This Chicken Parmesan Soup is easy in a crock pot or stovetop. With all the flavor of classic chicken Parmesan, it has tender chicken and pasta in a flavorful, cheesy Italian tomato broth. It couldn't be easier to have a bowl of delicious Italian comfort food for dinner tonight.
🐓Ingredients
Chicken—breasts or thighs
Parmesan cheese
Aromatics—onion, garlic
Pasta
Green pepper
Pantry—dry basil, dry oregano, crushed red pepper (optional), chicken broth, diced tomatoes
Jump To (scroll for more)
Featured Comment by Suzanne:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"...it was a big hit, and Meggan went home with the recipe at my son's urging, and even my teenage grandsons couldn't get enough. Glad I made double batch. Thanks again for another hit!"
This chicken Parmesan soup recipe is good enough for company but easy for a weeknight family dinner. Most people use their slow cooker, which will be about 4 hours. But the stovetop is about 1 hour. It is a fantastic chicken soup that fits a healthy diet like a low-calorie or low-fat diet.
👨🍳How to Make Chicken Parmesan Soup—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Grate Parmesan cheese for the soup and shred some extra for serving.
2. Prep the green pepper, onion, and chicken.
3. Cook all the soup ingredients except the pasta in a crock pot on low for about 3 ½ hours or simmer on the stovetop for about 30-40 minutes.
4. When the chicken is 165°, remove it and shred it.
5. Add the chicken and pasta back to the soup.
6. Cook until the pasta is tender—about 30 minutes in the crock pot or 10 to 15 minutes on the stovetop.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
✔️Tips, options, and variations
For creamy chicken parmesan soup, add a cup of heavy cream, half & half, or milk.
Use the chicken you want. If you use thighs, they will shred easier at 180°. We like lots of meat in our soup, so we increase it. The soup can handle it.
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese adds more flavor than processed versions. I prefer it grated in the soup and shredded for topping at serving.
A bit of heat is a very nice touch to this soup. Adjust the cayenne pepper to your taste.
Shredded mozzarella cheese also works well as a topping—with or without the shredded Parmesan.
Use a standard box of smaller pasta. If you use non-standard pasta, make sure it is cooked fully but not overcooked.
Save this recipe!
Enter your email address and we'll send the link straight to your inbox!
🤔How to use rotisserie chicken
To use precooked or rotisserie chicken, you will need about 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken to replace a pound of raw chicken. You must cook the other ingredients before adding the cooked chicken with the pasta.
For the crock pot, follow the recipe except do not add raw chicken or shedding.
On the stovetop, saute the vegetables until tender. Add all other ingredients except the pasta and cooked chicken. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes to blend the flavors (optional). Then, add the pasta and chicken according to the recipe.
↕️How to make chicken parm soup "for two" or a crowd
The full recipe makes about 12 cups for six large servings. The slow cooker or soup pot needs to be 4 quarts or larger.
A half recipe would fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot or pan, and a double recipe would need an 8-quart pot, but an increase of 50% would fit in the more common 6-quart size crock pot.
To adjust the recipe size:
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings desired.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
🍽️Serving
Top with shredded Parmesan cheese with or without some mozzarella.
Serve with a nice side salad and bread like Peasant Bread or Whole Wheat Rolls.
You may also use it along with an entree of Baked Chicken Parmesan or Chicken Pasta Bake.
🥣Slow Cooker Soups and Chilies
You will also love these other crock pot soup and chili recipes, like Taco Chili, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup, Healthy White Bean Chili, and Easiest Crock Pot White Chicken Chili.
Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli Soup is a version of the traditional Italian Pasta Fagioli recipe. It is loaded with beans, pasta, vegetables, a spicy tomato sauce, and beef. My copycat version is easy to make at home in a crock pot or a Dutch oven.
❄️Storage
This soup will store well and can be refrigerated for 4 days. However, since the pasta absorbs more fluid when stored, you may want to add more broth to reheat it.
This soup is not the best to freeze. The pasta and cooked parmesan do not freeze well. If you know you will be freezing it, remove the amount you want to freeze before adding the pasta. Instead of adding the Parmesan at the beginning, add it with the pasta. Add Parmesan and pasta for the remaining amount of soup.
❓FAQs
One pound of cooked shredded chicken will make about 3 cups in volume.
No, but close. Parmesan is the cheese. Paremigiana refers to dishes made with Parmesan as a key ingredient.
Parmigiano Reggiano is a version of Parmesan cheese produced by strict standards in a specific region of Italy. It is considered the most authentic version of Parmesan Cheese.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Chicken Parmesan Soup
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese - plus a little extra for topping
- 1 cup dry pasta
- 1 green pepper
- 1 onion - small
- 14 oz diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 cloves crush garlic
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- ⅛-1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Use fresh Parmesan cheese if possible.
- Chop one green pepper and one small onion. Clean and trim one pound of chicken. Any raw chicken will do.
- To a 4-quart crock pot or a large pot, add a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, 4 cups chicken broth, 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon basil, ½ teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon of black pepper, and ⅙-¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper. Add ½ cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese, chicken, pepper, and onion.
- In a crock pot, cook on low for about 3 ½ hours. On the stovetop, Bring to a light boil, cover, and decrease to simmer—cook for about 30-40 minutes. When the chicken reaches 165°, remove it and shred it.
- Place the chicken and 1 cup of dry pasta into the crock pot or pot. Cook until al dente—about 30 minutes in the crock pot or 10-15 minutes on the stovetop, depending on the pasta.
- Serve with an additional Parmesan topping.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Use the chicken you want; skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs are generally best.
- You can use precooked chicken, like a rotisserie chicken. See specific instructions in the recipe post.
- Good quality Parmesan cheese will add a lot of flavor.
- This fits many diets well, like a low-calorie, low-fat, or keto diet.
- This fits in a 4 quart or larger crock pot. Crock pot and recipe size are discussed in the post
- You can cook this on high for half the time, but the paste phase will still not cut in half.
- This soup will be stored well refrigerated for 4 days.
- You may want to add more broth during reheating since the pasta will absorb more fluid.
- Freezing may be problematic. See the post for discussion and a solution.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Inspired by Fox Loves Lemons-Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan Soup, one of several similar recipes. But I added a nip, a tuck, a simplification, and some stovetop instructions.
Editor's Note: Originally Published October 11, 2015. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
DOROTHY GALLARDO says
1 pound chicken without skin is 10 pts
parmesan cheese 4 oz 15 pts
broth chicken 4 cups 4 pts
pasta 1 cup 24
53 pts divided by 6 9 pts a serving
Danielle says
It's in the crock pot now waiting to put the pasta in. Just stired it. Hope it gets thicker when pasta is used. It's too soupy for me
Suzanne says
Dr. Dan Made this soup for my husband and I and my picky son and his wife and son stopped in. Needless to say it was a big hit and Meggan went home with the recipe at my son's urging and even my teenage grandsons couldn't get enough. Glad I made double batch. Thanks again for another hit!
Charles says
Hi, Dr. Dan.
This isn't a direct comment on this particular recipe, but rather about an ingredient - Chicken Broth. Blood pressure, and all that stuff...
I've found that substituting a good stock - lower (roughly half) salt, zero fat, zero carbs, 10 cals per cup, mostly from protein. (remainder from, the "zero fat, zero carbs") works well in your recipes, without adding any extra salt to compensate. If it tastes a bit short, often a bit more spice will do the trick, rather than adding salt.
For example, Swanson broth (pictured above, in your recipe) vs. Costco Kirkland Signature Organic Chicken Stock, which I use for just about everything, including rice sometimes.
Per cup - from the box(Kirk) and from the website for the same size box(Swanson)
Calories: Swan-10, Kirk-10
Fat Calories: Swan-5, Kirk-0
Sodium: Swan-860, Kirk-440
Total Carb: Swan-1g, Kirk-0
Protein: Swan-1g, Kirk-2g
DrDan says
Hi Charles, thanks again for the thoughts.
The FDA has some rounding rules for manufacturers that can make comparing low number funky. Lets look at the Fat Calories for example. If under 50 calories per serving then this is rounded to the nearest 5. So here the Swanson maybe 2.6 and the Kirkland 2.4. The sodium is approximately correct. (I did use low sodium broth this time which is 570). The carb and protein... rounding issues again perhaps.
These rounding rules make it almost impossible to calculate nutritional information correctly on a recipe. Zero is not really zero and if you use 4 cups it may not be zero but really almost 10. This is why I don't usually do nutritional analysis. It would be misleading although I have done it a few times for fun.
Check out this link. https://goo.gl/ZZGY6p
The FDA has their link but I can't find it right now and it is written in "Government talk" anyways.
Did you know PAM which is pure oil is listed as zero calories. What a world we live in...
I tend to use what I have. I do like broth a tiny bit more and should get in the habit of buy that instead but I use cans more than boxes since they are smaller and I tend to forget the half used box in the refrigerator.
Dan
DrDan says
I should also point out the nutritional analysis you find on blogs and recipe sites all have the same issues with these numbers. So take the official manufacturer FDA numbers for what they are (rounded and somewhat misleading) BUT if calculated for those numbers I would question the accuracy a lot.
Karen says
I have two questions. Did you mean 1 (14 ounce can diced tomatoes)? Recipe ingredients say diced chicken. When do we put in the 1/2 cup of Parmesan, at the beginning or when adding the pasta? I am looking forward to making this soup soon, sounds really good!
Charles says
1) yes, 1 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes.
1.5) (seemed like a question) the chicken is a matter of preference. Leave it whole, and remove at 3.5 hours to shred and return with the pasta, *or* cube it before cooking, if you prefer to have chunkier bits of chicken in the final product. Skip the shred step in this case. (My take on the recipe, after all, they are just guidelines...)
2) Add the cheese at the start. Add a little bit more for garnish when serving.