Alright y'all, we are upgrading your average chicken noodle soup with tortellini pasta and a little Italian flare. Chicken Tortellini Soup is the perfect combination of flavors and textures. Plus, it's a one-pot, crazy comforting meal, and it even offers a good amount of nutritional value!
In this recipe you can expect, a delicious, creamy broth, vibrant diced veggies, and perfectly tender shreds of chicken. All of these ingredients beautifully complement the star of the show, those little pockets of pure joy, flavor-packed tortellini pasta! This dish really does have it all.
And speaking of the pasta, a few words on that: Tortellini are small, folded, ring-shaped noodles that can be stuffed with a variety of fillings, from chicken to cheese, or even sun-dried tomatoes. Literally, any type of tortellini works in this recipe, so it really just comes down to personal preference. If you are a pasta lover, be sure to add some of these Pasta Recipes to your "must-make" list!
You could, of course, make your own pasta, and if you enjoy that type of thing, be our guest! We personally find it to be a little on the time-consuming side and in general, not worth the effort when there are so many good options for premade pasta out there these days.
You should be able to find fresh tortellini in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, but frozen would also work just fine. If you go for the frozen option, you'll need to let your Chicken Tortellini Soup cook for about 2 minutes longer than you would with the fresh to ensure it's heated all the way through.
Basically, this is the perfect Fall or Winter dinner. It's cozy and heartwarming, and the kind of dish you can feel good about serving to your family or guests. If you'd like to try more Soup and Stew Recipes like this, we highly recommend you check out our homemade vegetable soup and chicken taco soup as well.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TORTELLINI SOUP
The first thing you're going to do is prep your vegetables. Get either a large pot or a Dutch oven going over medium-high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil and allow the oil to come to temperature. Once the oil is good and hot, you'll add onion, celery, and carrots and stir to coat in the oil.
Cover the pot and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes lifting the lid every so often to stir. Keeping the lid on for short stints of time will create steam in the pot and help those veggies to cook through faster. If you don't have a pot with a lid, you can also cook the vegetables over medium heat for a longer period of time and that will do the trick just fine!
Once the veggies have softened, add in your garlic and stir for another minute or so. Next, you'll add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper. This is where the flavor of your Chicken Tortellini Soup really starts to take shape!
Allow this mix to come to a boil and as soon as the broth has reached a boil, you'll add in your tortellini pasta, chopped spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Check your tortellini package directions for the pasta is cook time, and boil for that specified amount of time or until the pasta is al dente and cooked to your liking.
Once the pasta is ready, stir in your cooked and shredded chicken, followed by heavy cream, and a splash of tarragon or white wine vinegar.
Allow the soup to cool slightly, serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan if desired, and enjoy!
CHICKEN TORTELLINI SOUP INGREDIENTS
Don't let the ingredient list on the soup throw you. It is about as easy as soups can get! The chopping is minimal and the flavor is completely maxed out! Let's take a moment to discuss these ingredients and what exactly they do for the flavors in your Chicken Tortellini Soup.
Chicken | As far as the chicken goes you have options. You can use leftover chicken that you might have on hand from the day before, you could use store-bought rotisserie chicken, or you could bake your own chicken. My go-to chicken for shredding is my oven-baked chicken recipe. It's easy and the seasoning is neutral enough to go in any soup or casserole!
The important thing is you'll want to have at least 2 to 3 cups of cooked and shredded chicken on hand for this recipe.
Tortellini | you can use refrigerated or frozen tortellini pasta for this recipe. And, the type of tortellini pasta you use is completely up to you. Just about any flavored filling will work great. We went with good old fashion cheese tortellini for this recipe, but a sun-dried tomato or even chicken tortellini for an extra bit of protein would be excellent!
Fresh Veggies | The fresh vegetables in this Chicken Tortellini Soup recipe add a great deal of flavor to a storebought broth. You will need onion, carrots, celery, and a couple of garlic cloves.
Broth | This recipe calls for unsalted or low-sodium chicken stock or broth. However, you could also use vegetable broth if desired. If you only have a full-sodium chicken broth on hand, omit the salt called for in this recipe and instead salt to taste!
Herbs | Herbs are such a massive difference maker when it comes to soups! For this recipe, we will use fresh thyme sprigs in combination with dried bay leaves.
Spinach | spinach adds some major healthy vibes plus some gorgeous color to the soup. You will want to have fresh baby spinach on hand, and take care to give it a rough chop before adding it to the broth.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes | Sun-dried tomatoes are one of those pantry staples that double as a flavor workhorse! These little tomatoes are super concentrated with vibrant, bright, savory flavors, and are the perfect way to add a little Italian flare to your Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup!
Cream | Like your soups on the decadent side? A little heavy cream will do the trick and it does it without us having to create a thickener or make a roux. If you don't want to use the cream, you certainly don't have to, but it certainly adds a rich and warming vibe to the dish.
Vinegar | Vinegar might seem like a strange ingredient to add to your Chicken Tortellini Soup, but trust me, that tiny little dash of acidity is a massive difference maker. I used tarragon vinegar, but white wine vinegar would also work. I went with lightly flavored white vinegar over freshly squeezed citrus, such as lemon juice, because the vinegar will add a bit more of a savory note whereas the citrus would really add more of an acidic fresh note. And for this soup, it's got to be savory. Trust me
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVERS
If you (by some miracle) end up with leftovers of your Chicken Tortellini Soup, no worries! It should keep just fine for about 4 days, as long as it is refrigerated and stored in an airtight container.
You can also freeze this soup if you'd like to save it to have on hand for a later date. To freeze it, simply allow the soup to cool completely before transferring it to a freezer-safe, airtight container or a gallon-sized, freezer-safe, ziptop bag.
If you're going with the bag method, be sure it is sealed tightly! You'll then lay the bag flat in a baking dish to freeze. This technique will make for a faster thaw time when you're ready to enjoy.
6 MORE PASTA IDEAS YOU’LL LOVE
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Chicken Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil (extra virgin olive oil, canola, or avocado oil is fine)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 ribs of celery, sliced at ¼" bias
- 4 carrots, sliced at ¼" bias
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 8 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-4 sprigs of thyme
- 2 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups refrigerated tortellini pasta
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- ⅔ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 2-3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ teaspoon tarragon or white wine vinegar
Instructions
- Add the oil to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the oil has come to temperature, add the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté. Cover and cook for about 6-8 minutes, lifting the lid to stir every so often. Once the veggies have softened, add in the garlic and stir for one minute.
- Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, Kosher salt, and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil.
- As soon as the broth has reached a boil, add the tortellini pasta, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil according to the cooking time on the pasta package directions.
- Once the pasta is al dente, stir in the chicken, followed by the cream and vinegar. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs, if desired. Allow to cool slightly, serve, and enjoy!
Nutrition
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