Marry Me Chicken Soup Recipe

Southern Living Marry Me Chicken Soup in bowls to serve — Photo:
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Active Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

5 hrs 20 mins

Servings:

8 to 10

We love the trendy Marry Me Chicken recipe so much that we made it into a casserole, and now we’ve made it into a Marry Me Chicken Soup! Your home will fill up with the rich scent of chicken simmering in a tomato-flavored broth as it cooks in the slow cooker.

Marry Me Chicken, a popular dish that is full of cream, cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes, is one of our favorite easy-but-impressive comfort foods. This soup embraces all the flavors of the much-loved dinner.

Learn how to make Marry Me Chicken Soup, and impress your family with a new spin on their favorite dinner.

Ingredients for Marry Me Chicken Soup

Most of the ingredients for Marry Me Chicken are in this soup, but we've added a few more to make it more substantial:

Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes: A staple ingredient of the original chicken dish, sun-dried tomatoes add sweetness to this Tuscan-inspired soup.
Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts: We prefer using bone-in chicken in the slow cooker. Similar to the original recipe, we chose chicken breasts, but you can use thighs if you wish.
Chopped yellow onion and minced garlic: Basic ingredients for building flavor in pretty much any soup recipe.
Seasonings: Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika.
Tomato paste: A can of tomato paste gives extra tomato depth to the soup.
Chicken broth: The main liquid ingredient for the soup. You can substitute vegetable broth, if you prefer.
Refrigerated cheese tortellini: Quick-cooking cheese tortellini makes this soup even more substantial. If you’re making the soup ahead, cook the tortellini separately and stir in as needed when reheating.
Fresh baby spinach: A package of quick-cooking baby spinach adds some freshness to the soup.
Lemon juice: A splash of lemon juice helps balance the rich dairy flavor.

Heavy cream: Gives a velvety texture to the soup
Shredded havarti and parmesan cheeses: Add extra flavor and creaminess to the soup.

Southern Living Marry Me Chicken Soup ingredients — Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

How To Make Marry Me Chicken Soup

The original dish was easy, and this one is, too. Here's a brief outline of how the soup is made; the full recipe is below:

Par-cook the chicken: Brown the chicken, and cook the vegetables until softened in some of the sun-dried tomato oil. Cook the tomato paste, and add the mixture to the slow cooker with the chicken, broth, and seasonings.
Cook the soup: Slow cook the soup until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 5-6 hours on low.
Shred chicken: Remove chicken, and shred the meat.
Add pasta, and cook: Add tortellini and spinach; let cook on high until tortellini are cooked though.
Finish the soup: Add cream and cheeses, stirring until smooth. Stir in shredded chicken.

How To Store Marry Me Chicken Soup

This soup will keep refrigerated for 3-4 days. For best results, store the tortellini separately from the soup so they don’t dissolve into the broth as the soup sits.

Ingredients

2/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped, plus 1 Tbsp. oil from the jar, divided
2 1/2 lb. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
2 tsp. kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (from 1 large)
2 tsp. cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
8 cups chicken broth, divided
2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 (20 oz.) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 (5 oz.) package fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (from 1 small lemon)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 oz. Havarti cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 1/2 oz. freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

Brown chicken breasts:

Heat oil from sun-dried tomatoes in a large skillet over medium-high. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, then cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side. If chicken is difficult to turn, cook 1-2 minutes longer, until chicken releases easily from the pan.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Transfer to a 6-quart slow cooker.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Cook onion, garlic, and tomato paste:

Add onion to skillet, adding more sun-dried tomato oil if needed, and cook 5 minutes until browned. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes until softened. Add tomato paste and cook 2-3 minutes until fragrant.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Add broth:

Stir 1 cup chicken broth into skillet, cook 1-2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Transfer to slow cooker.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Cook soup:

Add remaining 7 cups broth, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 5-6 hours or HIGH 3-4 hours until chicken is cooked through.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Shred chicken:

Remove chicken from slow cooker and set aside until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken, discarding skin and bones.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Add pasta, spinach, and tomatoes to soup:

Meanwhile, stir in tortellini, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes to slow cooker and if heat is on low, increase to high. Cover and cook until tortellini are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Add cream and cheeses, along with shredded chicken:

Stir in heavy cream. Gradually stir in shredded cheeses until melted. Stir in shredded chicken. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use other cheeses in the soup?

Of course! In place of the Havarti, choose another easy-melting, softer cheese, like fontina, low-moisture mozzarella, or Monterey jack. In place of the Parmesan, choose another flavorful, hard cheese like asiago or pecorino Romano.
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breasts?

Yes, use the same amount of chicken by weight. You can use all bone-in chicken thighs, or a combination of thighs and breasts.
Can this soup be made on the stovetop?

Yes, the soup can be made on the stovetop. When cooking the ingredients in steps 1-3, use a large Dutch oven. Then simmer the soup until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Add the other ingredients as indicated above, and simmer until the tortellini and spinach are cooked through. Reduce heat to low before adding cream, cheese, and stirring chicken back into soup.
Can this soup be made with dry sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed)?

We don’t recommend making this soup with dry sun-dried tomatoes. We recommend the oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes because they have plenty of moisture, and we like to use some of the oil to brown the chicken for the soup.