Sunshine Lemon Chicken Chowder (Crockpot, Instant Pot, Stovetop!)
Light, healthy, and bursting with flavor this Sunshine Lemon Chicken Chowder makes for an easy weeknight dinner or for anytime. Can easily be made in the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or stovetop.
“I made this for dinner today, and my husband said it’s the best new recipe I’ve made lately! Even the kids ate it!” -Stacie

5 star review
“This soup is a delicious weeknight meal, especially with a loaf of crusty bread. Yum! This is also now my go-to dinner when cooking for sick friends. It’s comforting, great for leftovers, and interesting enough to be more than “just” a pot of chicken soup. Plus this works for practically any special diet. I made this for a relative undergoing cancer treatments, and her husband said that she ate more of this than of anything else he had seen in a long time. As an extra bonus, it takes very little time on my part to prepare, whether using the instant pot or the stove top. Thank you, Robyn!”
– Cortney
I love the ease of this lemon chicken soup, and that you can throw everything in the pot, give it a good stir, popping on the lid, and walk away.
Bonus points for the fact that it works for practically any special diet — though it certainly doesn’t taste like it.
This soup is super nourishing, too, and a hit of turmeric adds a burst of color and natural anti-inflammatory properties.
I’ve used coconut milk to add a creamy consistency, but don’t worry, it doesn’t add a strong coconut flavor.
You can also swap in cream if you prefer.
I used homemade chicken stock when I have it, but store bought low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable stock also works well.
Or for extra flavor use chicken bone broth!



Recipe Adaptations
1 | Not into lemon? Simply skip it. Or, add more if you like the tang.
2 | Swap different fresh herbs to sprinkle on top. Dill, chives, or basil would be a lovely addition.
3 | Don’t have or don’t want to use coconut milk? Heavy cream will work in its place.
This Recipe Is…
Dairy FreeGluten FreeNut FreePaleoWhole30


Sunshine Lemon Chicken Chowder (Crockpot, Instant Pot, Stovetop!)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 ½ pounds baby potatoes, halved or quartered
- 1 small head cauliflower, separated into florets
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, or thighs
- 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅓ cup full fat canned coconut milk, or heavy cream
Optional Serving Suggestions
- Chopped fresh parsley and freshly ground pepper to taste
Equipment
- Instant Pot optional
- Slow Cooker optional
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Add the olive oil to an electric pressure cooker. Turn to saute, add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the turmeric, stirring until fragrant.
- Add the celery, potatoes, cauliflower, and ¼ teaspoon salt, stirring to combine. Add the chicken stock, chicken, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, stirring until well combined.
- Secure the lid, select the manual setting, and set it to high pressure for 20 minutes.
- When the pressure cooker timer is done, quick release the pressure.
- Remove the chicken, and shred or chop into bite sized pieces. Add back to the pressure cooker, along with the lemon juice and coconut milk, stirring to combine. It's okay if the cauliflower breaks apart, it will add texture and body to the chowder. Taste, adding additional salt, pepper, lemon juice, or parsley if desired.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a medium pan over medium heat. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Add the turmeric, stirring until fragrant. Carefully transfer the onion mixture to a 6-quarter slow cooker.
- Add the celery, potatoes, cauliflower, and ¼ teaspoon salt, stirring to combine. Add the chicken stock, chicken, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, stirring until well combined.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
- Remove the chicken, and shred or chop into bite sized pieces. Add back to the slow cooker, along with the lemon juice and coconut milk, stirring to combine. It’s okay if the cauliflower breaks apart, it will add texture and body to the chowder. Taste, adding additional salt, lemon juice, parsley or pepper if desired.
Stovetop Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, add the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the onion and ¼ teaspoon salt and saute for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the turmeric, stirring until fragrant.
- Add the celery, potatoes, cauliflower, and ¼ teaspoon salt, stirring to combine. Add the chicken stock, chicken, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, stirring until well combined.
- Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, covered, on low for 30-40 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and the chicken shreds easily with a fork.
- Remove the chicken, and shred or chop into bite sized pieces. Add back to the pot, along with the lemon juice and coconut milk, stirring to combine. It's okay if the cauliflower breaks apart, it will add texture and body to the chowder. Taste, adding additional salt, pepper, lemon juice, or parsley if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
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Is that 1 cup chopped celery?
Yes!
Made this last night and it was delicious! Thanks for another great recipe 🙂
Yay, Laura, so glad you enjoyed!
I made this for dinner today, and my husband said it’s the best new recipe I’ve made lately! Even the kids ate it!
Wow, that’s amazing Stacie. So glad it was a hit. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
This sounds so yummy! Question — what is the reasoning behind sautéing the onions on the stovetop before putting them in the crockpot? I’ve never done that before! Normally I just throw everything in the crockpot and wa-la! Haha!
Sami, you can totally throw them in raw if that’s easier. Sauteing brings out a depth of flavor in the onions and add flavor to the chowder, but you can skip that step if you prefer. Hope you enjoy!
Looks awesome! Do you think taking out the potatoes and subbing more cauliflower would be a mistake? Wanting to make for my mom who is diabetic!
Dani, the potato definitely adds body and thickness, but it will still taste great if you cut back on the potato and bump up the cauli to reduce the carb load. How sweet of you to make this for your mom! I hope you both enjoy.
I can’t wait to make this later in the week! Have you had any experience freezing the leftovers? I wasn’t sure how the broccoli would hold up
Hey Megan, yes, this one freezes well. It separates a little, but comes back together with a good stir. Hope you enjoy!
We are trying to eat less meat. I added an extra cup of potatoes and an extra cup of cauliflower to replace the chicken and we love it. I make it at least once a month now as part of our recipe rotation.
Lovely, Carol, love that you adapted this one to be meat free. I bet you could throw in a can or two of rinsed and drained chickpeas if you want to bump up the plant based protein, too!
Made this for dinner tonight in the crockpot. Super easy and very good! I like a strong lemon flavor so I added the juice of two lemons. Yummy!
Leah, yay, so glad you enjoyed this one!
This was a great recipe for this Instant Pot newbie. I love that I can use frozen chicken and everything is done in under 45mins! I think this soup will be great in summer because it is not overly heavy.
Yay, so glad this was a hit, esp for a new to the Instant Pot club person! 🙂
I accidentally added the coconut milk at the beginning of the recipe I hope I didn’t mess the whole thing up 😭
I hope it turned out for you Dakota!
I have loved all your instant pot soups! We make one every Sunday now and it is wonderful. Question- how do I be less wasteful with the coconut milk? What do you do with the rest of the can? I ran into this with the chicken pot pie soup as well (which was AMAZING!) thanks!
Erica, you can freeze leftover coconut milk!
Hello! I haven’t made the recipe yet, but I was wondering if there was anything a little lighter/healthier that I could use instead of the full fat coconut milk/heavy cream? I think this recipe would be a hit with my girlfriend, but she is a little hesitant when it comes to those ingredients.
Thanks!
Hi Zack, the plant fat in the coconut milk is a healthy fat, so I wouldn’t skip it. Of course, you can skip it altogether, but the soup won’t be as rich or filling/satisfying. Hope that helps!
Do you know what the calorie count is for this?
Hi Haley, we do real food around here so no calorie counts. You can always enter the recipe info into an online calorie counter if that’s important to you.
This was delicious!! So easy! Thank you 💋
Karen, yay, so glad you enjoyed!
Can this be made without the onions?
Krystal, yes, just omit them!
I don’t have any coconut milk or cream! But I do have evaporated milk. Will that work?😳
Karen, I’m not sure! Perhaps? As long as you don’t mind the taste of evaporated milk I think it can work. You can also skip it altogether. The soup will still by yummy, just not creamy. Hope this helps!
What would you suggest using in place of cauliflower? Just realized I’m all out!
You could add more potato. Or sweet potato! Or butternut squash.
I just made this for my cooking club get together, theme of soups and stews! I added ginger and garlic (I just can’t help myself) extra lemon and corn. Super good!
Sue, a cooking club sounds like so much fun! So happy this one was a hit – love your additions! Thanks so much for leaving a review!
The remaining food in my fridge before my next shopping trip included potatoes, cauliflower and lemon and then I saw this recipe in this week’s Good List email! It was so good and cozy. I did add mushrooms (the other produce to use up) and green curry paste for fun. I liked it just fine but then added more salt to taste at the table, that really brought out the lemon flavor so then I LOVED it.
This was my first time adding chicken breast along with the rest of the ingredients to be shredded later, hello easy!! I was not going to be around to do a quick release so instead I cut the chicken breasts in half, set it for 8 minutes (because I knew it would continue to cook as the pressure naturally released) and came home over an hour later to find everything cooked perfectly and on warm as it patiently waited my return 😀
Stephanie, yay, so happy to hear this one was a hit. Love that you added green curry paste. Yum!
How many people will it feed I have seven tonight
HI Ronnie, this recipe yields about 5-6 people.
This was an instant hit and definitely going into regular rotation. I made it in the slow cooker and it was perfect!
Shelley, yay, so happy to hear this one was a hit!
Would you happen to know the nutrition count of this chowder? Thanks!
I would like to know the Nutrition Count as well please!
Hi Sarah, I just added that information for you, I hope it’s helpful!
We loved this recipe! We grated lemon zest over our bowls at the end. And were pretty greedy in our portions also!
Alice, yay, so happy to hear you’re enjoying this one! Love the idea of adding fresh lemon zest at the end. Yum!
We loved this recipe!!!
Genevieve, what a beautiful name! Genevieve was my grandmother’s name and also my sister’s. 🙂 So happy to year you enjoyed this recipe!
❤️
We love this recipe! Bright, delicious and kid-friendly!
Elizabeth, woohoo, so happy you’re enjoying!
Delicious! Definitely on repeat in my household!
Heather, yay, so happy to hear you and your crew are enjoying this one!
Hi Robyn
I’m making this recipe for dinner. What do you think about adding green beans and I can of rinsed great northern beans to add more vegetables? We love our vegetables around here!! Lol
Hi Veronica, I’m always a fan of adding more plants! I haven’t tested it, but the beans should work just fine. The green beans as well, though they might get overcooked. I like green beans that way, so it’s definitely a personal preference. If you give it a try let us know how it goes!
I made this tonight in the instant pot and it was quite the hit with our family (including the 3 & 5 year olds). I used 2 cups celery and put some lemon zest into the instant pot before sealing it. We chilled it a bit after it cooked as it was a scorching hot day outside. I think I will do 18 minutes the next time as the veggies were a bit overdone and too soft.
Amy, glad you and your crew enjoyed this one! It can be tricky to write IP recipes because all the models are slightly different in terms of exact heat, so great that you know the exact timing for yours on this one. Cheers!
Loved this recipe, Robyn! Delicious! Since we are newly empty nesters we have a good amount of left overs – yum! Any tips on freezing this for later?
Lisa, yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one. This one should be good for freezing up to 3 months in mason jars or your freezer container of choice!
Did the coconut milk make it taste real ‘coconutty’? Or was it just a hint?
Hi Sandy, definitely just a hint (I honestly don’t notice it at all myself, but if you’re sensitive to the flavor it might show up as a hit). You can definitely substitute heavy cream or half-and-half in it’s place if you prefer!
How did it turn out? I also put the coconut milk in at the beginning and I have to wait for it to cook to see if it will make a problem or not.
Melody, you can always add a splash more coconut milk at the end to thicken it back up!
This recipe is delicious! I made it exactly as written and my entire family ages 10-adult loved it!! Thank you so much Robyn!
Amy, fantastic, so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this one. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
Can you do this on the stove instead? (forgot to set the crock pot)
Guada, yes! I just updated the recipe with those instructions. I hope you enjoy!
Trying to learn to cook and after many failed recipes this was the one that turned out wonderful!! No complaints and very filling. I am happy I found this, thank you!
How wonderful, so happy this recipe turned out so well for you! Thanks for leaving a review!
Thanks for the cool recipe! Im giving it 5 stars because my fiancée loved it. Me, not so much but it certainly was not bad. I expected it to be a lot more thick and creamy like chowder, but mine turned out very soupy. (Any insight on why?) I also didn’t find it bursting with flavor, but since everyone else did, I’m blaming my own taste buds for being so accustomed to Mexican and Indian food.
I did enjoy it once I added a lot of spices and herbs, though! I added a dash of sugar, which really brought out the flavor, way more lemon than what the recipe calls for, some ginger, a tad bit more turmeric, onion powder, rosemary, tiny bit of cardamom, and garlic.
After adding my preferred spices, this was awesome. I know in the future how to cater the recipe to myself, and I’ll definitely be making it again.
Layla, I’m so glad this one was a hit with your family, and that you modified to adjust to your tastes! It is a very mild recipe, so good call kicking the flavor up with ginger, turmeric, and other spices. Your vegetables could have let off more liquid, which could have made it soupy. You can simply add less stock next time for a thicker final product. Hope you enjoy!
Made this in crockpot for dinner tonight with friends, which was a huge hit! Substituted sweet potatoes for baby ones. Delicious summer flavors blended perfectly. Thank you for a new favorite recipe!
Sherry, yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed this one. Great idea subbing the sweet potatoes for regular, I’ll definitely have to try that way next time I make this one. Thanks so much for leaving a review!
I loosely followed this recipe yesterday and made it in a slow cooker and the soup I made was really good. With the addition of curry powder and stirring in rice at the end plus the lemon flavor, it reminded me of mulligatawny soup. I excluded the celery and subbed chicken broth for stock and did curry powder instead of turmeric. I also added cayenne, jalapeños, sautéed garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Instead of adding coconut milk at the end I did half and half and liquid garlic butter because it’s what I had on hand. I served it with rice and made fresh gremolata (parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice) for garnish. The gremolata was a great, fresh, lemony addition. Yum!
Olivia, love that you made this one your own. So glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing your review!
I have this in my crock pot as we speak, haven’t tasted the finished product yet, but the broth was awesome and very yummy(I mixed the spices together with the chicken broth and then poured it over the rest in the pot). I’m excited to see how it turns out! I know the lemony vegetables and chicken are gonna taste so good in this but since it had some coconut milk and turmeric, I did add a bit of minced ginger and garlic in there as well , to kind of lean into the more Asian ingredients already present. It smells awesome I think the additions will fit in nicely 😊
Yay, Mina, so happy to hear this one is looking (and smelling) good! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
I made this last night and I loved it! Fantastic. I do have a question…are the nutrition facts provided for 1 serving? Some of the values seem high for one serving…
Keep in mind that the nutrition information is an estimate and will vary based on the ingredients you personally use and a number of other factors, but yes, those numbers are for one serving. Happy to hear you enjoyed!
Great base recipe! So thankful for the different cooking options. We add several cloves of garlic and 1~” of ginger
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Brittany. Great idea of adding more garlic and ginger. Yum! Thanks for leaving a review.
Really delicious! Added one full can of coconut cream (13.6oz) and one 12oz bag frozen corn. Very hearty with light flavors, will make this again!
Love the idea of adding corn, Melody! So glad you enjoyed and thanks so much for leaving a review!
Going to make this soon after being wowed by the white chicken chili! I was wondering if you had suggestions for beefing up (so to speak) the fiber? Would a can of white beans work?
Emily, I love the way you’re thinking! Yes, a can of rinsed white beans would be a lovely addition to this one. I hope you enjoy!
Loved this recipe!
So happy you enjoyed, Ashley! Thanks so much for leaving a review!
This soup is a delicious weeknight meal, especially with a loaf of crusty bread. Yum! This is also now my go-to dinner when cooking for sick friends. It’s comforting, great for leftovers, and interesting enough to be more than “just” a pot of chicken soup. Plus this works for practically any special diet. I made this for a relative undergoing cancer treatments, and her husband said that she ate more of this than of anything else he had seen in a long time. As an extra bonus, it takes very little time on my part to prepare, whether using the instant pot or the stove top. Thank you, Robyn!
Oh wow, Cortney, this is such a kind review! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe and that your relative did as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
I LOVED this recipe and I love the name!! It’s so easy to make in the InstantPot, definitely on the list of keepers. Thank you!
Molly, yay, so happy to hear you’re enjoying this one. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!