch were part of everyday life. Here I share practical family recipes, homemade baking, vintage-inspired cooking, and the kitchen knowledge I’ve picked up over the years to help you make the most of the food you have.

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