The flavor the BBQ is just what you want in a soup – not too smokey and not too sweet. Just enough flavor to keep you wanting to take another bite. Actually, this is like the Pulled BBQ Chicken Recipe, made into a soup!
I wanted to make a good low carb barbecue sauce after seeing how many carbs were in normal sauces. Most of the recipes I saw online were well over 30g carbs per serving, from the sauce alone! The low-carb varieties I’ve had so far for sauces were just not cutting it, either being too watery or giving a strange after-taste.
This would be a fantastic way to use rotisserie chicken, too, if you have some on hand or just don’t feel like cooking the chicken in the oven. If you decide to do that, just start off on step 3 and skip all irrelevant instructions.
Note: If you don’t have chicken fat, feel free to use bacon fat, olive oil, or even clarified butter.
Yields 4 servings of BBQ Chicken Soup
The Preparation
The Base
- 3 medium Chicken Thighs
- 2 teaspoons Chili Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons Chicken Fat or Olive Oil
- 1 ½ cup Chicken Broth
- 1 ½ cup Beef Broth
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
BBQ Sauce
- ¼ cup Reduced Sugar Ketchup
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste
- 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sambal Olek (or hot sauce)
- 2 ½ teaspoons Liquid Smoke
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ cup Butter
The Execution
1. Preheat oven to 400F. De-bone chicken thighs, set bones aside, and season well with your favorite chili seasoning (I used Penzey’s Chili 9000). Place on a baking tray with foil.
2. Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes.
3. In the mean time, place 2 tbsp. Chicken Fat or Olive Oil in a pot. Heat this to a medium high heat and once hot, add chicken bones. Let these cook for at least 5 minutes and then add broths. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once the chicken is done, remove the skins and set aside. Add all of the fat from the chicken thighs into the broth and stir.
5. Make the BBQ sauce by combining all ingredients above.
6. Add bbq sauce to the pot and stir together. Let this simmer in a pot for 20-30 minutes.
7. Use an immersion blender to emulsify all of the fats and liquids together. Then, shred chicken thighs and add to the soup. You can optionally add spring onion or bell pepper here. Simmer for another 10-20 minutes.
8. Serve up and enjoy! I like to garnish with a little bit of spring onion, yellow bell pepper, and cheddar cheese. Don’t forget to serve with the crispy and delicious chicken skins on the side!
This makes a total of 4 servings of BBQ Chicken Soup. Each serving comes out to be 487 Calories, 38.3g Fats, 4.3g Net Carbs, and 24.5g Protein.
| BBQ Chicken Soup | Calories | Fats (g) | Carbs (g) | Fiber (g) | Net Carbs (g) | Protein (g) |
| 3 Chicken Thighs | 1148 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 94 |
| 2 tsp. Chili Seasoning | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 tbsp. Chicken Fat | 230 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 cup Chicken Broth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 cup Beef Broth | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 Cup Reduced Sugar Ketchup | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup Tomato Paste | 50 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 2 tbsp. Dijon Mustard | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 tbsp. Sambal Olek (or hot sauce) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1 tsp. Onion Powder | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 tsp. Chili Powder | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tsp. Red Chili Flakes | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tsp. Cumin | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup Butter | 400 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salt and Pepper to Taste | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1948 | 153 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 98 |
| Per Serving ( /4 ) | 487 | 38.3 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 24.5 |
BBQ Chicken Soup
Ingredients
The Base
- 3 medium Chicken Thighs
- 2 tsp. Chili Seasoning
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- 2 tbsp. Chicken Fat or Olive Oil
- 1 ½ cup Chicken Broth
- 1 ½ cup Beef Broth
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
BBQ Sauce
- ¼ Cup Reduced Sugar Ketchup
- ¼ cup Tomato Paste
- 2 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp. Sambal Olek or hot sauce
- 2 ½ tsp. Liquid Smoke
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1 tsp. Chili Powder
- 1 tsp. Red Chili Flakes
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- ¼ cup Butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. De-bone chicken thighs, set bones aside, and season well with your favorite chili seasoning. Place on a baking tray with foil and bake for 50 minutes.
- In the mean time, place 2 tbsp. Chicken Fat or Olive Oil in a pot. Heat this to a medium high heat and once hot, add chicken bones. Let these cook for at least 5 minutes and then add broths. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the chicken is done, remove the skins and set aside. Add all of the fat from the chicken thighs into the broth and stir.
- Make the BBQ sauce by combining all ingredients above. Add bbq sauce to the pot and stir together. Let this simmer in a pot for 20-30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to emulsify all of the fats and liquids together. Then, shred chicken thighs and add to the soup. You can optionally add spring onion or bell pepper here. Simmer for another 10-20 minutes. Serve with yellow bell pepper, spring onion, or cheddar cheese and the crispy chicken skins!
