Name: Marry Me Tuscan Chicken Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Italian-American
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon olive oil; 1 to 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, diced into 1-inch pieces (thighs stay way more tender – learned that the hard way); 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided; Salt and pepper, to taste; ½ cup diced carrots; ½ cup diced celery; ½ cup diced onions; ¼ cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (get the kind in oil – they’re softer); 3 cloves garlic, minced; ¼ cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons tomato paste (skip this if you hate tomatoes like my mother-in-law); 6-8 cups chicken broth (I buy the big cartons from Costco); 6 ounces small pasta shells (or whatever short pasta you have lurking in your pantry); 1 cup heavy whipping cream; ½-1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese (please don’t use the powdered stuff in the green can); 2½-3 cups fresh spinach

Description

Restaurant-quality Tuscan chicken soup made at home with simple ingredients. This creamy, one-pot meal features tender chicken, pasta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese in a rich, flavorful broth.

Ingredients

Scale

For the Soup Base:

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 to 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, diced into 1-inch pieces (thighs stay way more tender – learned that the hard way)
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced onions
¼ cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (get the kind in oil – they’re softer)
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste (skip this if you hate tomatoes like my mother-in-law)
6–8 cups chicken broth (I buy the big cartons from Costco)

For the Creamy Finish:

6 ounces small pasta shells (or whatever short pasta you have lurking in your pantry)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½–1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese (please don’t use the powdered stuff in the green can)
2½–3 cups fresh spinach

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Instructions

Step 1: Brown the Chicken

Heat up that olive oil in your biggest pot – trust me, you need the room. Toss in the chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Let them sit there and get golden brown for about 4-5 minutes. I know it’s tempting to poke at them, but leave them alone. They’ll tell you when they’re ready by not sticking to the bottom anymore.

Step 2: Add All the Good Stuff

Now dump in your onions, carrots, celery, those sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic. Stir everything around and cook until the onions get see-through, maybe 3-4 minutes. My kitchen always smells like heaven at this point – that’s how you know you’re doing it right.

Step 3: Make It Thick

Sprinkle that flour over everything and stir like your life depends on it. If you’re using tomato paste, squirt it in now. Everything will look kind of paste-y and weird for a minute – that’s totally normal.

Pro Tip: This is where I used to mess up – if you don’t stir enough here, you get flour chunks later that nobody wants to bite into.

Step 4: Add the Broth Slowly

Here’s where patience pays off. Pour in maybe a cup of broth at first and whisk like crazy. Then keep adding more bit by bit, whisking the whole time. I know it seems excessive, but lumpy soup is sad soup.

Step 5: Throw in the Pasta

Bring everything to a good rolling boil, then add your pasta and the other teaspoon of Italian seasoning. Season however you like it. Cover the pot, turn the heat down low, and let it bubble away for about 20 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through and your pasta should have some bite left to it.

Step 6: The Creamy Finale

This is the best part. Stir in the cream, dump in all that spinach (don’t worry, it shrinks down), and add your Parmesan. Let it simmer for maybe 5 more minutes so everything gets happy together. The spinach will wilt and the cheese will melt into this gorgeous creamy mess.

Step 7: Taste and Fix

Give it a taste and see what it needs. Sometimes I add more salt, sometimes more Italian seasoning. My husband always wants more pepper. You know your family better than I do.

Notes

Let me save you some heartache here. Cold cream hitting hot soup equals curdled mess – learned that one the hard way at my first dinner party. Pull your cream out when you start cooking so it’s room temperature by the time you need it.

If you’re worried about mushy pasta tomorrow (which you should be because nobody likes pasta mush), cook it separate and just add it to bowls when you serve. Takes an extra pot but it’s worth it. My sister taught me to add a dollop of cream cheese along with the regular cream – makes it ridiculously rich without being heavy.

Here’s something nobody tells you – when your soup gets thick overnight, don’t add water to thin it out. Use warm chicken broth instead. Water just makes everything taste watery and sad. I keep those little cartons of broth around just for this reason.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: Soup
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Italian-American

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1¼ cups
Calories: 300
Sugar: 8g
Sodium: 850mg
Fat: 18g
Saturated Fat: 10g
Unsaturated Fat: 6g
Trans Fat: 0g
Carbohydrates: 22g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 28g
Cholesterol: 95mg