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
Base:
- 24 ounces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons chili powder, such as Penzey's Chili 9000
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
BBQ Sauce:
- 1/4 cup low-carb ketchup
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon chili paste, such as sambal oelek
- 2 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, such as Penzey's Chili 9000
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 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 654 calories, 57.8g fats, 6.3g net carbs, and 26.5g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 24 ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs | 1701 | 151.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85.1 |
| 2 teaspoon chili powder | 15 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 2 tablespoon olive oil | 239 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 cup chicken broth | 22 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0 | 1.6 | 2.4 |
| 1 1/2 cup beef broth | 60 | 1.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.9 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup low-carb ketchup | 36 | 0.1 | 3.8 | 0 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup tomato paste | 54 | 0.3 | 12.4 | 2.7 | 9.7 | 2.8 |
| 2 tablespoon dijon mustard | 19 | 1 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| 1 tablespoon soy sauce | 8 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 |
| 1 tablespoon chili paste | 3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| 2 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke | 1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce | 4 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder | 16 | 0 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 3 | 0.8 |
| 1 teaspoon onion powder | 8 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon chili powder | 8 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes | 6 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon cumin | 8 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| 1/4 cup butter | 407 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Totals | 2614 | 231.1 | 33.5 | 8.5 | 25.1 | 105.9 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 654 | 57.8 | 8.4 | 2.1 | 6.3 | 26.5 |
BBQ Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Base:
- 24 ounce bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoon chili powder such as Penzey's Chili 9000
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cup beef broth
- salt and pepper to taste
BBQ Sauce:
- ¼ cup low-carb ketchup
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon chili paste such as sambal oelek
- 2 ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder such as Penzey's Chili 9000
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Debone the chicken thighs, setting the bones aside, and season well with chili powder. Place on a baking tray lined with foil.
- Bake for 50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the chicken fat or olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in the chicken bones. Let these cook for at least 5 minutes, and then add in the broths. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the chicken is done, remove the skins and set them aside for later. Add the fat from the chicken thighs into the broth and stir.
- Make the BBQ sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients.
- Add the BBQ sauce to the pot and stir together. Let simmer for 20–30 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to emulsify the fats and liquids together. Shred the chicken thighs and add them to the soup. Simmer for another 10–20 minutes.
- Serve with chicken skins on the side and enjoy!
