Easy Chicken Tortellini Soup [VIDEO] - The Recipe Rebel (2024)

Last updated on February 5, 2024

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This Chicken Tortellini Soup is loaded with vegetables, tender shredded chicken and cheese tortellini! Easily made stove top or crockpot, with fresh or frozen chicken!

See the step by step recipe video down in the recipe card.

It’s no secret around here that we are big on soup!

From Chicken Noodle Soup, to this reader favorite Sausage Tortellini Soup and this ridiculously delicious Spinach Tortellini Soup (with crispy prosciutto!), we never run out of dinner options here 😉

This Chicken Tortellini is a new favorite (although we’ve been loving on this Instant Pot Chicken Tortellini Soup for some time now!).

It has a vegetable base made up of onions, carrots and celery which add a ton of flavor, and whole chicken breasts cook right in the soup, which means no pre-cooked chicken required.

It is ready in about 30 minutes, because frozen cheese tortellini cooks up in just a couple of minutes after it’s added!

Chicken Tortellini Soup is a quick, cozy and healthy dinner that is loved by all who try it!

Love tortellini in soup? Try this Tomato Tortellini Soup next!

Chicken Tortellini Soup Ingredients and Substitutions:

• Chicken breasts: boneless, skinless chicken breasts are called for in this recipe but you can swap for boneless chicken thighs if that is what you have on hand. You don’t need to change the cook time at all!
• Onions, carrots, celery: These three are the base of many soups and they provide great flavor! You can omit one or more if necessary, but know that it will cut down on the flavor in your soup. I recommend substituting for another vegetable you have on hand.
• Garlic and herbs: you can customize to your tastes as much as you want, but I always recommend making the recipe as listed before experimenting. Once it’s ready, you can taste and adjust the seasonings as you desire!
• Chicken broth: I use low sodium chicken broth for all of my recipes. If you are using regular chicken broth with salt added, you may want to reduce the amount of salt added into the soup and adjust later after tasting.
• Cheese tortellini: fresh or frozen cheese tortellini will work great in here! If you don’t have tortellini, you can also use short dry pasta (macaroni, ditalini, etc.) but keep in mind it will take longer to cook than tortellini.

How to make this soup with frozen chicken breasts?

One of my favorite things about making soup with chicken breasts is that you can add them right into the soup from frozen.

It makes this Chicken Tortellini Soup a staple for those busy nights when you forgot to take anything out of the freezer!

Simply add your frozen chicken breasts into the simmering liquid and cook until done (you want to make sure the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees F).

This will take a few minutes longer than fresh chicken breasts, but it is infinitely quicker than trying to thaw chicken breasts before making dinner!

Can I freeze Chicken Tortellini Soup?

Absolutely!

You can prep the soup entirely and freeze, though I find the tortellini does get a little soft and bloated after sitting in the liquid for some time.

For better results, prepare the soup entirely but skip adding the tortellini.

Portion out the soup and freeze, then thaw and heat to simmering on the stove before adding your tortellini.

How can I make this soup vegetarian?

This Tortellini Soup can easily be made vegetarian by skipping the chicken (feel free to add in beans or extra veggies if you want!) and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Can I make it in the crockpot?

Most definitely!

You can opt to saute the vegetables first or simply through them in the crockpot with all of the other ingredients aside from the tortellini.

This soup will cook for roughly 5-6 hours on low until the vegetables are cooked, depending how small you cook them (the chicken breasts only take 3 hours, but they will be okay sitting in the liquid). If your slow cooker is on the cooler side, it can take up to 8 hours.

If you prefer, you can start your vegetables, broth and seasonings and let cook for 4-5 hours, then add the chicken breasts and cook for 3 more hours.

Add the tortellini in the 30-60 minutes before serving for best results.

More chicken soup recipes you’ll love!

• Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Pot Pie Soup
• Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup