Chicken Parmesan Soup! AKA what happens when your chicken parm wants to go for a little swim…
This soup makes me giddy. There’s something about serving up my favorite foods in soup form that’s just plain fun.
It’s also a really great way to lighten up comfort food and make it deliciously freezer-friendly too! It’s a win-win situation in my book. Plus it’s slurpable. So there’s the added bonus of annoying my husband.
I’ll take it!
Like most of my recipes, this chicken parmesan soup underwent typical P&C test kitchen shenanigans. I tried three different cooking methods and ingredient line-ups, which is why it took me so ridiculously long to finally post this soup. Luckily it’s well worth the wait!
Dare I be cliche and say the third time’s the charm?
Cliche or not, it’s downright charming. AND DELICIOUS! Let’s eat!
Ingredients Needed
- chicken breast or thighs (or a combo of both!)
- canned crushed tomatoes
- chicken broth
- salt and pepper
- yellow onion
- garlic
- olive oil
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- tomato paste
- fresh basil
- parmesan cheese + rind
- carbs of choice
For your carbalicious faceplant you can add fresh noodles, crisp croutons, or my cheesy parmesan toasts.
Need a gluten-free option? You can skip the bread and pasta altogether or use your favorite GF variety!
Chicken Parmesan Soup
This cozy chicken parm soup is one of my husband’s favorites and has made quite a few repeat occurrences around here. The recipe yields 6 servings and leftover bowls taste AMAZING the next day.
Can I freeze this soup?
You absolutely can! I purposely keep the noodles separate so I can freeze bowls of the soup itself for later. Frozen soup will keep up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat via stovetop or microwave until nice and hot. Then add noodles and/or cheesy garlic toast or croutons and enjoy!
Chicken Parmesan Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs
- ¼ tsp salt plus extra to taste
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper plus extra to taste
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 large celery stalks, diced
- 4 cloves fresh garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 TBSP tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning blend* (Mrs. Dash is my favorite)
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes (grab fire roasted for extra flavor!)
- 1 parmesan cheese rind (optional but fantastic for a richer broth)
- chopped fresh basil to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
CARB OPTIONS – choose your favorite or a combination!
- cooked pasta (any shape)
- homemade croutons
- cheesy garlic bread
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic or parchment paper on a cutting board. Firmly pound chicken with the smooth side of a mallet to a thickness of 1/2-inch. This is totally optional, but will help it cook evenly, and a bit quicker. You can even use leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken for this recipe if you'd like.
- Season both sides of chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Next heat a 6 QT dutch oven (or a large stainless pot with a lid) to medium high heat with 1 TBSP olive oil, then add the chicken.
- Cook for about 5 minutes until golden and seared then flip and cook on the other side.
- Once fully cooked, remove chicken with tongs and allow to rest for a few minutes with a sheet of foil placed over it.
- Add additional TBSP oil to the pot and add onions and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until tender then add fresh minced garlic. Cook an additional minute or until fragrant.
- Stir in tomato paste, parsley, oregano, and Italian seasoning. Sauté the paste and spices for an additional minute or two to help their flavors develop further.
- Next add crushed tomatoes and chicken broth and mix well to deglaze the pan.
- Add a parmesan cheese rind to the pot. The parm rind is optional but adds fantastic flavor to the soup.
- Cover and simmer for 15 minutes to further soften the veggies and meld the flavors.
- Chop the rested chicken or shred if desired. Return to pot and cook for an additional 5 minutes until chicken is warmed through. If using rotisserie chicken instead you'll add it during this step. If you added the parmesan rind, remove during this step as well.
- Lastly stir in fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese. Add any additional salt, pepper, or spices to taste. Crushed red pepper flakes also make a tasty addition if you'd like. If adding cooked pasta, stir it in here.
- Divide into bowls and enjoy! Top with any additional parmesan cheese your heart desires and add some crispy homemade croutons (I'll add the recipe for mine in the post) or cheesy garlic bread on top for a french onion soup vibe. Delicious!
Notes
Nutrition
Alternatively, you can absolutely cook this bad boy in the slow cooker.
My crock-pot test batch was delicious, but the chicken spent so much time getting up close and personal with the veggies that it straight up took over the flavor profile of the dish. As far as soups go, I loved it, friends and family loved it, but we all also agreed that we loved the stove-top version the best, so do with it what you may!
If you break out the slow cooker, the flavors will be a little bit different, and I highly suggest carving out a few prep minutes to sauté the garlic and onion before adding them to the pot. Cook on high for no more than 4 hours (or low for 6-8), fish out the whole chicken breasts with a pair of tongs, shred, and return to the pot. The key when slow cooking tomato based soups is to avoid over-cooking.
Stir in fresh basil just before serving and top with your garlicky parm-toast topping. It was good, but the technique in the recipe above totally won me over like a squealing fangirl.
To freeze, simply pour into your favorite freezer-friendly container, leaving about an inch at the top (soup often expands when frozen), pop it in the freezer, and defrost on a rainy day!
Now you’ll have delicious fast food without the fuss!
If you’re a fan of that ridiculously awesome crouton/cheese combo on top of French Onion Soup you’re going to flip over the optional cheesy garlic toast topping.
Depending on how you feel about your soup accessories, you can simply dunk the crusty, crunchy, cheesy, toasts into your hot soup and use it as a bonus utensil or allow the garlicky bread and cheese to soak up the delicious broth as you scoop it apart bit by bit with your spoon.
My long winded descriptions do this no justice. Your butt: get it in the kitchen! Stat!
If you get a chance to try this chicken parmesan soup recipe, let me know! You can leave me a comment here (LOVE checking those daily!) or tag @PEASandCRAYONS on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creations. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
I had some ground chicken breast that needed used up, so I cooked and crumbled it with Italian seasonings and put that into the soup instead of diced or shredded chicken. It turned out delicious.
Such a great idea!
I am absolutely in love with this soup! Creamy and full of flavor – totally filled me up!
This is delicious! My family devoured it. Definitely being added to our meal rotation
Yay! Thanks Nellie!
Totally the season for soups and this one sounds soooo good, can’t wait to try it! 😀 Think I’ll take Brenda’s idea of grated carrots, but instead of or in addition to celery, maybe some zucchini a few minutes before turning off the heat. Maybe mushrooms, too, if it won’ t make it too much like spaghetti sauce. Will have fun experimenting. Thanks for the recipe, Jenn. 🙂
Thank you! I like to eat really good homemade spaghetti sauce by the spoonful so in my book, you can do no wrong with those extra veggies! Veg it up and enjoy, Shawna! 🙂
Made this for dinner last night. Yummy! I did add some vegies (grated carrot and finely diced celery) and some chicken stock powder for added flavour. Cooked everything in the slow cooker. Will have to try this on the stovetop and see which is the better one! lol….. My family scored this 9/10. We did think, however, that it was funny to call this Chicken Parmesan Soup when there is no parmesan in the soup! So if you didn’t make the large croutons, there would be no parmesan hahaha… Thanks for a great recipe. Will be a regular for us and I don’t even like tomatoes! lol
I’m so glad it was a hit with your family Brenda! I LOOOOOVE the added veggies (gold stars for that!) and you’re totally right about the topping being the source of parmesan. You could totally sneak some in the soup or freshly grate a little parmesan cheese over the top sans bread/croutons and chicken parm it up! <3 Can't wait to hear which method you love best! 🙂
All I want is soup these days and this is perfect!!! Thanks for putting instructions on how to do it in the crock pot too!! YUM!!
found this today via the Drunken Spatula on Facebook. What a perfect idea, I love chicken parm and soup and I must make this for my family soon! It’s just brilliant.
Welcome to P&C, Jason! Thanks so much!!! I hope you adore it as much as my family does!
This soup looks seriously so delicious! Love that floating cheesey crouton especially.. pinned!
Thanks Thalia!
aka what happens when your chicken parm wants to go for a little swim…
I just spat water all over my screen. How dare you. You need to replace my screen. Or fedex me this.
Dude I just had my phone fed-exed after repairs and it cost 80 BUCKS! Such robbery. I think rates to you might cost eleventy million so how bout ya come visit and I’ll feed ya! Kthx
Aaah yes please!!! Love me some chicken parmesean. And crouton/cheese? Practically my middle name. Although that’d be kinda weird.
Pinned!
What an awesome idea, I need to make this soon!
Chicken parm in a SOUP?! Love it! This looks incredible.
Soups ARE fun! There’s something about holding a hot up of liquid in your hands and smelling the vegetables in it that’s so very appealing.