High Protein Chicken Pastina Soup
Chicken Pastina Soup with 40+ grams of protein! Made with bone broth, shredded chicken, fresh herbs and tiny pasta. Real protein - no powders - all comfort. Stove top and slow cooker options.
Servings: 4
Calories:
Equipment
- large soup pot OR slow cooker 2 cooking options
Ingredients
- 3 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounnds boneless skinless chicken thighs can sub breasts
- salt and black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6 1/2 cups chicken bone broth
- parmesan cheese rind (if your cheese has one)
- 1/2 cup pastina (stelline, acini di pepe, or ditalini)
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 tablespon fresh parsley finely chopped
- grated parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- Dice the carrots, celery and onion; set aside.Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to the pot and sear for 2 minutes. Flip, then add the onion, carrots, and celery. Season again with salt and black pepper and cook 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring often.
- Pour in bone broth, add the Parmesan rind (if using), plus 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15–20 minutes or until the chicken is fork tender.
- Remove the chicken and Parmesan rind. Using a slotted spoon, transfer about half of the vegetables to a bowl. Purée the remaining vegetables in the pot with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Shred the chicken and return it to the pot along with the pastina. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered 8–10 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Adding the pasta helps the soup thicken.
- Stir in the reserved vegetables, fresh dill and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Note: if you feel it’s lacking flavor, it probably needs another pinch of salt.Serve topped with grated Parmesan and some good crusty bread.
Notes
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating!
Need more of a hands-off option? Make this soup in your slow cooker!
Add chicken, diced carrots, celery and onion to the slow cooker along with minced garlic and bone broth. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook on HIGH 2-3 hours or until chicken is fork tender. Remove chicken and set aside to cool then shred using 2 forks.
Remove about half of the diced vegetables and set aside. Use an immersion blender to puree the remaining vegetables in the slow cooker until smooth.
Stir in the pastina. Cover and cook on HIGH 25-30 minutes or until pasta is tender. Add shredded chicken, fresh parsley, dill and reserved vegetables. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.