This Tuscan Chicken Soup recipe is inspired by the famous Tuscan Chicken Pasta recipes. It is so flavorful with sundried tomatoes, spices, and chicken. The soup is finished with a splash of cream and Tuscan kale.
I don't know about you, but I have fallen in love with Tuscan chicken pasta recipes. I've tried Instant Pot versions and stovetop version. And I have loved all of them.
But recently, I thought about making a soup/stew version. A version that doesn't need pasta. But is still so delicious and encapsulates those flavors of Tuscan chicken pasta.
And so this recipe for a Tuscan Chicken Soup was born.
I've made it multiple times and gotten recommendations from my husband each time on what to change. And this is the version we've ended up on that we both love and that has become part of our dinner repertoire.
The Tuscan chicken soup is so flavorful and cooked in a broth turned creamy with some heavy cream. We add Tuscan kale at the end, cause this is a Tuscan chicken soup, but if you have curly kale or spinach, those are good substitutions!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- Garlic cloves
- Sundried tomatoes
- Chicken broth
- Tuscan kale
- Dried thyme leaves
- Smoked paprika
- Heavy cream
Additions and substitutions
Depending on where you live and time of year, you may not be able to find Tuscan kale (also called Lacinato kale or dinosaur kale). If you can't find Tuscan kale, use curly kale or spinach instead.
If you want double the veggie flavor, you can double the amount of kale or add spinach and kale. You can also add drained, crushed tomatoes if desired.
To add more heartiness to the stew, you can add pasta (or orzo) in to boil or (my favorite), some white beans! They add another source of protein and are so healthy!
While I love this recipe as is, you can also add some diced carrot into the soup.
Have you made any additions or substitutions? Let me know in the comments below, I'd love to try out your ideas and suggestions!
Recipe notes
- Prep your ingredients ahead of time. This makes it so much easier to add when needed!
- If you don't have Tuscan kale, use spinach or a different type of kale.
- Season with what you love! If all you have is an Italian seasoning blend and you don't have thyme, use that instead!
- If you're using milk instead of heavy cream, watch your soup carefully to make sure it cooks properly. You may need to cook at a lower heat or add less. This recipe is really made for heavy cream!
- To make this more decadent, you can top with fresh Parmesan cheese, though it's delicious without.
How to make Tuscan chicken soup
Take your chicken and cut into bite-size pieces. Take out a stew or large pot and heat olive oil. Add your chicken and sauté.
Once browned, add the garlic, sundried tomatoes, thyme, and paprika and saute for a minute.
Add the chicken stock and boil for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium and add the heavy cream and kale. Cook and simmer for 3 minutes.
Once done, plate and enjoy!
More soup recipes
Looking for more easy soup recipes? Try these.
- Vegan chickpea tortilla soup
- Roasted butternut squash soup
- Chickpea and tomato stew
- Lemon orzo soup with shrimp
- Easy corn chowder (vegan option)
Tuscan Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup sundried tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 cups chicken stock
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 cups Tuscan kale chopped
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients. Chop the chicken into 1 inch chunks. Mince the garlic cloves. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
- In a stew pot or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the chicken to the pot. Let sit for 2 minutes, then stir and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until seared.
- Add the sundried tomatoes, garlic, dried thyme, and smoked paprika to the pot. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add a splash of the chicken stock to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze.
- Add the rest of the stock and stir together. Increase the heat to boiling. Once soup reaches boiling, reduce the heat back to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- While soup cooks, prepare the kale leaves. Wash and remove the stems. Cut the leaves into bite sized pieces (about 1 inch) and discard the stems.
- After the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, add the heavy cream and the kale. Stir to combine. Simmer for 3 minutes, then turn off heat and plate.
- Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
- Prep your ingredients ahead of time. This makes it so much easier to add when needed!
- If you don't have Tuscan kale, use spinach or a different type of kale.
- Season with what you love! If all you have is an Italian seasoning blend and you don't have thyme, use that instead!
- If you're using milk instead of heavy cream, watch your soup carefully to make sure it cooks properly. You may need to cook at a lower heat or add less. This recipe is really made for heavy cream!
- To make this more decadent, you can top with fresh Parmesan cheese, though it's delicious without.
Nutrition
If nutrition info is shown, values are based on an online calculator and are estimates. Please verify using your own data.
Mariam
Hi! I assume the chicken was baked ahead of time?
Aimee
Hi! Nope, the raw chicken is cut into bite-sized cubes and cooked in the pot as the first step. That should fully cook the chicken cubes. However, you could always use pre-cooked chicken as well!
Beth Sowell
Made this for dinner tonight. I used the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes to saute everything. I also added onion. I used spinach because that's what I had on hand. Excellent recipe and easy to make! Thanks so much for sharing. We enjoyed it very much.
David Farina
This looks great! I grew up in Youngstown Ohio and in a real ethnic diverse neighborhood! . My Dad was a couple of versions Italian. His parents came from different areas of Italy. My Mom was Polish! . The cooking smells were incredible and included smells from outdoor brick ovens All children learned to cook including the boys! I’ve used recipes very similar to yours and they all came out great. One of the original Tuscan soup recipes used Italian sweet sausage instead of chicken. I’m in my seventies and as I aged, I got away from the heavy cream aspect. I had digestive problems…… very rich for me! I switched over to unsalted butter and unsweetened canned milk or powdered milk!. Just a little history lesson from an appreciative fellow reader. God bless!
foodbanjo
Thanks for commenting! What a fun story, I love hearing your history. I am going to have to make this with some Italian sweet sausage soon, it sounds delicious!
Alison
Love this recipe! It’s super simple, super yummy and it freezes well too!
Thanks!