Chicken and Stars Soup
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Chicken and Stars Soup is a quick and easy meal you can make in under an hour. Loaded with protein & veggies, this is a secretly healthy soup! Your whole family will love this – kids included!
There are few things in life that a bowl of cozy chicken soup can’t fix!
This Chicken and Stars Soup is what I like to call our ‘sick soup‘ (we refer to our Lemon Chicken Soup by that too sometimes!), but it’s also our go to when we are short on time, want something protein and veggie loaded, or just want a yummy dinner on a cold night!
Homemade Chicken Stars Soup is better than anything you’ll find in a can, is loaded with over 40g of protein per serving, and it’s easy to make in under 45 minutes thanks to using cooked rotisserie chicken.
liz’s top tips for chicken and stars soup
- Instead of spending time chopping, I prefer to save time by chopping celery and onion in the food processor!
- Pasta will continue to absorb the broth in the chicken pastina soup. If you prefer a brothier soup, add 2 cups of broth to the pot or add a splash to your bowl before enjoying. You can also cook the pasta on the side and add cooked pasta to a bowl and serve soup on top of the pasta instead of adding it to the pot. This prevents the pasta from absorbing chicken broth and turning mushy.
- For the most flavor, make sure to use good quality broth, lots of dried herbs, and a bay leaf! A parmesan cheese rind can also add flavor while cooking.
Ingredients:
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Veggies: Feel free to add more veggies. I usually double the carrots. We also like to stir in frozen spinach and frozen cauliflower rice to our bowl to add extra veggies.
Parmesan Cheese Rind: Parmesan cheese rind is totally optional, but we really recommend it. You can find them in most cheese sections at grocery stores. They add a rich flavor to dishes. You remove them at the end of cooking like you would a bay leaf.
Cooked Chicken: We used cooked, shredded chicken in this recipe to speed up the cook time. You can use a rotisserie chicken, or try our crockpot shredded chicken or instant pot shredded chicken.
Raw Chicken: If you don’t have cooked chicken, you can use raw chicken. Use 1 lb of raw chicken breasts, and make sure to cook in the soup for at least 10 minutes. Once they have cooked, remove them from the pot, shred with 2 forks and return shredded cooked chicken to the pot.
Broth: You can use any broth or stock interchangeably. Beef Broth, Chicken Broth, or vegetable broth all work interchangeably. I always use low or no salt broth.
Pasta: Any small pasta will work in this recipe. We like stelline or pastina, but orzo, alphabets or ditalini will also work! For a paleo option, try Paleo Chicken Soup.
To Make it Lower Carb: You can cook your pasta on the side and add it directly to your bowl. Try adding more veggies like cauliflower rice or frozen spinach to bulk up your dish!
How to Make Chicken and Stars Soup Recipe
- Heat olive oil in a pot and sauté celery, onion, garlic and carrots for about 5-10 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients (except pasta). Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer over low-medium heat for at least 5 minutes.
- Cook the pasta in the soup or separately if desired. Remove bay leaves & parmesan cheese rind and discard. Stir to combine pasta and soup and enjoy!
What to Serve with this Recipe:
This chicken stelline soup contains protein, vegetables, and carbs, so it is a complete meal by itself.
However, for a heartier meal, you could serve chicken star pasta soup with a sandwich and/or a salad. A healthy sandwich option is buffalo chicken salad on whole grain bread. Our favorite salads to serve with chicken soup are either kale salad or blueberry salad.
Storage
Storing: This chicken and stars soup will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: You can freeze this recipe for up to 3 months. We like these containers for freezing! The pasta can get a little mushy when freezing, so make sure to undercook it!
If you need more freezer friendly recipes, check out our Fill Your Freezer Ebook with 22 easy freezer meals!
Reheating: You can reheat this recipe in the microwave for a few minutes or on the stovetop in a pot.
More Healthy Soup Recipes:
Looking for other soup recipes? Check out these 40+ Healthy Soup Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy soup cookbook.
Chicken and Stars Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups chopped carrots
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
- 8 cups low sodium chicken broth 2 quarts
- 4 cups chopped cooked rotisserie chicken skin/bones discarded
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 parmesan cheese rind optional
- 1 cup stelline or pastina
Instructions
- Pro Tip: If you have a rotisserie chicken, save all the skin, bones and scraps. Make your own chicken bone broth!
StoveTop Instructions
- Chop all vegetables (I prefer to put celery and onion in the food processor to save time!)
- In a large pot, heat olive oil in the pan and sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic for about 5-10 minutes until fragrant and softened.
- Once cooked, stir in the broth, cooked chicken, dried spices, and Parmesan rind. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer over low-medium heat for at least 5 minutes. (10 minutes is best)
- Once the soup has simmered for at least 5 minutes, add your pasta. Cook for half the time the pasta package recommends then immediately remove from heat (trust us, it will continue cooking)
- Cooking Pasta Separately: If you’d prefer to cook the pasta separately, while the soup cooks, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta per the directions.
- Remove bay leaves & parmesan cheese rind from the pot and discard.
- If you cooked the pasta separately, add cooked pasta to the pot. Stir to combine and enjoy!
- Pro Tip: The pasta will continue to absorb the broth in the soup. If you prefer a brothier soup, add 2 cups of broth to the pot or add a splash to your bowl before enjoying.
- You can cook pasta on the side and add cooked pasta to a bowl instead of adding to the pot. Serve soup on top of the pasta. This prevents the pasta from absorbing chicken broth and turning mushy.
Crockpot Instructions:
- Chop all vegetables (I prefer to put celery and onion in the food processor to save time!)
- In a large pot, heat olive oil in the pan and sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic for about 5-10 minutes until fragrant and softened.
- Once cooked, transfer to crockpot base. Stir in the broth, cooked chicken, dried spices, and Parmesan rind.
- Pace the lid on the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.
- Cooking Pasta Separately: While the soup cooks, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta per the directions.
- Cooking Pasta in the Soup: You can also cook the pasta right in the soup. Once the soup has cooked for at least 4 hours, set the crockpot to high, add pasta, and stir every 5-10 minutes until they’re cooked completely (should take about 10-15 minutes)
- Remove bay leaves & parmesan cheese rind from the pot and discard.
- If you cooked the pasta separately, add cooked pasta to the pot. Stir to combine and enjoy!
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Chop all vegetables. Set instant pot to Sauté mode for 10 minutes.
- Add olive oil to the pot. Heat olive oil in the pan for 1 minute. Sauté carrots, celery, onion and garlic for about 5-10 minutes until fragrant and softened.
- Once cooked, stir in the broth, cooked chicken, dried spices, and Parmesan rind. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to Sealing, ‘Soup’ OR Pressure Cook for 5 minutes.
- Allow the soup to come to pressure and cook. It should take about 10 minutes to come to pressure, but can take longer if your broth is cold.
- While the soup cooks, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta per the directions.
- Once the soup has cooked, quick release the pressure valve.
- Remove bay leaves & parmesan cheese rind from the pot and discard.
- Add cooked pasta to the pot. Stir to combine and enjoy!
- Note: We do not recommend cooking the pasta in the instant pot. Stars pasta is very small and can easily overcook.
This was so good!! I appreciate that you include how much a serving is as opposed to “1/6th of a recipe” that drives me batty!! Love your recipes and all the info
Delicious! Soooo good! Love your recipes!
Delicious soup! This was a hit with my husband and super picky kids. The recipe fed our family of five. I used Trader Joe’s Chicken Bone Broth to add that extra protein. I also omitted the celery because my kids don’t like it. Came out perfect and very tasty! Easy to make and quick! I recommend this recipe, five stars!
Made this over the weekend and it was delicious! I used boneless / skinless chicken thighs in our soup since that’s my fave, and I followed your instructions for cooking the chicken breasts in the soup from the notes. Came out amazing, and plenty of leftovers which is always appreciated. Thank you!
Outstanding!!
Very easy and tastes like an amazing and delicious health boost for the immune system on a cold winter evening.
I’ve made this multiple times! It is so delicious. I’ve used the instant pot directions because I can set it and wait for it to cook itself. Sent to a coworker and my sister telling them to try too. Thanks so much for the easy recipe!