Chicken and vegetable soup for a cut: 31 g protein per serving

A one-pot chicken and vegetable soup for a cutting phase: four servings, about 260 kcal and 31 g protein each, plus lower-carb and higher-calorie swaps.

A soup that fills you up without eating your calorie budget is worth keeping in rotation when you're cutting. A 600 ml bowl of this one lands at roughly 260 calories and 31 g of protein, a ratio almost no other hot meal matches. It makes four servings in one pot and holds for three days in the fridge.

Prep time and servings

Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
Servings: 4 (about 600 ml each)

Ingredients

500 g skinless, boneless chicken breast
1.5 l water or unsalted chicken stock
200 g carrots (2 medium)
150 g celery, stalks or root
120 g onion (1 large)
200 g courgette (1 medium)
150 g red pepper (1)
200 g tomatoes (2 fresh, or tinned with no added sugar)
150 g potato (1 medium)
10 ml olive oil (1 tbsp)
6 g garlic (2 cloves)
1 bay leaf
15 g fresh parsley
15 ml lemon juice
Salt and black pepper

Method

Prep the veg: carrots and celery into 5 mm slices, onion and garlic finely chopped, courgette, pepper and potato into 1.5 cm cubes. Skin and crush the tomatoes, or use tinned.
Heat the 10 ml of oil in a large pot over medium heat and soften the onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
Cut the chicken into 3 cm pieces and add them to the pot. Sear for 3–4 minutes, just until the outside turns white. The middle stays raw and finishes off in the liquid.
Add the carrot, celery and potato, pour in 1.5 l of water, drop in the bay leaf and season with salt. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for 12 minutes.
Add the pepper, courgette and tomatoes. Simmer for another 10–12 minutes, until the potato gives to a fork but the rest of the veg still holds its shape.
Fish out the bay leaf and check a piece of chicken. It should be white all the way through with no pink left. If it isn't, give it 3 more minutes.
Take the pot off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and chopped parsley, then adjust the salt and pepper. Leave it covered for 5 minutes before serving so the flavour settles.

Nutrition per serving

These figures are an estimate per serving, worked out from the quantities above and divided by four. The real numbers shift with the size of your veg and how lean the chicken is.

Calories: about 260 kcal
Protein: 31 g
Carbohydrates: 22 g
Fat: 6 g

That fits comfortably into a 1,600 kcal day. A serving also carries roughly 5 g of fibre and a lot of water, which is the practical reason soup holds you better than the same calories eaten as a sandwich.

Variations and swaps

Need more protein: push the chicken to 700 g and a serving goes to about 40 g of protein for 300 kcal. Turkey behaves the same way, so if that profile suits you, turkey meatballs in tomato sauce slot in well as a second meal in the week.

Fewer carbs: drop the potato and add another 150 g of courgette or cauliflower. A serving falls to roughly 220 kcal and 16 g of carbs.

More calories on training days: add 80 g of dry lentils with the carrot and potato, plus another 300 ml of water. That's around 70 kcal and 5 g of protein more per serving. If the combination lands well, lentil stew is the thicker version of the same idea.

No chicken: 400 g of drained tinned chickpeas gives about 15 g of protein per serving, roughly half. Worth knowing before you swap, because a plant version isn't automatically the same meal. For a higher-protein meat-free option, a chickpea and feta salad does the job better.

For meal prep, cool the soup within an hour and split it into four containers. Three days in the fridge, up to two months in the freezer, although courgette goes soft after thawing, so add it fresh when you reheat if texture matters to you. If you want a second prepped meal out of the same cooking session, tuna and egg rice cooks alongside it.

When to see a doctor

Persistent dizziness, hair loss, a missed period or a resting heart rate that feels constantly high during a diet is not a recipe problem. It points to a deficit that's too aggressive, and it's worth a GP visit. The same applies if you have kidney disease or take diuretics, because the salt and fluid in soup are not neutral in those cases.

In short

Four servings, 45 minutes, one pot. Around 260 kcal, 31 g of protein and 22 g of carbs per bowl, which is enough protein for it to count as a meal and few enough calories to sit inside a deficit. Keep the chicken to about 15 minutes of total cooking so it stays tender, and add the lemon and parsley only at the end.