Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup Slow Cooker Recipe

Why You'll Love This Recipe:

• Make this easy recipe any time of the year because you can use canned, frozen, or fresh sweet corn.
• You can double the recipe if you need to feed a crowd.
• With less than 10 minutes of prep time, you can make this in the morning before you go to work.

Ingredients In This Recipe

You can download a printable version of this recipe below. It lists all the ingredients you need and gives clear, step-by-step instructions to help you make it.

Chicken breasts - use skinless and boneless chicken breasts. You could also use skinless chicken on the bone or leftover cooked chicken - see Recipe Variations below for more details.

Sweetcorn - you will need a can of creamed corn as well as corn kernels. The corn kernels can be frozen, canned, or fresh.

Spring onions (green onions) - these are used in the soup for flavor as well as a garnish.

Sesame oil is often used in Chinese cooking and gives this soup a distinct flavor. However, do not use too much sesame oil because it can become overpowering and ruin the soup.

Ginger - For the best flavor, use freshly grated ginger. If you can't get fresh ginger, frozen or bottled ginger are good alternatives.  

Chicken stock - Use homemade, store-bought, or stock made from stock cubes or powder. If you don't have chicken stock, use water.

Egg - The egg not only helps to thicken the soup but makes it look pretty by creating yellow and white ribbons throughout the soup.

Cornflour (corn starch) - A slurry made with cornflour and water is added to the soup to make the soup thicker and gives the stock a velvety smooth feel. 

Step By Step Instructions

This easy chicken sweetcorn soup is so quick to make. All you need to do is place the chicken, sweet corn, spring onions, ginger, sesame oil, and stock into the slow cooker.

Put the lid on and set the slow cooker to low for 7 hours or high for 3 ½ hours.

Then remove the chicken and either shred or dice the meat, then put it back into the soup.

Turn the slow cooker to high, then slowly stir in a lightly beaten egg, then thicken with a cornflour slurry.

Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes to thicken, taste for seasoning, and adjust if necessary with some soy sauce or salt and pepper.

Serve hot garnished with finely sliced spring onions and slices of red chili (optional).

Recipe Tips

When making a cornflour slurry, add the cornflour to a small bowl, then mix in an equal amount of room temperature water to create a smooth paste.

You want to slowly pour the slurry into the soup as your stir rather than dumping it in at one time.

Variations

Use skinless chicken on the bone - This recipe calls for skinless boneless chicken breasts (mainly for convenience), but you can use skinless chicken on the bone, like thighs and drumsticks.

You will get additional benefits by using chicken on the bone: 

1. Chicken on the bone is usually cheaper to buy than skinless, boneless chicken breast, so it's great if you are budget conscious.
2. Because of the slow cooking, vitamins and minerals are released from the bones, making it a tastier and healthier soup. 

To get the best benefits from the chicken bones, cook the soup in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours rather than on high for 4 hours. 

Remove the chicken from the soup (the meat should fall off the bones), shred or dice the meat (discard the bones) and return the chicken meat to the soup. Then thicken the soup with the egg and a cornflour slurry in the last 15 - 20 minutes.

Use leftover roast chicken - Instead of raw chicken, use leftover roast chicken. If you use leftover cooked chicken, cook on high for about 1 hour and 30 minutes to 2 hours. Then thicken the soup with the egg and a cornflour slurry in the last 15 - 20 minutes.

Add diced ham - If you want to add another flavor to the soup, toss in finely chopped cooked ham in the last half hour of cooking. Then thicken the soup with the egg and a cornflour slurry in the last 15 - 20 minutes.

Serving Size

This recipe serves 7. A serving size is 1 cup.

Calories Per Serve

A one cup serving is about 205 calories.

Serving Suggestions

This chicken soup can be served as a starter or be the main meal with some fresh bread or steamed rice on the side.

You could also serve the soup with freshly made prawn crackers or prawn toast.

Storage

Cooled leftover soup can be transferred to a sealed container in the fridge and stored for up to three days.

Freezing

For longer storage, place the soup into a freezer-safe container, label, and freeze for up to three months.

Reheating

Cold soup from the fridge can be reheated in a pot on the stove or in serving bowls in the microwave oven.

Thaw frozen soup and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave oven.

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