Tuscan Chicken Soup

Name: Tuscan Chicken Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 medium yellow onion (diced); 4 carrots (peeled and diced); 4 stalks celery (diced); 2 zucchini (diced); 1 tbsp minced garlic; 1 tsp dried oregano; 1 tsp dried basil; 6 cups chicken stock; 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes; 2 cups rotisserie chicken (shredded); 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional); Salt & pepper to taste; 1/2 cup Acini de Pepe pasta

ByTiffany Dahle Published:January 29, 2012August 27, 2024 Last Modified:August 27, 2024

This post contains links to affiliate websites, such as Amazon, and we receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you using these links. We appreciate your support!

Jump to Recipe - Pin Recipe

This amazing Tuscan soup recipe is so easy when you have a shredded rotisserie chicken on hand! Kids will love the sweet Italian vegetable soup made with tiny chopped up fresh carrots, celery, and zucchini.

A bowl of Tuscan chicken soup with round noodles, tomato broth, and fresh veggies chopped up inside.

During a recent trip to visit family in the Twin Cities area, we stopped in at a cafe called D'Amico & Sons for a quick lunch. Too much heavy fast food on our trip left me with an upset stomach so all I wanted was a light and healthy vegetable soup. When the server brought my bowl, I immediately knew I had picked a winner.

This Tuscan soup has a tomato-based broth with just a hint of creaminess without being a full-fledged cream soup.

It is thick with Italian vegetables and teeny tiny pasta but still brothy enough to be a soup but not a stew.

It might possibly be the most perfect chicken veggie soup I have ever had. The little bits of chicken gives it that nice savory taste but it is truly the sweet carrots and zucchini that are the heroes of this dish.

Editor's Note: This is one of the very first recipes I ever published and it has been one of the most beloved dishes on my site. I've recently updated it with step-by-step photos and make ahead tips so it can be even more helpful for you.

Why This is the Best Recipe

Soup season is my favorite time of year and I think this is the best Tuscan chicken soup recipe because:

Light and Veggie-Heavy: There are so many fresh veggies hiding in this soup but it is super kid-friendly.
Tomato-Based: I love classic chicken soup but this tomato based version has SO much more flavor.
Meal Kit Friendly: You can prep batches of the soup for your freezer or keep it in the fridge for meals all week long. See my tips below!

Ingredients

The ingredients for this homemade soup are so wholesome:

Rotisserie Chicken: My favorite dinner shortcut ever. You could use any leftover cooked chicken you have on hand, but this is the fastest way to get it from the store.
Fresh Carrots: I prefer whole carrots that have been peeled and diced but in a pinch you could substitute baby carrots.
Fresh Celery
Zucchini: This is a great way to use up some zucchini, but don't miss more ways to use zucchini here.
Onion
Can of Crushed Tomatoes
Chicken Stock
Heavy Cream: You only need a touch of cream for this soup, you could substitute milk or even a little butter if you prefer.
Acini de Pepe Pasta: This Italian soup noodle looks like tiny round peas once cooked. You could substitute orzo like this pastina recipe or a wavy egg noodle or even rice if you prefer.
Minced Garlic
Olive Oil
Dried Oregano and Basil

Prep the Veggies

The soup itself will come together really quickly so it is helpful to start by prepping all the veggies and shredding the chicken you plan to use.

Peel the carrots and then finely dice the carrots, celery, onion, and zucchini.

TOP TIP: Keep the zucchini and chicken separate from the other veggies. They go in at different times.

The onion, carrot, celery, and zucchini have been small diced and the rotisserie chicken is shredded in a bowl.

Cooking Instructions

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and turn the heat to medium-high.

Add the carrots, onions, and celery to the pot and stir. Cook until the onions have begun to soften.

Add the zucchini, minced garlic, dried oregano and dried basil. Stir and cook for a minute or until the garlic is quite fragrant.

The step by step photos show how to saute the veggies and add the tomato and garlic.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Use the tomatoes to deglaze the bottom of the pan and scrape up any browned bits that may have collected from the olive oil and onions.

Want to Save This for Later?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Add the chicken broth and bring the soup to a simmer.

The chicken broth has thinned out the soup.

Add the Chicken and Pasta

The final step for cooking the soup is to add the chicken and the pasta.

the shredded chicken and a cup of the pasta are ready to go into the soup.

There are two important things to note:

Rotisserie Chicken is Delicate: Cook the chicken gently or it will fall apart in the broth if you cook it too long. You can simmer the soup gently or just add it long enough to warm through at the end, that's up to you.
Pasta Will Thicken the Soup: The acini di pepe pasta I use really does thicken up this soup if it sits in the fridge overnight. If you are meal prepping for the freezer, you may want to consider leaving it out until you're ready to serve the soup. It cooks so quickly, it won't add much time. Otherwise, plan to add lots more chicken broth to thin the soup out when you reheat it.

Add the chicken and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the pasta and let it cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Finally, add the heavy cream and stir it in to warm through.

The finished soup is being stirred by a wooden spoon in a large soup pot.

Variations

I love to serve this soup for company but if your guests have special dietary needs it is easy to adjust this recipe to fit their requirements:

Gluten-Free Soup:

Leave out the pasta completely and eat as a vegetable soup or add your favorite rice.

Dairy-Free Soup:

Skip the heavy cream.

Vegan Soup:

Substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock and omit the chicken. Leave out the heavy cream.

Short Cuts to Faster Soup

Homemade soup doesn't need to take hours and hours to prepare. With a few handy shortcuts, you can make this Tuscan chicken soup even on a busy weeknight:

Chop the Veggies Small: Cut the veggies as small as you can. Not only will the soup taste better but it will cook more quickly since the vegetables won't take as long to soften.
Use a Rotisserie Chicken: My favorite trick for getting cooked chicken into a new dish. I almost always have a packet of pre-shredded chicken meat ready to go in my freezer.
Use Boxed Chicken Stock: The fresh veggies will bring plenty of homecooked flavor, the boxed stock is just a fantastic speedy shortcut for the broth.
Fast Cooking Soup Noodles: The Acini de Pepe cook right in the soup in practically no time!

Serving Suggestions

Serve this Tuscan soup with some fresh warm bread and butter and it is total cold winter day heaven. Even the Peanut gave it two thumbs up. She practically licked her bowl clean and I couldn't feel better about the ingredients in it.

A focaccia bread on parchment paper with several squares cut and scattered.

Bread Machine Focaccia

Bread Machine Italian Bread

The baked garlic bread is on a cutting board and has been cut into wedges for serving.

Easy Homemade Garlic Bread

A loaf of sourdough bread from the bread machine has been sliced to show the texture of the bread.

Garlic Parmesan Sourdough

Make Ahead Tips

This Tuscan chicken soup can absolutely be made ahead of time and even frozen.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Acini de pepe pasta will continue to absorb the soup broth as it sits and your leftovers may appear too thick.

You can simply add a little more chicken broth when you reheat any leftovers to restore the texture of the soup.

Otherwise, prep yourself a meal kit and store the veggie soup separately from the shredded chicken and pasta. Then just simmer and add the ingredients to complete the soup.

The chicken and pasta have been stored separately from the soup base.

More Rotisserie Chicken Recipes

Keep a shredded rotisserie chicken or a batch of Instant Pot shredded chicken on hand and you can make so many different easy shredded chicken recipes for dinner.

Don't love shredded chicken? You could always dice up my air fryer chicken breasts if you prefer to season the chicken and get those golden brown edges.

The photo collage shows a bag of shredded chicken next to 3 photos of the recipes you could make with it.

50 Quick Shredded Chicken Recipes

The white bowl of shredded chicken meat.

Instant Pot Shredded Chicken

The chicken breasts are on a cutting board, one has been cut into half and chopped into a big dice with a chef knife and fork.

Air Fryer Chicken Breasts for Meal Prep

📖 Recipe