Yummy Recipe Monday:Creamy Tortellini Soup with Chicken

Creamy Tortellini Soup with Chicken

A comforting and hearty bowl of warm cheesy goodness!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 469 kcal

Author Holly Sander

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 large carrots, halved and sliced
3 stalks celery sliced
2½ pounds bone-in chicken breasts, or use rotisserie chicken meat pulled from the bone. *See note below.
6 large garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1/3 cup chopped parsley, more for garnish
2 bay leaves
8 cups chicken broth (use 6 cups of stock if using a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, add more toward the end if needed. *See note below.)
12 ounces dried cheese tortellini
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 ounces cream cheese

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in garlic, thyme and parsley and cook for 1 more minute. Add in the chicken stock and chicken breasts, place the lid on the pot, turn to high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and crack the lid. (It will take about 10 minutes to come to a boil.)
Cook for 15-20 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove the chicken and allow to cool on a plate.(*See note below).
Whisk in the cream cheese. Then add the tortellini pasta, bring to a simmer, and cook to package instructions (my dried pasta took 14 minutes to cook).
Meanwhile shred the cooked chicken breasts with two forks. When pasta is finished cooking add Parmesan cheese and the chicken back into the soup.
Serve with chopped parsley and more Parmesan if desired.

The longer the pasta sits in the soup, the more liquid it will soak up. So, you may need to add more stock to make it the consistency you’d like. It’s fine to add this at the end, after the soup has been cooked.

For the same reason, when reheating the soup you may need to add a little water or stock since the noodles absorb some of the liquid while sitting in the refrigerator.

If you use precooked rotisserie chicken you can skip step 3 above. Just shred the chicken and fold in at the end, as specified in step 5. Also, since the liquid won’t have as much time to cook and evaporate you will not need as much stock for this version. I recommend starting with 6 cups and adding more toward the end if desired.