Chayote chicken noodle soup, aka one of the best soups I've ever made. The taste and texture are so spot on with traditional homemade chicken noodle soup; you won't even miss your carb-loaded comfort food. Whether you're simply craving a cozy, homey soup, need a quick family-friendly keto meal, or nursing a cold without carbs, this chicken soup with chayote noodles will definitely hit the spot!
Don't forget to PIN it to make later!
Chayote on Keto Diet (Pear Squash, Mirliton, Cho-Cho, Chochoute, or Choko)
Chayote is a small, green squash that you can find in many markets year round. Raw, the chayote is reminiscent of a green apple in appearance and texture, but it's only slightly sweet and not at all sour. When cooked, the chayote soaks in the flavor of whatever it's cooking in. It holds up really well to heat, maintaining some of its texture and bite, in a way very similar to celery.
In 100 grams of chayote, there are only 2.81 grams of net carbohydrates. This makes chayote a great low carb vegetable (or fruit) choice for a ketogenic diet. It's low in carbs and calories, but it's a surprisingly filling ingredient. Used as a noodle replacement, casseroles, or au gratin, chayote is a great way to reduce calories and carbohydrates in your diet. Chayote is also high in potassium and folate!
If you haven't heard of chayote, don't feel bad. It's called something different in every part of the US and throughout the world. Maybe pear squash or mirliton is more familiar? Or cho-cho, chochoute, or choko? Either way, they're all the same ingredient and can all be enjoyed on the keto diet. ?
How do you make chayote noodles?
Chayote noodles are some of my favorite vegetable noodles, hands down. Because they hold up so well to heat, they don't go limp and lifeless the same way other veggie noodles tend to do when cooked. If you're not a fan of zucchini noodles, I implore you to give chayote a shot before you write off vegetables as a low carb noodle replacement.
To make chayote noodles, you need a large spiralizer tool. Something substantial that sits on the countertop will do the trick, while the handheld spiralizers aren't typically wide enough to fit the fruit. I have The Inspiralizer and absolutely love it for all my veggie noodle needs, but it particularly comes in handy when tackling chayote noodles which are much too broad for the smaller gadgets. I even use it to shred my cabbage. That's right, cabbage!
Simply place the chayote between the blade and the handle portions, then start cranking. It's effortless, and each chayote is done in minutes. No peeling, no coring, it's as simple as cranking a handle a few turns, and you're noodles are ready.
Low Carb Keto Chayote Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
To start, melt ghee in a large stockpot and toss in diced onion. You can use butter if you allow dairy in your diet, but I have been using ghee in a lot of my recipes lately to give the paleo and dairy free crowd more keto options. Easy substitute if you don't have it on hand!
Add chicken stock, water, pre-cooked chicken, basil, oregano, parsley, pepper, and salt. Depending on your chicken stock or broth used, the amount of salt and flavor will vary widely, so be sure to taste and adjust salt accordingly at the end. I like to make my own, but the organic chicken stock from Costco is really damn good. It tastes great, is zero carb and fat, plus there's no added sugar. So that's my go-to when I don't have homemade on hand, in case you were wondering. It's amazing! They have it here on Amazon if you don't have a Costco membership.
Bring that all to a boil, then reduce to a simmer over low-medium heat and cover for 10 minutes. Toss in your chayote noodles at this point and allow them to simmer in the soup for ten more minutes without the lid, stirring every so often. Test your chayote noodles at this point; if they feel crisp still, give them some more time, but if they are nice and noodle-y, your low carb chicken noodle soup is ready to go!
Looking for other keto noodle recipes?
Try one of these:
- Zucchini noodles with brown butter and mizithra cheese
- Keto lasagna with zucchini noodles
- Keto pho with shirataki noodles
- Low carb Vietnamese noodle salad
- Keto chicken tetrazzini
If you enjoy the keto chayote chicken noodle soup recipe, be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ghee or butter
- ½ onion diced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound chicken pre-cooked, pulled, shredded, or chopped
- 1 tsp basil dried
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- 1 tsp parsley dried
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 chayote squash
Instructions
- In a large stockpot, melt ghee over medium heat. Add onion and celery, cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add chicken broth, water, chicken, basil, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low-medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using a spiralizer, cut chayote squash into noodle shapes. Once the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, remove the lid and add in chayote noodles. Simmer without the lid for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Tasha–nutritionist, recipe developer, and multi-published cookbook author.
I love chayote or marrow/christophene as we call it in the West Indies.
They say it's good for so any illnesses, lowers high blood pressure etc
I sub it for english potatoes a lot
The ingredients don’t show celery, but I saw it in the directions , how much celery? This is supper tonight!
Thanks for pointing that out, Deb. When I first developed the recipe, I put a couple celery stalks in the mix, but decided it's actually unnecessary after tweaking the recipe a few times and removed it from the ingredients list. The taste/texture of the chayote is actually really similar to the celery cooked in the soup. Feel free to add a couple stalks of celery, but it doesn't make a big impact either way. I'm actually going to update the instructions with my change. Hope that helps!
Hi! I'm used to having mirlitons to eat every Thanksgiving and Christmas. For stuff mirlitons and mirlitons pies without sugar or fillers . Just the basics . Mirlitons stuffed with shrimp, crabmeat and using ground chicken fillers with pork skins. More to the recipe with out starch none. Top it off with parmesan cheese and bake until golden brown. I have the recipe. All you count for is the onions and bell peppers for seasonings . Carbs are the mirlitons and the seasonings delicious. Thanks!
Yes! Stuffed mirlitons are delicious! You can definitely make the stuffing lower in carbs, that's a great idea.
Wow! I'd never had chayote squash before. I just made this recipe and it tastes like an amazing chicken noodle soup! I may even like this better than the original. This one goes in my "favorites" book of recipes.
Made this today for lunch. The husband loves it and even had seconds. Printed and saved!
It's crazy good, right?! So happy you and your husband enjoyed the recipe, it's a favorite of mine too! 🙂