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About This Recipe
If you grew up loving the classic Chicken and Stars Soup you’re going to love this one! This classic soup is packed with tender chicken, tiny star-shaped pasta, chopped veggies and a flavorful, soothing broth. It has all the classic flavor of the canned soup but it’s made with healthier ingredients so you can feel good about serving it to the whole family.
And don’t worry, this soup is still quick and easy to make since it uses pre-cooked chicken like my basic shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken. Have this soup ready in just 30 minutes for the ultimate comfort meal even on busy days!
Another great things about this chicken and stars soup? It’s perfect for toddlers or young kids! The tiny pasta and finely diced veggies make it easier to eat than traditional chicken noodle soup and you get a little bit of everything in each bite.
You’ll notice that I kept the protein a little lower in this soup than my normal soup recipes but you can easily add additional chicken or bone broth (a great source of protein) to the entire soup base or just your individual bowl!
This brothy soup is perfect for chilly days, sick days, or whenever you need a little extra warmth and love in a bowl. Top with some fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. Or enjoy with your favorite cracker or crusty bread.
Why You’ll Love This Chicken and Stars Soup
- Perfect Comfort Food: The tiny star-shaped pasta is true childhood nostalgia but even better because it’s made with simple ingredients and no artificial flavors.
- Hearty & Nutritious: Packed with tender chicken, veggies, and bone broth, this chicken soup recipe is both satisfying and nourishing.
- Quick & Easy: Ready in under 30 minutes, making it ideal for a busy weeknight or weekly meal prep.
- Kid-Friendly: The fun star-shaped pasta makes it a hit with little ones and the little bites make it easier to eat than classic chicken noodle soup!
- Perfect A Chilly Day: Whether you’re feeling under the weather or just need a cozy meal, this hot soup is a go-to that the whole family will love.
- Butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in my recipes. If using salted butter you can just reduce or omit the additional salt.
- Carrots & onion: Make sure to dice your carrot and onion small (especially if making for toddlers or young kiddos!). I love using my food chopper to easily dice everything into small, even squares. Both yellow onion or white onion both work. I will also sometimes buy frozen chopped onion for soups for a time saving hack!
- Garlic: Fresh minced garlic or frozen cubes both work great.
- Seasonings: Salt, black pepper turmeric & poultry seasoning (optional) but helps add flavor!
- Chicken: Any type of cooked chicken works! I love the hand-pulled rotisserie breast chicken from Costco! The Shredded Rotisserie Chicken from Target is yummy too! You can also use my Basic Shredded Chicken or any leftover chicken you have on hand.
- Broth: For this soup, I used a combination of low sodium chicken broth and chicken bone broth. I love adding in the bone broth for extra protein and gut-healing benefits. You can easily use all chicken broth if you prefer and this is a great recipe if you have homemade chicken broth to use! Feel free to use regular chicken broth if you aren’t worried about the sodium content.
- Star pasta: Look for stelline (the original star-shaped pasta) or pastina pasta to get the iconic star-shape! Of course, any type of small pasta shape will work for this soup but if you’re going for a classic look, try to find one of these little pasta shapes.
- Optional to garnish: Top with a little bit of fresh minced parsley and grated parmesan cheese for extra flavor!
- Different protein: You can easily sub the chicken for turkey or skip the chicken and make this a meatless soup.
- Extra broth: The pasta absorbs a lot of the broth after being stored. If you want more broth, just pour in some extra chicken broth (or chicken bone broth) to your portion when reheating.
- Amount of chicken: You can always add more shredded chicken to boost the protein (was trying to keep this one more toddler friendly!) Also, chicken bone broth is high in protein so adding some to my bowl when reheating is one of my favorite ways to up the protein!
- Rice: You can skip the noodles or use rice instead if you want a chicken and rice soup. Or omit the noodles completely for just a chicken soup!
How To Make
The full printable recipe is below, but let me walk you through the process so you know what to expect when you’re making it!
1. Heat the butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened.
3. Stir in the poultry seasoning and turmeric (if using); stir in the shredded chicken.
4. Pour in the chicken broth and bone broth and bring to a boil.
5. Add the pasta and reduce heat to a simmer.
6. Cook, stirring occasionally until pasta is al dente, about 7-8 minutes. Carefully taste the soup and add more salt and pepper as needed. Serve hot garnished with minced parsley or grated parmesan if desired and enjoy!
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
The noodles will soak up some of the broth when stored in the fridge. If you prefer, you can cook the tiny pasta in a separate pot and add into broth mixture right before eating to avoid mushy noodles. Or, you can add it in while cooking and just add more broth to your bowl when you reheat if the soup is too thick for your personal preference.
To freeze: let soup cool to room temperature. Then, place in freezer safe bags. It will stay good frozen for 3-4 months. Soup can be reheated on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Different Types of Chicken You Can Use For This Soup
You can seriously use just about any type of tender chicken meat for this recipe! If want something quick and easy, grab one of my favorite store-bought options. Or use up any leftover chicken you have on hand to make this recipe even more flavorful and delicious.
- Hand-pulled rotisserie breast chicken from Costco or Shredded Rotisserie Chicken from Target.
- My Basic Shredded Chicken. I love making a big batch of this chicken and freezing for recipes like this.
- Leftover grilled balsamic chicken or any other leftover cooked chicken.
- Whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I like to shred mine while it’s still warm right when I get home if I know I’m using it for a recipe later in the week.
- Canned chicken or frozen chicken pieces like this Tyson precooked chicken.
Do I need to cook the pasta before adding to the soup?
No you do not need to cook the stelline pasta (or pasta of choice) before adding to the soup! The pasta will cook in the broth while the soup simmers.
What can I use instead of star-shaped pasta?
If you can’t find stelline (star pasta), you can use pastina, orzo, acini de pepe, ditalini, or even broken spaghetti as a substitute. Or skip the pasta and use rice!
What’s the best way to reheat this soup?
Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, adding more broth if needed. You can also microwave it in 30-second intervals, stirring in between.
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure leave a review, tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @LaurenFitFoodie or hashtag #LaurenFitFoodie so I can see your creations!
Chicken and Stars Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (28g)
- 1.5 cups finely diced carrots (225g)
- 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion (80g)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp tumeric & poultry seasoning optional
- 1 cup 6 oz. cooked shredded chicken
- 8 cups 64 oz. chicken broth
- 2 cups 16 oz. chicken bone broth
- 1 cup 6 oz. star pasta look for stelline or pastina
- Optional to garnish: minced parsley, grated parmesan
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Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened. Stir in the poultry seasoning and tumeric (if using); stir in the shredded chicken.
- Pour in the chicken broth and bone broth and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until pasta is al dente, about 7-8 minutes.
- Carefully taste the soup and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Serve hot garnished with minced parsley or grated parmesan if desired and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition is hand-calculated and accurate. No autocalulations! However, note that values can vary based on the brands you use and if you substitute ingredients.
