Italian-Style Chicken and Mushroom Soup
on Jan 20, 2010, Updated Jun 14, 2024
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This Italian Chicken and Mushroom Soup recipe is warming to the soul and is easy to make a big batch on a chilly night! Packed with flavor and hearty ingredients, you’ll love this soup on fall and winter nights when all you want is something cozy and comforting.
I don’t know about you, but I believe there’s nothing more comforting than a big bowl of steaming, rich soup on cool evenings. And this soup pretty much takes the cake. It is so delicious and packed full of hearty flavors and ingredients, like fresh herbs, noodles, shredded chicken, onion, celery, mushrooms, and plenty of roasted garlic.
Have you roasted garlic before? Oh my goodness, it’s a must for this soup—and for life in general. Roasting it takes that sharp tang out of garlic and turns it into a buttery, almost -sweet creamy flavor that you could eat by itself. (Okay, so maybe I do eat it plain… Don’t judge.)
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One of the reasons this soup is so delicious is because it is packed full of hearty flavors and fresh herbs.
- This soup has a variety of vegetables, plus chicken, beans, and herbs that give it great texture and taste.
- Italian chicken and mushroom soup is the perfect freezer meal, so be sure to make a big batch. Half can be frozen for an easy supper option later.
Recipe Ingredients
- Onion – yellow, diced
- Celery – chopped
- Chicken broth
- Chicken – cooked and shredded
- Mushrooms
- Orecchiette pasta – bow ties or elbow macaroni also work
- Cannellini or Navy beans – canned
- Fresh herbs – rosemary, parsley, garlic and bay leaves
- Spinach
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Italian Chicken and Mushroom Soup
- Saute onion and celery in olive oil until soft.
- Add the broth, chicken, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and boil. Prepare garlic
- Meanwhile, prepare mushrooms and then add them and garlic to the soup.
- Add the orecchiette to the soup followed by the beans and other herbs. Add spinach to finish up.
Recipe FAQs
A great soup is all about flavor and texture. You don’t want anything to be too mushy, and you want a few different components. That’s why I love this soup—it has a variety of vegetables, plus chicken, beans, and herbs to give it great flavor and enough texture.
This soup will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days (make sure you let it totally cool before popping it in the fridge), or much longer frozen, up to 3 months. This is a great freezer meal contender to make a huge batch of and then freeze half for a later date!
This soup goes amazingly with toasted crusty bread like my favorite Sourdough Bread. Add a little butter to your bread and dunk away!
Expert Tips
- If you don’t have orecchiette pasta any small-shaped pasta will work such as bow ties or elbow macaroni.
- Use fresh herbs to add a vibrant flavor that can elevate your soup.
- Ideal for cold weather or when you’re not feeling well, this soup is like a warm hug in a bowl, providing comfort and warmth
More Soup Recipes to Consider
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Sausage Bean Soup with Spinach
From Scratch Recipes
Beef Noodle Soup
1 Hour or Longer Recipes
Beef Bourguignon
Soups, Stews & Chowders
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
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Italian-Style Chicken and Mushroom Soup
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 ribs celery, chopped
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 whole heads garlic, (this means the entire bunch!)
- 8 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned
- 1 cup orecchiette pasta, (or other small pasta shapes such as bow ties or elbow macaroni)
- 1 cup canned cannellini or navy beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 8 cups firmly packed spinach, washed, drained, and stems removed
Instructions
- Heat 4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Add the celery, and cook about 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
- Add the broth, chicken, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Place both heads of garlic on a small sheet of aluminum foil, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Wrap tightly and place in the oven to roast at 450 degrees F., about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.
- Meanwhile, toss the mushrooms with the remaining olive oil in a baking dish (or some more foil), place in the oven, and roast 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown, stirring once or twice during cooking to coat evenly.
- Remove the mushrooms from the oven, and add to the soup. Remove the garlic from the oven, peel the cloves, and add to the soup, leaving them whole.
- Add the orecchiette to the soup and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes longer, just until the pasta is al dente. Add the beans and heat through.
- Add the rosemary and parsley, and stir to mix. Remove soup from the heat.
- Add the spinach, and stir until wilted.
- Serve hot with crusty bread.
Notes
- You don’t need to be a 5-star chef to make roasted garlic OR this soup, either. It’s so simple, and beyond worth the 45-ish minutes of cook time (much of which is spent simmering or roasting things, aka it’s hands-free time for you).
- It makes amazing leftovers, and it’s also a goodie for cold season because it’s got antioxidants and healthy nutrients that boost your immune system. To say this soup is a multitasking machine would not be an overstatement.
- Soup naysayers often don’t think soup has enough flavor, but this soup certainly doesn’t have that problem. Between onion, two heads of roasted garlic, chicken stock, and some great herbs, it will be full of flavor that you’ll love.
- This soup offers a great mix of textures—from the tender chicken and vegetables to the slightly chewy pasta, fresh herbs, and crisp greens.
I’m surprised that you claim to have written this recipe since it is exactly the same as the soup by nearly the same name published in The Fosters Market Cookbook by Sara Foster.
Definitely could be! I think I got the recipe from my neighbor Steffanie sometime around 2009 and I wrote about it in 2011 for the blog, it just got updated recently.
WhaT do you do with the whole chunks of garlic? Do u eat them if they end up in ur bowl? That would be a large garlic bite?
Because they are roasted, they are really sweet! You do eat the whole piece, but it’s totally different from any kind of garlic you are thinking of… sweet and nutty! You’ll love it!
My garlic usually ends up pretty mushy. It kinda “melts” into the soup in my experience. But if you do get a “chunk” it is very mild and sweet. Not at all like raw garlic! This is my absolute favorite soup of all time!!!!!! I make it very regularly. 🙂
Loved the soup, and so did my husband and he hates soup! Great recipe!
This is SOOOOOO GOOD!!!! I almost never make the time to come back and comment, but this is so wonderful. A little time consuming (for a mama of 4 under 6 yrs old) but I made it on a day hubby was home so that helped. I will definitely double next time and freeze half. My sister in law was here for dinner and she loved it too. Enough that I sent her home with lunch for the next day! Made enough for 3 adult dinners, 2 small (1/2 cup maybe?!?) kid portions and 3 large servings for lunch. Only substitution was baby portabella mushrooms as that’s what was on sale so that’s what I had! Seriously – this tastes like it’s from a nice restaurant, but better because I know exactly what is in it! Thank you and can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Oh, and I love your clean eating philosophy and honesty!
You tried it in spite of that awful picture! I’m so impressed with you and I’m so pleased that you liked it! Yea for successes in the kitchen and great comments. You totally made my day!
Any subsitute ideas instead of mushrooms? Making this tonight! Thanks!
Oh man… that’s a hard one since this soup has so many. I’d say you’d be better off just to leave them out if you don’t like them! Let me know how it turns out…
How many servings is this recipe?
A bunch – I would plan on 8-10 large servings.
Are there any calorie amounts for this soup? I just had my first bowl and it was AMAZING!!!!!!
I don’t have any numbers but I think it’s pretty low. Sometimes I leave out the pasta and it’s totally healthy in my mind 🙂