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by Jessica September 7, 2022
This cozy chicken and stars soup is the ultimate comfort meal. Rich broth, tender chicken and pasta stars mixed with vegetables, lemon and parmesan cheese. This is the most wonderful lovely dinner!
It’s officially soup season!
We’re kicking things off with this cozy chicken and stars soup: a classic, traditional bowl of comfort food that everyone loves. Chicken noodle soup made with mini pasta stars, a spritz of fresh lemon, parmesan and herbs.
This is super delicious and crave worthy.
Can we talk about how adorable these little pasta stars are? I could make all the things with these (I’m thinking my homemade spaghettios, for sure) and according to the kids, they make mealtime more fun. I couldn’t agree more.
My favorite thing about this fun pasta shape is how it transforms the soup. We love traditional chicken noodle soup – who doesn’t?! The big soft egg noodles, bites of carrot and chicken, it’s fabulous.
But when you use a tiny cut of pasta like this stelline, everything is bite-sized. It reminds me of eating a chopped salad where you get a taste of everything in one bite! Which is my favorite thing and the best way to eat salads and soup.
The small cut of pasta also makes the soup feel heartier. Even though it’s a brothy soup, it feels richer and more hearty since the ingredients are small enough to fit on one spoon. It’s basically perfect.
I based this recipe on my chicken and orzo soup which is also one of our all-time favorites. The recipe includes a splash of fresh lemon juice, a parmesan rind and fresh herbs like parsley. These things make all the difference!
They make the soup taste elevated and fancy, even though it’s really pretty simple.
And not only is it simple, but it is easy too.
If I’m making this on a weeknight, I’ll often use a rotisserie chicken for ease. It’s my go-to hack during busy weeks and I usually have one in the fridge for recipes just like this. As long as you use a good quality stock, add the lemon, parmesan, herbs and vegetables, this soup will be packed with flavor.
If you’d like to make it ahead of time or store leftovers, I suggest cooking the pasta separately and storing the soup base and pasta separately as well. It’s as easy as that. Then when it’s time to eat, you combine the pasta and broth.
My kids LOVE this. It’s easier for them to eat than traditional chicken noodle. They thing the stars are so fun. And so do I! This is fantastic and I adore the rich parmesan broth. It’s cozy, comforting and tastes like home. It’s perfect for any season and even better with a chunk of sourdough bread.
It can’t be beat!
Chicken and Stars Soup
Chicken and Stars Soup
Yield: 4 people
Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 25 minutes mins
Total Time: 45 minutes mins
This cozy chicken and stars soup is the ultimate comfort meal. Rich broth, tender chicken and pasta stars mixed with vegetables, lemon and parmesan cheese. This is the most wonderful lovely dinner!
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5 from 63 votes
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery sticks, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- kosher salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 ½ cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 7 to 8 cups chicken stock
- 1 parmesan cheese rind
- 1 cup uncooked stelline pasta, mini pasta stars
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, plus more for topping
- parmesan cheese, for topping
- lemon wedges, for spritzing
Instructions
Heat the butter in a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Add in the onion, carrots, celery and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper - I’d say at least ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to start. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften. Stir in the garlic cloves and poultry seasoning. Stir in the shredded chicken.
Add in 7 cups of chicken stock and the parmesan rind. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Stir in the star pasta. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes.
Add in the lemon juice and fresh parsley. Taste the soup and if it needs more salt and pepper, add it. If the parmesan rind didn’t melt entirely, you can scoop it out at this point. You can also decide if you’d like to add the additional cup of chicken stock here - it depends on how hearty or how brothy you like your soup. The pasta will soak it up as it sits!
Serve immediately with a lemon wedge for sprinkling, parmesan cheese for topping and parsley sprinkled on top.
Note: if you want to prep this for meals ahead of time, or want to have it for leftovers, I suggest cooking the pasta separately as it will soak up most of the broth as it sits overnight. Combine the soup and pasta stars and reheat to enjoy!
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Author: How Sweet Eats
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I appreciate you so much!
Those stars are the cutest.
posted in: Pantry Meals, Poultry, Recipes, Soup/Stews 20 comments
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5 from 63 votes (54 ratings without comment)
Leave a Reply
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Christine — Reply
Hooray for soup season! This looks like such a comforting meal. Yum! Thank you!
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Lisa — Reply
Jessica
Would you please tell which brand of chicken stock you recommend, there are SO many,dont want an inferior broth to ruin this great tasting soup, thanks!!
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Allyson — Reply
Where did you buy the pasta?
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Kelly — Reply
Target has it!
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DMB — Reply
Yum!! Kids loved the star pasta. The lemon adds such brightness!
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kamika — Reply
Great Information Of Great verities Thanks for sharing that.
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Sarah — Reply
This soup was so good! Perfect for the whole family. This is going to be my go-to for a chicken/noodle soup!
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Cheri Beck — Reply
We made this tonight! Delicious. I only made one change….for my chicken I sautéed it in olive oil and a little butter with salt and pepper first and then set it aside while I made the soup in the same pot (the browned butter and chicken bits added lots of flavor). I added the shredded chicken at the very end when the pasta was almost done. The parmesan rind and lemon is a GENIUS savory combination. YUM! This will be in the rotation all winter.
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Dayle — Reply
Delicious and easy.
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Beth — Reply
I’m s there a particular brand of store bought stock you recommend? I never know which tastes the most like homemade.
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MaryBeth Littlefield — Reply
I can’t find the Star Pasta anywhere in Maine. I can’t even get it on Amazon. Help!
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Robin — Reply
I found it at Market Basket. Goya brand.
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Julie — Reply
If you’re shopping online, search for ‘pastina’
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Matt — Reply
Target in Scarborough has it
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Crissy — Reply
This was so delicious! I used ditalini pasta but will go to Target next time to look for the stars cause they are so cute! Great recipe!
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Nicole — Reply
I often find chicken and pasta soups to be bland. But this one turned out fantastic!
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Abby — Reply
This soup is so easy and SO flavorful. My children are picky eaters, but they ate every bit of this soup. Thank you for this recipe. I’m going to add it to our meals rotation.
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Stephanie Andrade — Reply
Just made this recipe yesterday! It’s been raining non stop where I live and all I was craving was a warm bowl of soup. Seen ur post on insta and decided to go for it. Oh man, may I say it is the best tasting cup of noodle I’ve ever had! The texture of the stars with every bite really does something for me. This bowl of soup seriously tastes like a warm hug. My husband and I already finished our last bowl of left overs right now with extra parm and lemon on top. What a treat! Thank you for the tasty recipe 😃
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Julie — Reply
This is my new favourite chicken soup! I love the little star pasta and the lemony finish. It’s delish.
