Chicken soup is one of the most nutritious and fairly low cost meals that I love to make. One of the great things about this creamy sun dried tomato chicken soup is that you can adapt the recipe to your time frame. If you have time to buy a whole chicken and poach it first to make the stock/meat, this saves money and gives you really tender chicken. If you are in hurry, you can still make this delicious soup with store bought stock and chicken breasts or thighs.
Sun dried tomatoes and their oil add a ton of flavor to this soup. The tomato flavor goes really well with chicken and also with the pasta and parmesan you put on top. Basil and spinach also add freshness and flavor. You can use any pasta shape in here. The little shapes would be great in this. You can also leave out the pasta if you prefer. Don’t skip the fresh basil and parmesan when serving though, as it really brings this soup together.
Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken neck and organ pack removed or 1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 2 quarts chicken stock if not using the whole chicken
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil diced finely
- 1 tbsp oil from the jar of tomatoes
- 1 onion diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 4 garlic cloves diced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup cream or light cream or half and half I used lactose free half and half – you can adjust this from 1 tbsp up to 1/2 cup depending on how creamy you want it
- 4 tsp chopped fresh basil
- 2 tsp salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or more if you like it spicy
- 8 oz uncooked pasta
- 3-4 cups fresh spinach
- grated parm for serving
- fresh basil for serving
Instructions
- If you are using a whole chicken, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Remove the neck/organs from center of the chicken and add the chicken to the pot and sprinkle with a tsp of salt and some fresh ground black pepper.
- Let the skin of the chicken brown for 2-3 minutes, then add enough water to cover the chicken and allow to simmer on lowest heat for 1.5-2 hours, until the meat is falling off the bones. Remove the chicken and shred the meat. Strain the broth through a strainer and reserve for the soup.
- If using breasts or thighs, cut them into small bite sized pieces and set aside.
- Heat the oil from the sun dried tomatoes in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and if using breasts or thighs, the cut up chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened. Add in the sun dried tomatoes, tomato paste, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper and dried italian seasoning. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste darkens bit.
- Now add the broth, and allow the soup to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the pasta and fresh basil and cook until the pasta is al dente. Add the cream, spinach, and the shredded chicken if you made the whole chicken. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve topped with grated parm and fresh chopped basil.