This easy recipe for chicken pesto soup is part of what I like to think of as Soup and Salad Season, otherwise known as the period of time after which I have eaten All The Cookies...more on that below. In the meantime, let me just tell you that this soup is a fragrant mixture of chicken and tomatoes in a light and lovely soup made up of broth, a little milk and a generous amount of pesto. It’s a warm and wonderful reminder of the flavors of summer, but in a soup that is just right for a frosty winter’s night. And to make things even better, it comes together in two shakes, because when we want soup we want it NOW. Especially since we have eaten All The Cookies. Let’s make some!
Backing up a little to the time period just before Soup and Salad Season, let’s just say that we had some good eats this holiday season. From New Year’s Eve at the Poached Pear down the Jersey shore…and if you live anywhere remotely near the shore, GO HERE. It was amazing on top of amazing….
…to Shake Shack, where the tables are made from Brooklyn bowling alleys.
When we weren’t out eating here there and everywhere, people were making all kinds of deliciousness in my kitchen.
And in the midst of all of this, we had some chocolate tart and icebox cake and pumpkin pie and tiramisu cake at my very own dining room table. There also were peppermint crackle cookies and chocolate chip cookies and a plate made entirely out of peppermint. One dessert per person, that’s our motto.
Which brings me to Soup and Salad Season, otherwise known as trying to balance out all that dessert. Since I love soup, this is not exactly a hardship, especially when it is full of tender chicken and flavored with zesty pesto. If you didn’t remember last August that you would want pesto in January and so don’t have any in your freezer (raises hand!), you can usually find a jar of prepared pesto next to the pasta sauces in your local supermarket. While you are there, pick up a rotisserie chicken – or if you have some leftover chicken in your fridge, even better. Shred it up until you have about 2 cups of bite-sized pieces of cooked chicken.
Now saute some chopped onion, and then add them to a pot of simmering chicken broth. I like the Imagine variety – it is delicious and doesn’t have any of the added sugar that so many other prepared broths have. Add a can of diced tomatoes, and then whisk in a little milk and the pesto. Stir in the chicken and season it up with a little salt and pepper.
Some chopped fresh parsley and all of the sudden you’ve got yourself a bowl of deliciousness that will give a chocolate chip cookie a run for its money. Soup and Salad Season, baby! My jeans are thanking me already.
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Chicken Pesto Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Dinner
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: American
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons prepared pesto
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add broth and tomatoes and stir until simmering. Add milk and pesto and stir until combined.
- Add chicken and stir until heated through. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper.
- Ladle into warmed bowls, garnish with parsley and serve at once.
Hi there! I’m Kate, and I’m a recipe writer, food photographer and devoted bacon lover. I started Framed Cooks in 2009, and my mission is to create and share family-friendly recipes that make cooking both easy and fun…yes, I said FUN! My kitchen is my happy place, and I want yours to be that place too. And if you make this recipe, I would love you to tag @FramedCooks on Instagram so I can see the deliciousness!
this sounds delicious! prepared pesto can be so useful but i don’t think i’ve ever added it to soup…silly me! soup and salad season sounds just about right!
Pesto can brighten up so many things!
What a great chicken soup recipe. I love that it has pesto! Great idea. I could pretty much eat soup every day during the winter.
And I love your one dessert per person motto. I could live by that. :)
Yes, i think we need to make one dessert per person a life rule, don’t you? :) :)
I love the family picture, having a pick in somebody else’s life is always interesting. And the soup is definitely something for us as well, and I am proud to say that I did not forget about the pesto in spring and summer, my freezer is full with wild garlic pesto, mint pesto, sage and parsley pesto. No basil though, that doesn’t grow so well around here. :)
Oh my gosh, I am officially head over heels in love with your freezer – what a great treasure trove to have through the winter!
Anything with pesto is a winner in my book! This soup looks fantastic, Kate! Such a delicious bowl of comfort food!
Isn’t pesto the BEST? One year I will remember to make and freeze my own… :)
Wondering if I could substitute coconut milk for the regular milk?
You definitely could…it will add a little bit of a different taste, but one that’s in line with the rest of the ingredients. I sub in coconut milk for all kinds of things when I am on the Whole 30!
Wondering if I can substitute coconut milk for the regular milk? No dairy for me.
I add pesto to pasta and spread it on sandwiches, but I never thought of adding it to the soup – what a great unique idea!
And now I need to add some to sandwiches! :)
Happy New Year Kate!
I have my trusty Trader Joe’s pesto that I keep on hand,
Left over chicken and Imagine chicken broth( which is so good)!
Looks like I know what’s for supper! We just finished the split pea soup… This sounds great! California is finally getting rain! Hallelujah!
Love the family dinner and Emma’s bread:-)
Sending hugs
Happy New Year Karen!! Yay for soup and yay for RAIN! Sending hugs back. xo
Love the family pics, Kate! And one dessert at least per person is warranted, if not downright necessary. Now you can have soup, which is also lovely. The pesto is great!
Thanks Mir! And somehow I knew you would be okay with my one-on-one dessert to person ratio! :)
The combo of white meat poultry + pesto is so friggin’ good!!! Mmmmm! <3
Right? Pesto is MAGICAL.