This Spring Soup with Vegetables and Chicken is made with chicken sausage, vegetables like snap peas and carrots, couscous, and cannellini beans. Layers of flavor are built with pancetta, leeks, garlic, a parmesan rind, and chives for topping.

It comes together quickly, and it is a soup that I love to make when switching seasons from winter to spring. Make it for dinner and have leftovers for lunch for the week.

Spring Soup with Vegetables and Chicken in a light colored bowl with a striped napkin, a spoon, and Lauren's hand holding the bowl.

This soup recipe is designed to be filling with lots of leftovers, yet it doesn’t take long to put together. There’s chicken for protein, beans and couscous to ensure it's filling, and plenty of colorful vegetables.

When we have extra time (which doesn’t happen often), I’ll use what’s left from a rotisserie chicken to make a chicken stock. It's great to use for soups like this, adding more flavor than what you would get from the store. Though it's hard to allocate the time to make it from scratch.

🛒 Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make this Spring Soup with Vegetables and Chicken.

Olive Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil if possible.
Chicken Sausage: Use sweet Italian chicken sausage removed from its casing. Alternatives include already loose chicken sausage, precooked chicken sausage, though the flavors may be stronger, or sweet Italian pork sausage.
Pancetta: The fat in the pancetta adds flavor. For less fat, strain out some of the fat after cooking it. Use bacon if you cannot find pancetta, but pancetta has a lighter, more subtle flavor. It often already comes minced or diced small, but if not cut it into small pieces.
Vegetables, etc.: Leek, garlic, and carrots all add flavor to the base of the soup. The snap peas and frozen peas add a bright freshness and up the veggie count.
Chicken Stock: The recipe calls for 10 cups, which is quite a lot for a soup, but there are a lot of ingredients in the soup, and it enables you to have plenty of leftovers. Use low-sodium chicken stock, or if you have the time, make your own.
Parmesan Rind: This is helpful addition to add flavor to the soup. Rather than use spices, flavor is built in this soup with garlic, leeks, carrots, pancetta and the parmesan rind.
Pearl Couscous and Cannellini beans: These add heft, making the soup more filling. Be sure to use pearl couscous, rather than regular couscous.
Chives and Parmesan: Added as toppings to the soup.
Black Pepper: Add a pinch of black pepper either to the soup or to individual bowls for a subtle punch of heat. This is optional.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

📝 How to Make Spring Soup with Vegetables and Chicken

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Spring Soup with Vegetables and Chicken.

*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.

A large Dutch oven with roughly chopped chicken sausage and the pot with crispy pancetta.

Step 1. Chicken Sausage: Bring a large pot or Dutch oven to medium heat. Add the olive oil and the chicken sausage removed from its casing. Cook, chopping it up in the pot with a spatula until fully cooked. Remove and set aside.

Step 2. Pancetta: Add the pancetta and cook stirring occassionally until the fat has rendered and the pancetta starts to get crispy. If needed add a tablespoon of olive oil.

Tip: Once the pancetta is cooked add a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up any little brown bits from the bottom. This is optional.

The large Dutch oven with the pancetta and leeks, garlic, and carrots added and the pot after the ingredients have been cooked for a short while.

Step 3. Add Leeks, Garlic, Carrots: Add the leeks, garlic, and carrots and stir until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil if needed.

The Dutch oven with the green beans and pearl couscous added and the finished dish with the frozen peas, cannellini beans, and chicken sausage added.

Step 4. Chicken Stock, etc.: Add the chicken stock, parmesan rind, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add the sugar snap peas and couscous and simmer for 10 minutes

Step 5. Beans, Peas, Chicken: Add the drained and rinsed beans, frozen peas, and chicken that was set aside. Allow to warm through for 2-3 minutes. Serve with minced chives, grated parmesan, and black pepper, if desired.

✏️ Tips for the Best Soup

Chicken Stock: For the best flavor, make your own. Buy a rotisserie chicken, use the chicken for another dish, then simmer whats left in a pot for serveral hours. Strain, and use or freeze.
Parmesan: Grate the parmesan yourself to avoid preservatives and anti-caking ingredients and use the rind in the soup. Keep any leftover rinds from grating in a bag in the freezer to pull out and use for soups like this or this Pasta Fagioli with Kale Soup.
Make a Sofrito: A few aromatics cooked low to add flavor to the broth. In this recipe its leeks, garlic, and carrots.