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Home » Recipes » Soup Recipes

Chicken Minestrone Soup

Published: Mar 31, 2023 by Colleen 24 Comments

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Chicken minestrone soup takes minestone, everyone's favorite Italian soup, from a light meal to a hearty one. With tender chicken and delicious vegetables, this delicious, comforting soup is easy to make. Just one pot, and cooks in thirty minutes.

Two bowls of chicken minestrone soup and two silver spoons.
Delicious, hearty soup

Classic minestrone soup is one of my favorite soups.The word "minestrone" simply means "thick vegetable soup". It usually includes a variety of fresh vegetables, beans, and pasta. This is a comforting and hearty soup that I'm making even heartier with the addition of juicy chicken.

Jump to:
  • Why you'll love this recipe:
  • Ingredient Notes:
  • How to make chicken minestrone soup
  • Tip
  • Variations:
  • Storage
  • Serving Suggestions:
  • More soup for you
  • Recipe
  • Storage
  • Comments
Minestrone soup in colorful patterned bowls.
A warm bowl of healthy goodness

Why you'll love this recipe:

  • Easy: This chicken minestrone soup recipe requires very little effort. It's a complete meal in only one pot, and it takes 45 minutes from start to finish.
  • Family friendly: This comforting soup is a yummy meal that the whole family will love.
  • Versatile: This is a good minestrone recipe even if you leave out the chicken. You can use your favorite vegetables, beans and pasta.
  • Healthy: This flavorful chicken minestrone soup is chock full of fresh veggies, healthy beans and protein. It's a delicious way to get your vegetables.

Ingredient Notes:

Some of the ingredients for making the minestrone soup.
  • Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts work best for this chicken vegetable soup. However, you can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
  • Chicken broth or vegetable broth: Look for low sodium chicken stock or broth so that you can control the sodium content.
  • Vegetables: Onion, celery and carrots are essential. This recipe also includes green beans, zucchini, and baby spinach. Other delicious veggies you can use are yellow squash, kale, cabbage, or Swiss chard.
More of the ingredients for this recipe.
  • Canned diced tomatoes: Look for reduced-sodium, or no salt added tomatoes.
  • Italian seasonings: I use an Italian seasoning blend, but you can also use oregano, basil and thyme.
The remaining ingredients for the soup.
  • Beans; White beans (cannellini beans, navy beans, or white kidney beans), and red kidney beans. This recipe is using canned beans. You can use dry beans but you'll need to cook them first.
  • Short pasta: Ditalini pasta, small shells, or small elbow macaroni will all work. Use gluten-free pasta if needed.

How to make chicken minestrone soup

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.
  2. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for another minute, stirring.
  4. Add the chicken stock, diced tomatoes and their juice, white beans and kidney beans. Bring to a boil.
  5. Add the chicken pieces, zucchini, green beans, and pasta. Boil gently until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes, or according to package directions.
  6. Remove from heat, stir in the basil, and adjust for salt and pepper if needed.
  7. Serve hot in bowls, topped with parmesan cheese.
The four steps for making chicken minestrone soup.
Simple step by step

Tip

Make this recipe even easier by using rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken. Just add the cooked chicken in the last few minutes of cooking time.

Variations:

  • Gluten Free: Use gluten-free pasta, or omit the pasta. Add potatoes if you're still wanting carbs. If you use gluten-free pasta, it will usually have a longer cooking time, so just keep that in mind.
  • Change the protein: Use Italian sausage, ground beef, or shredded beef instead of chicken. This is a good soup for using leftover turkey, too!
  • Change the beans: I've made this soup with pinto beans, great northern beans, cannellini beans, even chickpeas. They're all good!
  • Vegan: Omit the chicken and use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth for a vegan option.
  • Parmesan rind: Minestrone is a great way to use the rinds from parmesan cheese. Put the rind in at the beginning and let it simmer while the soup cooks. The parmesan adds even more flavor to the delicious broth.
  • Tomato paste: Add ¼ cup of tomato paste along with the broth and tomatoes to deepen the tomato flavor and slightly thicken the soup.
  • Add spice: I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes along with the seasonings.

Storage

Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.

Freezer: This soup is perfect for freezing. Except for the cooked pasta, which will change in texture when frozen. If you plan to freeze minestrone, I recommend saving the addition of pasta until serving, Freeze the soup in freezer safe containers for up to three months. When you're ready to use it, defrost the minestrone in the fridge overnight. Reheat, and cook a fresh batch of pasta separately to add at serving time.

Reheat: Reheat your healthy chicken minestrone soup gently over low heat on the stove top or in the microwave.

A bowl of chicken minestrone soup and a small dish of grated cheese.

Serving Suggestions:

Chicken minestrone soup is a hearty meal by itself. But, it's nice to serve some garlic bread, breadsticks, or dinner rolls alongside. Or try my zucchini fritters.

It can also be part of a bigger meal served with a salad, sandwich, or pizza.

More soup for you

If you love soup, I have more soup recipes for you to try! Check out these ones:

  • Vegan Asparagus Soup
  • Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup
  • French Onion Soup With Lager
  • Thai Red Curry Chicken Soup
  • Beet Soup Recipe - Ukrainian Borscht
  • Red Cabbage Soup

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!

Recipe

Chicken minestrone soup in a white bowl.

Chicken Minestrone Soup

Chicken Minestrone Soup is an easy to make, delicious and hearty meal that's packed with protein and veggies.
4.98 from 39 votes
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Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 180kcal
Author: Colleen Milne

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 1 cup baby carrots sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 1 26 oz can diced tomatoes not drained
  • 1 15 oz can white beans drained
  • 1 15 oz can kidney beans drained
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced into bite sized pieces
  • 1 zucchini quartered and sliced
  • 1 cup frozen cut green beans
  • ½ cup elbow macaroni
  • 2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or parsley
  • parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat.
  • Add the onion, celery and carrots. Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for another minute, stirring.
  • Add the chicken stock, diced tomatoes and their juice, chicken pieces, white beans and kidney beans. Bring to a boil.
  • Add the zucchini, green beans, and pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes, or according to package directions.
  • Remove the soup from the heat. Stir in the basil, and adjust for salt and pepper if needed.
  • Serve hot in bowls, topped with parmesan cheese.

Notes

Make this recipe even easier by using rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken. Just add the cooked chicken in the last few minutes of cooking time.

Storage

Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
Freezer: This soup is perfect for freezing. Except for the cooked pasta, which will change in texture when frozen. If you plan to freeze minestrone, I recommend saving the addition of pasta until serving, Freeze the soup in freezer safe containers for up to three months. When you're ready to use it, defrost the minestrone in the fridge overnight. Reheat, and cook a fresh batch of pasta separately to add at serving time.
Reheat: Reheat your healthy chicken minestrone soup gently over low heat on the stove top or in the microwave.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 1240mg | Potassium: 604mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 2818IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg
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  1. Amy Liu Dong

    April 10, 2023 at 11:16 am

    Loving this soup already! Definitely looks so delicious and very healthy! A perfect soup for such cold weather!

    Reply
  2. Loreto and Nicoletta

    April 09, 2023 at 7:43 pm

    This is a hearty meal in a bowl. Being Italuan. We just love minestrone! Adding the chicken, takes it to another level, and the spices and ingredients you used really takes minestrone to the next level. Well done! ❤️ 👍

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:31 am

      Hi Loreto and Nicoletta! Thanks for your kind words!

      Reply
  3. Natalia

    April 09, 2023 at 2:16 pm

    The aroma of the soup was delightful, and the taste was even better! This recipe is definitely a keeper, and I'll be making it again without a doubt.

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:31 am

      Hi Natalia! This is great to hear, thank you!

      Reply
  4. Jamie

    April 09, 2023 at 2:15 pm

    This Italian soup looks incredibly delicious and very tasty! I just love the color this dish brings making it so enticing and tempting! A perfect dish for such cold weather! Loving the 30 minutes of cooking time for this! A big thumbs up!

    Reply
  5. Veronika

    April 08, 2023 at 8:23 pm

    Loved this minestrone soup! Not too heavy but still filling and comforting. The perfect spring soup!

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:30 am

      Hi Veronika. I'm so happy that you loved the recipe. Thanks for your feedback!

      Reply
  6. Jessica

    April 06, 2023 at 12:30 pm

    Excellent one-pot weeknight dinner! It was hearty and filling, and my kids loved the macaroni noodles in it. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:29 am

      So happy to hear that you and your family loved the minestrone soup, Jessica!

      Reply
  7. Sophie Viau

    April 06, 2023 at 11:57 am

    The flavor and convenience of this chicken Minestrone recipe made it a hit in our household. With the perfect ingredients all simmered together, we enjoyed an effortless dinner with no shortage of deliciousness!

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:28 am

      This is great to hear, Sophie! Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  8. Sean

    April 05, 2023 at 1:04 pm

    I haven't put chicken in minestrone soup before but this recipe is really good and I will be doing this more often.

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:27 am

      Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Sean!

      Reply
  9. Sharon

    April 04, 2023 at 11:11 am

    This is a quick, stick-to-your-ribs soup that my whole family enjoyed. It was just as good the next day as leftovers for lunch.

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 10, 2023 at 11:27 am

      Hi Sharon! I'm so glad your family loved the soup!

      Reply
  10. Emily Flint

    April 03, 2023 at 11:22 pm

    I don't know why I never thought to add chicken to minestrone but now I will be doing it from now on. This was hearty and healthy and perfect for my whole family. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 04, 2023 at 9:17 am

      I'm so glad to hear this, Emily! Thanks for commenting.

      Reply
  11. veenaazmanov

    April 03, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    Love this Bowl of soup as a healthy Dinner option. Comforting and a one pot meal too. I love the Healthy veggie and other combinations.

    Reply
  12. Kathleen

    April 03, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    Loving this hearty and comforting minestrone. The chicken is a great protein addition.

    Reply
  13. Carrie Robinson

    April 03, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    Loving the addition of chicken to classic minestrone! 🙂 Looks so hearty and filling.

    Reply
  14. Kathryn

    April 03, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    This minestrone soup was a hit and I love the added chicken! It was hearty and so satisfying especially on cold nights. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Colleen

      April 04, 2023 at 9:16 am

      Hi Kathryn! I'm so glad it was a hit! Hopefully it will warm up soon. 😊

      Reply
  15. Natalie

    April 03, 2023 at 4:04 pm

    This soup looks absolutely delicious. The perfect comforting soup. Can't wait to make it ASAP!

    Reply

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