Creamy Chicken and Tortellini Soup Recipe

A bowl of creamy chicken and tortellini soup with carrots, celery, and parsley, served with slices of rustic bread on a plate.

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5 from 2 votes

This Creamy Chicken and Tortellini Soup is serious comfort food - and substantial enough for dinner!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American-Italian, British, Italian

Keyword: Homemade Soup, Soup Ideas, Stoup

Servings: servings

Author Nicky Corbishley

Ingredients

2 medium carrots peeled and chopped into chunks
2 sticks of celery sliced
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 sprigs of thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
600 ml (2 1/2 cups) chicken stock water plus 3 stock cubes is fine
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) milk full fat is best, but half-fat works too.
300 g (10.5oz) cooked shredded chicken this is approx 2 medium chicken breasts or 3/4 of the meat from a small rotisserie chicken
2 tbsp lemon juice
250 g (8.8 oz) pack of fresh tortellini I recommend ham+cheese or mushroom+cheese flavours
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions

Add the carrots, celery, salt, pepper, thyme and stock to a saucepan. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 15 minutes and then turn off the heat.
2 medium carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 sprigs of thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme, 600 ml (2 1/2 cups) chicken stock, 1/2 tsp black pepper
Take another large saucepan and add in the butter and onions. Heat on low-medium and cook the onion for about 5-6 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
2 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 small onion
Add in the flour and mix it into the onions and butter using a balloon whisk. It should form into a creamy paste (or roux).
2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
Add the milk to the roux a little at a time stirring continuously with the whisk until all the milk us incorporated.
300 ml (1 1/4 cup) milk
Then pour in the stock and veggies you cooked earlier into the large saucepan with the milk mixture and stir until fully combined
Add in the shredded cooked chicken. Bring back to *almost* boiling and add in half the lemon juice. Give it a stir and taste. Add the rest of the lemon juice if needed.
300 g (10.5oz) cooked shredded chicken, 2 tbsp lemon juice
Add the fresh tortellini and heat through for 3-5 minutes (depending on the size of the tortellini) until hot inside.
250 g (8.8 oz) pack of fresh tortellini
Season to taste with salt and pepper and then sprinkle on some fresh thyme, before serving.
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Notes

Make ahead

You can make this ahead, but I would recommend leaving out the shredded chicken until you come to reheat it. Rotisserie chicken has already been cooked once. Cooking it again in the soup, then reheating a third time is not recommended. So leave out the chicken, and add it in when reheating.

If you're using a tortellini that has a cooked filling, I would recommend leaving that out too, and adding it in with the chicken when reheating.

Make the soup base up to two days ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate.
Reheat in a saucepan with the chicken and tortellini, over a medium heat, until piping hot throughout. You may need to add a splash more stock to loosen up the soup.

Can you freeze it?

No, I don't recommend freezing this soup. The milk in the soup may cause the soup to split or become grainy.

Nutritional Information is approx per serving (this recipe serves 4). This is based on the tortellini being a refrigerated cheese tortellini, with the total pack calorie amount of 778.

Nutrition

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