This outstanding Marry Me Chicken Soup recipe uses store-bought rotisserie chicken to create a perfect bowl of comfort and optimism.
If you like this recipe, check out my Rotisserie Chicken and Dumplings next!
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Does the world need another version of the viral marry me chicken recipe? Maybe not. But I hadn’t tried it yet and wondered what all the fuss was about. My personal opinion is the “marry me” likely doesn’t apply to my age group, being already divorced and navigating online dating. But my hope springs eternal, lol. I can for sure say now that this flavorful soup really is that delicious. My whole family and I loved it! And I hope you will too. And as is the case with all my recipes, I tweaked and made some changes to help improve the original recipe.
More irresistible soup recipes
Ingredients for marry me chicken soup
- Rotisserie Chicken – About three cups of rotisserie chicken is needed for this creamy chicken soup. I love the convenience of this tender chicken option.
- Sun-dried Tomatoes – A key ingredient in the creamy tomato broth of this soup. I use some of the oil from the 7 oz jar of julienned tomatoes to help build the delicious broth.
- Tomato Paste – Provides depth of flavor to the soup.
- Bacon – Really adds a lot of flavor and I think is some of the secret to the “marry me” part.
- Pasta – I used a medium shell shaped pasta to test this recipe. I like how the shells hold the broth. But you could use a smaller shape, like ditalini pasta. Just follow the package instructions for how long to boil the pasta in the soup.
- Chicken Broth – 8 cups of chicken broth (or chicken stock) are used to both cook the pasta and help to create the creamy broth for this soup.
- Wine – Optional, but I love the flavor a dry white wine adds.
- Heavy Cream – Just 1/2 cup of heavy cream at the end is all that is needed to make this the most delicious creamy soup.
- Onion – I sometimes take the short cut of using frozen onions, but not this time. Chop up a yellow onion or a Vidalia onion.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is a must for this soup recipe.
- Fresh Spinach – A whole 5 oz package of spinach is used – don’t worry, it shrinks a lot as it cooks.
- Seasonings – Use the best jarred Italian seasoning you can find. Along with Kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
Instructions
Start by heating two tablespoons of the oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped bacon and cook until crisp. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon and set aside.
To the bacon fat and oil, add the onion. Then add as follows – tomato paste, drained sundried tomatoes, garlic, seasonings, chicken, baby spinach. Cook and stir as you go. Once the spinach is cooked down, pour in the chicken broth and wine. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil.
Add the uncooked pasta and cover the pot. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the pasta is al dente, add the heavy cream. Serve bowls of soup topped with the reserved bacon crumbles. You can also top the soup with grated Parmesan cheese.
For full list of ingredients and complete instructions, keep scrolling to the bottom for my free printable recipe card.
Variations
Instead of cooking dried pasta in the soup, you could add some cheese tortellini. It’ll save time on cooking because refrigerated tortellini cooks in about 5 minutes.
You can cook boneless skinless chicken breasts from frozen instead of purchasing a rotisserie chicken. Here’s my viral recipe for How to Make Frozen Chicken in the Crock Pot.
Serving suggestions
Definitely serve this soup with some warm, crusty bread to help soak up all the broth. It’s so rich and full of flavor! Here’s some more recipe suggestions to help make this soup into a complete meal –
Storage directions
Store any leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. I do not recommend freezing this soup because of the cooked pasta. The pasta absorbs liquid the longer it sits. It will not be good if frozen and then thawed.
Kitchen tools
- I use a 6-quart soup pot with a glass lid to test my soup recipes
- Sharp knife for chopping the onion and bacon
- My favorite garlic press
- Set of Pyrex glass measuring cups for measuring ingredients
- My favorite set of measuring spoons that are magnetic
Marry Me Chicken Soup
Equipment
- 1 6-quart soup pot
Ingredients
- 7 oz sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil julienned
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato oil
- 5 slices bacon thinly sliced
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 cups rotisserie chicken shredded
- 5 oz fresh baby spinach
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup white wine I used a dry Pinot Grigio
- 8 oz medium shell pasta
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Heat the sun-dried tomato oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the sliced bacon. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked bacon to a paper-towel lined bowl. Set aside.
- Return the pot to medium heat. Add the chopped onion to the hot oil and bacon fat.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and the pot is starting to develop some color.
- Drain the rest of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes and discard. Add the tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes to the hot pot. Cook and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add the garlic and seasoning. Cook for one minute as you stir.
- Add the chicken and then the spinach. Give the pot a good stir. Cover it with the lid and allow the spinach to steam a couple of minutes until it has shrank quite a bit.
- Pour in the chicken broth and the wine. Stir well. Cover again and bring the soup to a gentle boil.
- Add the uncooked pasta. Cook according to package directions. I let mine boil in the soup for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta was al dente tender.
- Stir in the heavy cream. Turn the heat to low to keep warm.
- Serve bowls of soup topped with the cooked bacon.
Nutrition
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