Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Soup

This is a hearty, carb-rich soup for a cold day when you have a lot of outdoor chores to do, or you’re going to play some pickup hockey or go skiing. While the recipe calls for chicken breast, I prefer to use boneless-skinless thighs. I also prefer chicken stock to chicken broth. I present these alternatives so you know you have options and should not be a slave to a recipe, think of recipes as a guide, but own your own journey. FYI, this is not a keto friendly soup.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Chicken breast (or thigh) skin and bone off – diced
  • 9 oz. Tortellini – or pasta of your choosing – shape matters to presentation
  • 32 oz. Chicken broth or stock – your call just don’t use low sodium – yuck
  • 4 oz. Half and half
  • 1 cup shredded cheese – I use mozzarella
  • 2 TBL Butter
  • 2 TBL Olive oil
  • 1 Onion – diced
  • 3 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 0.25 cup Flour

Process

  1. Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Cook Chicken
    1. Dice the chicken into ~1/2″ cubes – best to wear disposable gloves.
    2. Generously salt and pepper the chicken chunks.
    3. Heat cast iron Dutch oven on Med.
    4. Once hot, add olive oil and let warm.
    5. Add chicken chunks. Cook on one side ~4 mins, stir to get fresh side and cook ~3 more mins.
    6. Transfer to a bowl to rest.
  3. Add butter to pot and one melted, cook the onions ~5 mins or until they become translucent.
  4. Add garlic and cook 1 min more.
  5. Make Roux
    1. Stir flour into pot and cook 2-3 mins to get a nice toast on the flour without burning it.
    2. Add broth in 2 oz. intervals, stirring the lumps out each interval. Repeat four times.
    3. Add rest of broth and half&half and bring soup to a boil.
  6. Reduce heat and simmer 15 mins.
  7. Add Tortellini and cook until al dente. This is ~10 mins at sea level and ~15 mins above 7,000 ft. where the lucky people get to live.
  8. Season to taste with salt and pepper in stages, don’t try to get to your desired state in one pass.
  9. Add chicken for couple minutes to get hot. You can optionally add some crushed red peppers.
  10. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. You can retain some cheese to garnish.
  11. Serve in bowl and garnish is basil if you want to impress.

Note: Best to buy block cheese and grate yourself. The coat per-shredded cheese with starch to keep shreds from sticking together. That makes it hard for the cheese to melt and the starch will thicken your soup. But if you’re lazy, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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