Marry Me Chicken Soup
This Marry Me Chicken Soup features the familiar flavors of sun-dried tomato, garlic and parmesan. This creamy chicken soup is impressive enough for guests, but deceptively simple to prepare!
Marry Me Chicken is a dish you may have heard of. It is a skillet dish that features seasoned chicken breast that have been pan seared and cooked in a rich creamy sauce. The sauce usually features onions, or shallots as well as garlic and sun dried tomatoes. It is a dish that is so rich and delicious it is said to have sparked marriage proposals! This simple soup recipe is my spin on this beloved dish!
Reasons You’ll Love It
- Favorite Flavors: Marry Me Chicken Soup brings together a blend of flavors that will captivate your taste buds. The combination of chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and a creamy broth creates savory goodness. These are flavors you are familiar with me in a new and interesting way.
- Comfort in a Bowl: This soup takes the beloved Marry Me Chicken dish and transforms it into a comforting and soul-soothing soup. It’s the ultimate comfort food elevated to a whole new level.
- Easy: Whether you’re looking for a cozy weeknight dinner, an impressive dish for entertaining guests, or a flavorful lunch option, this soup fits the bill. Its adaptability and ease of preparation make it a go-to recipe.
Ingredients
As always, this is a quick overview of the ingredients needed to make this decadent soup recipe. For the complete, printable recipe, simply scroll to the recipe card below.
- Butter: salted or unsalted butter works in this recipe.
- Vegetables: onion, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.
- Chicken: I used leftover cooked chicken. This is a great way to use a rotisserie chicken.
- White Wine: use a good dry white wine, or if you need to skip the wine all together just use additional chicken broth in its place.
- Spices: garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, black pepper, and salt.
- Broth: good quality chicken broth or homemade.
- Heavy Cream and Parmesan: these are the final two ingredients and they help create a rich a decadent tomato cream sauce that you will love.
How to Make Marry Me Chicken
In addition to the ingredients listed above, you will need a Dutch oven or large pot, as well as a knife and cutting board. To make this easy, creamy chicken soup, follow the step-by-step guide below:
Saute the Vegetables
The first and most important step is to saute the onion. Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium low heat. Add two tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt completely. When the butter is sizzling add the onion. Cook the onion over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. By cooking the onion slowly you allow the natural sugar in the onion to begin to caramelize, which results in a richer, deeper flavor. When the onions are translucent and have begun to brown very slightly add the garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Stir the mixture occasionally and saute an additional 3-4 minutes.
Deglaze the Pan
Increase the heat to medium and pour in the dry white wine. Use a spatula to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you prefer not to use the wine you can substitute chicken stock.
Add the Chicken and Broth
Next, add the cooked, shredded chicken, spices and broth. Increase the temperature to medium-high heat and bring to soup to a simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.
Add Cream, Parmesan and Spinach
Remove the soup from heat and pour in the heavy cream, grated parmesan cheese and the chopped spinach. Stir the soup until the spinach wilts. Do a quick taste test and add salt and pepper to taste or adjust the heavy cream and parmesan as it fits your taste.
Serve
This soup can be served right away with a garnish of parmesan, red pepper flakes, parsley or basil. If you’d like to serve this with a bread these biscuits are my absolute favorite. It is also great with a simple side salad or a classic wedge salad.
Storage
- Cool: Allow the soup to cool completely before refrigerating leftovers or freezing.
- Refrigeration: Store soup in an airtight container or resealable plastic bags. Label them with the date for reference. This soup can be refrigerated 3-4 days.
- Freezing: If you plan to store soup for a more extended period, freeze it. Use freezer-safe containers, leaving some space for expansion. Label with the date. Soups with cream or dairy may separate upon thawing, so stir well when reheating.
Reheating
- Refrigerated Soup: Transfer the soup to a saucepan and reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can use a microwave-safe bowl, heating it in 30 second intervals and stirring it in between to ensure even heating.
- Frozen Soup: Thaw frozen soup in the refrigerator overnight or use the defrost setting on your microwave. Once thawed, follow the same reheating instructions as refrigerated soup.
Recipe FAQ
Any cut of chicken will work such as chicken cutlets, skinless chicken thighs, or leftover rotiserie chicken.
Yes, I have used Italian sausage in this recipe and it worked perfectly.
Yes, this soup is naturally low carb, keto-friendly and gluten free. You can find the complete nutrition information including calories, carbs and protein below.
Get the Recipe: Marry Me Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 7 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 3 ounces sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 32 ounces chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach
Equipment
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium low heat. When the butter is sizzling add the chopped onion. Cook the onion over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. By cooking the onion slowly you allow the natural sugar in the onion to begin to caramelize, which results in a richer, deeper flavor.
- When the onions are translucent and have begun to brown very slightly add the garlic and sun dried tomatoes. Stir the mixture occasionally and saute an additional 3-4 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium and pour in the dry white wine. Use a spatula to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. If you prefer not to use the wine you can substitute chicken stock.
- Next, add the cooked, shredded chicken, spices and broth. Increase the temperature to medium-high heat and bring to soup to a simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Remove the soup from heat and pour in the heavy cream, grated parmesan cheese and the chopped spinach.
- Stir the soup until the spinach wilts.
This sounds delicious and delightful! Can’t wait to try this!
I wonder if you can cook this in a slow cooker??? adding the chicken raw and letting it cook in the slow cooker. And if you don’t want to use wine do you have an alternative to suggest?
Yes, the first step has you sautéing the onion, garlic and sun dried tomato, I really wouldn’t skip that step it adds so much flavor. But once you do that transfer it to a slow cooker, add the chicken, wine, broth and spices. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender. Add the cream, parmesan and spinach just before serving.
You can sub the wine for chicken broth. I hope that helps!
oh so delicious
I made this the other night and absolutely DELICIOUS!!!
But I do have a question about the sun-dried tomatoes. Do you use the ones packed in oil for this recipe? I used the dried, no oil, not sure I loved the consistency so wanted to check.
Thank you!!!
Lisa, thanks for pointing that out; I will clarify it in the recipe. I am so glad you enjoyed this soup! I have used both versions of tomatoes with equally good results. I think the sun-dried tomatoes, not in oil, help you control how oily the final results are. If you use oil-packed tomatoes, I recommend patting them dry with a paper towel, just to help control the amount of oil in the soup. However, both options provide a very flavorful soup. I personally didn’t notice a difference in consistency between the two different types of tomatoes. I hope that helps!
Hi Annie! So appreciate your prompt reply and clarification!!! I’m making this AGAIN this week as my family can’t get enough of it, and this time will try the oil-packed with your tips and see if I notice any difference in the consistency. and see which I prefer. Thank you so very much!!!
I want to make this for my boyfriend this weekend — heheheheh! 💍 — but it’s not clear to me if I should use the sun-dried tomatoes that are packed in oil or the dehydrated-in-a-bag kind? Or does it not matter?
Hi Angela, thanks for pointing that out; I will clarify it in the recipe. I have used both with equally good results. I think the sun-dried tomatoes, not in oil, help you control how oily the final results are. If you use oil-packed tomatoes I recommend patting them dry with a paper towel, just to help control the amount of oil in the soup. However, both options provide a very flavorful soup. I wish you the BEST of luck and hope the soup lives up to its name! 😉
Can you use frozen spinach ?
Amazing soup! Keeper recipe!
The flavor of this is amazing. My hubby and I are gonna tweak it a little the next time we make it. Cub the chicken and add some little noodles. Other than personal choices, this soup is soooo good!
I would love to try this recipe, but my Husband HATES sin dried tomatoes. he likes all other tomatoes. Do you have any suggestions on a good substitute?
Hi Nicole, I haven’t tried this recipe with anything else but maybe a can of drained fire roasted tomatoes would be a good sub.
I made this for the first time this week and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you!!