Creamy Tuscan Garlic Parmesan Chicken Soup–an easy Instant Pot or slow cooker soup made with tender chicken, ditalini pasta, spinach, tomato sauce, and sun-dried tomato pesto.
Creamy Tuscan Garlic Parmesan Chicken Soup
This soup was one of those recipes where I kept thinking, “Wow, this is so good!” Every bite was packed with flavor! The sun-dried tomato pesto is the secret ingredient to achieve the yummy flavor. You can usually find the pesto in the pasta sauce aisle at the grocery store, but if you can’t find it some chopped sun-dried tomatoes are a great substitute. The only disappointing thing about this recipe was that there weren’t any leftovers for lunch the next day because we finished every last drop!
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Butter–or olive oil
- Onion–or shallot
- Celery–or 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- Garlic powder–or 3 minced garlic cloves
- Italian seasoning
- Black pepper
- Water
- Better Than Bouillon chicken base
- White wine vinegar–or red wine vinegar
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs–or boneless skinless chicken breasts or rotisserie chicken (add cooked chicken near the end)
- Tomato sauce
- Ditalini pasta–or small shells, orzo
- Sun-dried tomato pesto–or chopped sundried tomatoes
- Spinach–or kale
- Heavy cream–or half-and-half, evaporated milk
- Parmesan cheese–or Pecorino Romano
Steps
Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper.
Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Stir in the bouillon and vinegar. Add in the chicken and tomato sauce.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set SOUP button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting.
Turn to sauté setting and stir in the ditalini. Cook until pasta is al dente. Stir in the pesto and spinach. Stir some of the hot soup into the cream to temper it and then stir it into the pot.
Ladle into bowls and top each serving with some parmesan cheese.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with warm garlic bread, french bread or breadsticks.
- You can easily substitute rotisserie chicken. Simply cook the soup without raw chicken, then stir the cooked chicken in with the pesto and spinach to heat through.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 4 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for 4 days.
- Other recipes you can make with sundried tomato pesto are Dump and Marry Me Casserole and Creamy Italian Chicken Soup.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Creamy Tuscan Garlic Parmesan Chicken Soup
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy Instant Pot or slow cooker soup made with tender chicken, ditalini pasta, spinach, tomato sauce, and sun-dried tomato pesto.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 celery rib, diced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups water
- 1 Tbsp Better than Bouillon chicken base
- 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 16 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 2 oz ditalini pasta
- 2 Tbsp sundried tomato pesto
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese, for topping
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn Instant Pot to sauté setting. When display says HOT add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper.
- Pour in the water and scrape bottom of pot so that nothing is sticking. Stir in the bouillon and vinegar. Add in the chicken and tomato sauce.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set SOUP button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5 minutes and then move valve to venting.
- Turn to sauté setting and stir in the ditalini. Cook until pasta is al dente. Stir in the pesto and spinach. Stir some of the hot soup into the cream to temper it and then stir it into the pot.
- Ladle into bowls and top each serving with some parmesan cheese.
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper. Transfer to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the water, bouillon, vinegar, chicken and tomato sauce.
- Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.
- Stir in the ditalini, cover and cook for 20 more minutes.
- Stir in the pesto and spinach. Stir some of the hot soup into the cream to temper it and then stir it into the slow cooker.
- Ladle into bowls and top each serving with some parmesan cheese.
- Category: Chicken, Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
More soups with chicken to try…
Avgolemono Soup
A creamy dreamy chicken, rice and lemon soup made in your Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Million Dollar Soup
A comforting Instant Pot soup with tender bites of chicken, pillowy gnocchi, crispy bacon, and creamy broth flavored with garlic, thyme, and a touch of fennel.
Sicilian Chicken Soup
A light but satisfying chicken soup made with tender shredded chicken, vegetables, ditalini pasta and more. Make it in the Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Creamy Italian Chicken Soup
Instant Pot or slow cooker soup with tender chicken, cheese-filled tortellini, sundried tomato pesto, ricotta, spinach and Parmesan cheese.
Billion Dollar Soup
A creamy chicken kale noodle soup made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. It’s made with tender chicken, hearty vegetables, egg noodles, bacon and parmesan in a flavorful broth.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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