Creamy Chicken Soup
This Creamy Chicken Soup is easy to make with vegetables in a creamy, flavorful broth along with your choice of potatoes, rice, pasta, or beans!
Be sure to pair this with my No Knead Bread and try my Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe next!
Creamy Chicken Soup
There is so much cozy flavor in this Creamy Chicken Soup! You won’t be able to put your spoon down. It’s perfect for those chilly nights in, or when you’re feeling under the weather.
There are a ton of starch options here- I tend to go with potatoes because they don’t soak up broth during storage, but I have ways of controlling that if you would prefer to add rice or pasta! (More on that below!) The vegetable options are endless as well, and the combination of seasonings in this flavorful broth are the best. I can’t wait for you to try this!
(Don’t miss my PRO TIPS below.) -And be sure to serve this with some buttermilk biscuits or cheddar bay biscuits!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Season chicken with salt/pepper & Italian seasoning. Sear in olive oil until golden on each side. Let rest for 10 minutes, then cut into bite-sized pieces. (It’s okay if not cooked all the way through, it will finish cooking in the soup & will be nice and juicy.)
Deglaze the skillet with dry white wine (or chicken broth if needed), and reduce by half. Add onions, carrots, and celery and soften. Add garlic and seasonings.
Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth in small splashes, stirring continuously. Add the half and half in the same manner, then add the chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Add the diced chicken back. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. (Pro Tip: Add any bones back to the soup for even more flavor and use a slotted spoon to remove at the end.)
Add diced potatoes and frozen vegetables during the last 15 minutes and simmer gently until the potatoes are fork tender. Serve with buttermilk biscuits!
What to Add to Creamy Chicken Soup
Instead of potatoes, a variety of other starches are great in this soup. Here’s how to incorporate them:
Tortellini:
- This is my favorite addition to use, I use Rana 5-cheese tortellini, but any variety is really good for Chicken Tortellini Soup. I boil the tortellini on the side and add it directly to serving bowls. It only needs 4 minutes of cooking time! (You can also boil it in the microwave!)
Rice:
- 2 generous cups of cooked rice is perfect in this soup. I cook the rice on the side and add it right to serving bowls to make sure that rice doesn’t absorb all of the broth when I store leftovers. You can also try my Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe!
Pasta:
- Orzo, acini de pepe, elbows, shells, ditalini, and orecchiette are all small pastas that make a great addition to this soup. (I would use 3/4 cup dry pasta.) I recommend boiling it separately and adding directly to serving bowls, as pasta will absorb the broth during storage. Feel free to try my Chicken Noodle Soup and Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup recipes as well!
Beans:
- White navy beans, white kidney beans, great northern beans, or pinto beans can also be added during the last 10-15 minutes.
Pro Tips
- Chicken: Chicken breast or thighs work well for this recipe, bone-in chicken is a little more moist and flavorful.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc are great in this recipe. Chicken broth can be used if you don’t cook with wine.
- Potatoes: I use Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe because I love their creamy consistency, but red potatoes are always a great candidate for soup because they hold up the best. Russet potatoes may also be used, but they’re also the starchiest, which makes them more prone to falling apart.
- Heavy cream can be used instead of half and half for a little extra indulgence. For a lighter version, try my Chicken Vegetable Soup.
- Kale or spinach makes a healthy addition to this soup. Add it right at the end and give it a few minutes to cook/wilt.
- My Ranch Oyster Crackers make a great topping for soups and stews.
It’s Meant for the Stove Top
- This recipe is designed around using various temperatures on the stove top in order to sear the chicken, deglaze the skillet/reduce the wine, create a roux, blend the flavors, and reduce/concentrate the broth. These techniques can’t be replicated in the crock pot and the outcome would be different than what is shown here.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- This soup does reheat well as there isn’t an overabundance of cream in it.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 4.5 Quart Dutch Oven– The perfect size for almost any soup recipe.
- Kitchen Scale– To weigh the chicken. This is the one I’ve had for years and I love it.
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts of broth.
- Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
- Pinch Bowls– For measuring seasonings, etc. ahead of time.
- Soup Ladle
- 16 oz. storage containers I use these to store/freeze my soups. They have 8 oz. sizes as well. They’re stackable, leak proof, and dishwasher/microwave safe.
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Creamy Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt/Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 ¼ lbs. bone-in chicken breast or thighs, see notes
Soup
- ½ cup dry white wine, see notes
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup flour
- 5 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 cups half and half, (half milk/half cream(
- 1 chicken bouillon cube, or 1 tsp. better than bouillon
- 1 ½ lbs. potatoes, see notes
- 1 ½ cups frozen vegetables, I use corn & peas
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon EACH: dried basil, oregano, mustard powder, onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon EACH: ground sage, salt, celery salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Prep Work: Measure out ingredients before beginning. (Don't cut the potatoes yet.)
Cook the Chicken
- Pat the chicken dry and season each side with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Make sure the pot is sufficiently heated so that the chicken sears right when it hits it. Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes/side, then remove and set aside. (Uncooked in the middle is okay, it will finish cooking in the soup and will be nice and juicy.) Set aside and let it rest for 10 minutes, then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Make the Soup
- Turn off the heat. Add the wine and set the heat to medium. Use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the pot. Let the liquid reduce by half, about 4 minutes.
- Add the butter and let it melt. Add the onions, carrots, and celery. Toss to coat. Soften for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the garlic and seasonings. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook for 2 minutes, until the raw flour smell is gone.
- Add the chicken broth in small splashes, stirring continuously. Be sure to do this slowly. Add the heavy cream in the same manner. Next, add the chicken bouillon.
- Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Add the diced chicken back along with any juices from the plate. Simmer, uncovered for 15-20 minutes. (Pro Tip: If you have any bones from the chicken, add them to the soup for even more flavor and remove with a slotted spoon at the end.)
- Peel and dice the potatoes and add them to the soup along with the frozen vegetables.
- Let the soup bubble gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
- Serve with buttermilk biscuits or cheddar bay biscuits.
Notes
- Chicken: Chicken breast or thighs work well for this recipe, bone-in chicken is a little more moist and flavorful.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc are great in this recipe. Chicken broth can be used if you don’t cook with wine.
- Potatoes: I use Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe because I love their creamy consistency, but red potatoes are always a great candidate for soup because they hold up the best. Russet potatoes may also be used, but they're also the starchiest, which makes them more prone to falling apart.
- Starches: Rice and pasta (including Tortellini), are great starches in this soup instead of potatoes. See blog post for my recommended quantities and techniques for adding them!
- Heavy cream can be used instead of half and half for a little extra indulgence. For a lighter version, try my Chicken Vegetable Soup.
- Kale or spinach makes a healthy addition to this soup. Add it right at the end and give it a few minutes to cook/wilt.
- My Ranch Oyster Crackers make a great topping for soups and stews.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- This soup does reheat well as there isn't an overabundance of cream in it.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per cup. This recipe makes approximately 11 cups.
I made this soup last night to take to a family tonight from my church. I had to use gluten free pasta due to an allergy. I did try some of the soup before I stored it in the fridge and it was delicious. I feel like the pasta has absorbed alot of the liquid though. I plan to heat this up this evening to take but was wondering if you have a suggest of how/what to add to give it a tad more liquid-ness?
Hi Shawna! This recipe actually doesn’t call for any pasta, when I add pasta to soup, I boil it on the side and add it directly to serving bowls and ladle the soup on top so that the pasta doesn’t absorb all of the broth and get mushy. At this point I’d suggest adding more chicken broth. ❤️
Let’s be clear, I really f***ed up this recipe. I have a bad habit of drinking wine while I cook, and I chop REAL SLOW. I’m also a lightweight. So long story short, I’m staring at the “completed” soup and wondering why it’s so runny when ALL of the veggies are sitting chopped on the counter, wondering what’s up with the crazy lady.
I used about 1.5-2x the amount of seasonings recommended. I used 1.45 lbs of bone-in chicken drumsticks and boiled the bones in the broth. I sautéed the carrot and celery for 5ish minutes in 2 extra tbsps of butter, then added the onion for another 10ish minutes. I was panicking, I couldn’t tell time. I skipped the frozen veggies entirely. I forewent the taters to add pasta instead (I can’t remember what it’s called but it looks like tiny stars), cooking it separately and only adding it when I served.
I’m not lying when I say this was possibly the best soup I’ve ever had. Not made, HAD. We all know by now I’m a terrible cook, and I MADE SOMETHING INCREDIBLE. Even after screwing it up royally!
Honestly I’m amazed. I’m definitely saving this recipe–maybe I’ll actually follow it correctly next time (a girl can dream)!
Hello! I’m planning to make this recipe,is it possible I can add a sweet potato to the soup?
You sure can! They’ll take around 20-25 minutes to cook through, although it also depends on the size of the cut. Enjoy!
This is now my all-time favorite soup. I came across this recipe just by doing an internet search, and though I made minor tweaks (doubled the h&h , adjusted herbs and seasonings to taste) – this is absolutely delicious. Big family hit. I will be making this so often the whole clan (except me) might get tired of it. Big hit, so good. Thank you!
I am soooo thrilled to hear that Heather! You sound like me, when I get hooked on a soup recipe, I make it SO often and eat it almost every day, lol. This one is definitely up there with my favorites, the flavor is so good! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! 🙂 -Stephanie
This was awesome!! I doubled the garlic cuz my hubby and I love garlic. Seasoned the chicken w a Rosemary Dijon seasoning from Spiceology and used orzo instead of potato.
I’m so happy it was such a success Gina!!! Thanks so much for the great comments!💕
So delicious! I will make this again. I added some cheddar cheese and next time I’ll add a little bacon when cooking the chicken so comforting and satisfying. Thank you!
Thanks so much for the great comments Jennifer❤️! A little bacon would be delicious, yummmm!
I had everything except the ground mustard and corn. I also cut a whole chicken in half for 2 separate meals and seasoned the 1/2 chicken and browned on all side…. put it aside to cool while doing the veggie / stock cream part. Once cooled I cut the breast meat and thigh meat into pieces and added back to the pot along with the rest of the chicken still on the bone. I’m going to add the peas with potatoes and then some fresh chopped kale in the end… it’s simmering on the stove now…. I just know I am going to love this!
Sounds delicious Tracey! I’m sure you enjoyed it!! 😍😍😍
Best chicken soup ever! I finally found someone who likes spices as much as I do! This is delicious, it doesn’t get better than this. I can’t have nightshades so I did not do potatoes but I have had this served over rice and I have used cauliflower rice and both are scrumptious with this soup. This is going in my regular rotation.
I’m sooo happy that you loved it Michelle! YES! A good seasoning combination in a must, I almost always have at least 4 in my recipes, if not more 🙂 I’m so glad that this will be staying in your rotation! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, you’re the best! 🙂 -Stephanie (PS- I love the name Michelle! It’s my middle name and my daughter’s middle name too!) 🩷
The best comfort soup for a sore throat. I had these with left over homemade hush puppies. Delicious!
I’m so happy to hear that this soup did the trick Katie! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, feel better! 🙂 -Stephanie
Comfort soup!!! So good
Exactly! I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks so much!💖