Take the comforting flavors for chicken pot pie and turn it into a soup with this 40-minute recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup! It’s everything you love about the casserole turned into a luscious bowl of creamy soup topped off with easy puff pastry “biscuits.”
Easy Chicken Pot Pie Soup
This Chicken Pot Pie Soup is part of our annual Soup-er Simple Series where we share quick-cooking soups that taste like they’ve been simmering and developing flavor all day.
Plus, we cook Healthy-ish around here, which means this quick weeknight soup is also chock-full of vegetables and healthy protein (just like our Broccoli Feta Soup).
To make this soup very quick and easy we rely on a few things. One, boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They add loads of flavor, cook quickly and retain a great juicy texture even through the most vigorous simmering.
And two, we use a few heavy hitters like Better than Bouillon, dried rosemary, cumin seed and half-and-half.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup Ingredients
- Pantry staples: a few pantry staples such as olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and all-purpose flour (for thickening) are needed for this soup.
- Chicken: you’ll need 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can use chicken breast, but if you do, skip the initial browning step and add the diced chicken breast to the soup while it’s simmering.
- Onion and Garlic: these two aromatics are important for building flavor quickly! Use a medium yellow onion and 2 or 3 large cloves of garlic.
- Carrots: you’ll need 4 large carrot for this recipe. Feel free to play around with different colored carrots or even parsnips.
- Mushrooms: white button, baby bella or sliced shiitake will all work here.
- Better than Bouillon: look for Better than Bouillon paste in the broth and soup section of your grocery store. We prefer the Roasted Chicken Base for this recipe. Do not substitute with bouillon powder or cubes.
- Dried Rosemary: make sure you crush the dried rosemary a bit before adding it to the soup. Some brands (not naming names!) can have very large rosemary needles.
- Cumin Seed: this is an optional ingredient but it does add a nice undertone of flavor. Use cumin seed, not ground cumin. Use leftover cumin seed to make our toasted cumin vinaigrette!
- Peas: frozen peas are the way to go here! They are convenient and taste just as good as fresh.
- Half-and-Half: we like half-and-half because it adds decadence without be too much. For a lighter option, use whole milk. For a creamier option use heavy cream. And for a dairy-free option, use canned coconut milk or soy milk.
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie Soup
- Start by cooking the chicken pieces until no longer pink. They don’t need to be cooked through since they will finish cooking when they’re added back in at the end. But you want to give them a jump start and to get their juices into the broth of the soup.
- Soften the carrots, onion and garlic in the reserved chicken drippings. They don’t need to be too soft, just a head start.
- Add the mushrooms and cook just until they start to release their moisture.
- Add the spices and Better than Bouillon and cook briefly before stirring in the flour.
- Stir in the water and continue stirring until the flour is broken up and dispersed throughout.
- Bring the soup to a simmer than add the chicken back in a simmer until cooked through.
- Over low heat, stir in the peas and the half-and-half. Be sure to season to taste with more salt and pepper as needed!
Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup Substitutions
This soup lands squarely in the healthy-ish category. It’s pretty healthy but there’s room to lighten if up if you want. Here are som ideas to make the soup a but more healthy.
- Instead of half-and-half use whole milk, canned coconut milk or soy milk.
- Use diced chicken breast instead of chicken thighs and skip the initial cooking process and simply add the chicken breast to the soup while it’s simmering.
- Instead of chicken thighs you can use ground chicken or ground turkey.
- Swap the all-purpose flour for whole-wheat flour or sorghum flour.
Pro Tips for Making This Soup
- If you like a thick and creamy soup, add less water and thin at the end to your desired consistency.
- This soup is absolutely dynamite when topped with our puff pastry “biscuits.” But you don’t have time, grab some good crusty bread from the store to serve alongside it.
- Once you add the half-and-half, avoid letting the soup simmer too vigorously. Simmering milk or half-and-half can cause it to separate.
Make Ahead, Storage, Freezing and Reheating
Make Ahead: According to the USDA, cooked chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. So, this soup can be made up to 4 days ahead of time (though it’s best served fresh or 1 day after).
Storage: Store chicken pot pie soup leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Freeze chicken pot pie soup in an airtight container or zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating: It’s important to gently reheat this soup on the stove top over low heat. Avoid vigorously simmering or boiling or you may end up with scorched milk solids.
FAQs
Absolutely! Diced gold potatoes, parsnips, celery, and broccoli are all great options.
Yes, you can freeze this soup. Freeze chicken pot pie soup in an airtight container or zipper-lock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
We recommend making our very simple and very delicious puff pastry “biscuits.” Though you can also serve this would with this delicious Dill Biscuits!
We use flour to thicken this soup, though you can also use cornstarch. However, for a recipe like this where you simmer the soup, we recommend using flour instead of cornstarch since it’s more stable.
Serve With
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Caldo Verde
Chicken Pot Pie Soup Recipe
Description
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced into bite sized pieces
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 large carrots, diced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt
- 8 ounces white button mushrooms, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed + more for croutons
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, optional + more for croutons
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1 cup half-and-half
Optional Puff Pastry Biscuits:
- 1 thawed puff pastry sheet
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425ºF with rack set in middle position.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add 4 diced chicken thighs and season with 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt (or 1 ¼ teaspoons diamond crystal). Cook until just barely no longer pink, about 3 minutes; transfer chicken to a bowl. Reserve drippings in pot.
- Increase heat to medium-high. Add 1 diced onion, 4 diced carrots and 2 cloves minced garlic; season with 1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt (or 1 ¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal). Cook until starting to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Add 8 ounces mushrooms (cut into chunks) and cook 2 minutes.
- Add 2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon, 2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds to pot and cook 2 minutes.
- Stir in ¼ cup flour and cook 1 minute.
- Stir in 3 cups water and bring to a boil. Continue to stir occasionally to break up and disperse flour.
- Meanwhile, cut thawed sheet puff pastry into 1 inch pieces; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, beat 1 egg with a splash of water. Brush egg wash over puff pastry pieces then sprinkle with dried rosemary, dried cumin seed and flaky sea salt. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 15–20 minutes.
- Once soup has come to a boil, stir in browned chicken, reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in 2 cups peas and 1 cup half-and-half. Keep warm over low until ready to serve.
Equipment
Notes
Lighter: use whole milk instead of half-and-half.
Dairy-free: use canned coconut milk or soy milk.
Gluten-free: use King Arthur 1:1 gluten-free flour blend instead of all-purpose flour.
Nutrition
This was absolutely delicious! First soup of the fall soup season and it did not disappoint. I made it exactly as written. Can’t wait to explore more of your recipes.
Hi Mer, I’m so happy you enjoyed the soup!! Thanks for giving it a try and leaving a comment! I hope you enjoy the other soups we’ve got!!