Hey, y’all, I hope you’ll forgive another soup recipe if it’s 80 degrees where you are, but seeing as we have tons of snow up Nord here in Minnesota, I’m still in full-on comfort mode. But maybe no matter what the temp is where you are, you’ll want to try this Chicken, Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup.
Chicken Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup
Can I say Hygge? I feel a little silly when I get all trendy and say things like Hygge, but click the link and take a gander at the dictionary! This soup will be in the definition.
About Chicken, Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup:
Chicken, Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup really does fit the season. It’s perfect for those spring weeks when we get hot/cold and hot again! It rides the lines between light & hearty, and fresh & heartwarming.
The little shells of pasta are so fun, the chicken and the chickpeas give heft & and the flavor is just right. (By the way, even though I love the flavor just as is, you can add a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of Parmesan to this soup when serving to brighten it up even more! I didn’t show that in the pics, though.)
There’s a tiny bit of curry in this soup but isn’t enough to make this taste like curry; it’s just enough to enhance the soup and add a little interest. If you are a fan of curry, you can surely bring that flavor home by increasing the amount of curry you add to the soup. It would be a great variation to the recipe.
Making Chicken, Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup:
This easy soup calls for chicken and stock, and it doesn’t really matter how you get it. You can cook a chicken and use some of the meat and broth, use a rotisserie chicken and boxed stock, make stock with a rotisserie chicken or simmer a little chicken in some boxed broth. Whew. A lot of options, but you get the idea!
I made the Instant Pot Barbecued Whole Chicken from Amy & Jacky’s blog (I love those guys! They’re a must visit if you have an Instant Pot) and I used the broth the chicken was poached in as a base of this soup. I tossed onion, celery, and carrot in the pot and cut the salt back. The chicken, by the way? Very good! (And after it was done, I even made a second stock from the bones, so that chicken served us well!)
Things to be careful with? You want enough salt so that this soup isn’t dull since the pasta is cooked right in the broth, but you’ll need to adjust the salt depending on the stock/broth you use. It’s nice to have extra stock/broth on hand, coz you know that pasta can swell all up and suck away the moisture, especially if you have any leftovers.
Storing & Reheating:
Store this soup in the fridge after it’s cooled to room temperature in an airtight container for four to five days. All soups with pasts need a little TLC when reheating. As the soup sits, the pasta will absorb the broth – which can leave the soup without enough liquid.
Add a little water if the flavor of the soup is strong enough or a little broth if you have it on hand. You may not be able to judge exactly how much until the soup has warmed either in the microwave or on the stovetop.
This soup freezes beautifully so it’s a great one to multiply and package up as a meal prep endeavor. I prefer to freeze flat in Ziploc bags for a nice, compact space-efficient package. A serving or two fits well in a standard quart.
Chicken Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup
Saving Money on the Chicken:
After Easter is a great time to buy whole chickens – egg production peaked before Easter and there are a LOT of excess chickens. They’re probably dirt cheap at your store. They are at mine. Cooking your own chicken, as long as you have a good sales price, is always going to be cheaper per pound than buying a rotisserie chicken, btw. They’re surprisingly easy, too.
Since rotisserie chickens (I’m looking at you, Costco) are roughly around 3 pounds for $5.00 +36 cents tax, $1.79 a pound, as long as your chicken (allowing for cooking and shrinkage) is under $1.75 a pound, the raw chicken is a better deal. Mine was 79 cents a pound. If it were the size of a Costco chicken, it would have been $2.37. But I had time to cook it up in the Instant Pot!
At the same time, a rotisserie chicken as a quick option for a dinner and/or soup can be better than many of the pricier options out there to get food on the table, fast. What you’re saving is time and that can be a big factor, too!
I do realize that there are some people who won’t touch a rotisserie chicken due to the amount of salt and other reasons, so I’m not going to get into that discussion, here, today! Me, I do like knowing what’s in my food. 🙂 Let me drop my Rotisserie Chicken Recipe right here! No Rotisserie is needed. There are a few other links you might want to check out at the bottom of the page. Just click the photos.
Rotisserie-Style Chicken (No Rotisserie Needed)
Saving on the Chickpeas:
.If you’d like to save a bit on the chickpeas, try my Instant Pot Chickpeas or Braised Chickpeas. So much flavor and is so easy to make. Any extras can be packaged and frozen for later.
perfect instant pot chickpeas
I hope you guys enjoy this soup as much as we do! I love it for its many options to get it on the table simply and I love the bit of extra protein from the chickpeas! I sometimes find healthier options like chickpeas a bit of a hard sell, but my son scarfed this down like there was no tomorrow! I think he didn’t find them as offensive as usual once they were in the soup with the pasta!
Take care, all!
Mollie
Chicken Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup
Chicken, Chickpea, & Orecchiette Pasta Soup
A quick and easy soup that will be loved by all!
- Yield: 5-6 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 large carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
- 7–8 cups low-sodium chicken stock, divided (see note)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (may need less depending on the saltiness of the stock)
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- scant1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 4 ounces orecchiette pasta (1 cup)
- 6 ounces shredded chicken (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped, for serving
- a good squeeze (to taste) of lemon juice for the soup, lemon wedges for serving if desired
- a little Parmesan cheese, grated, for serving
Instructions
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high. Add onions and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
Add about six cups stock, salt, pepper, turmeric, and curry. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cover. Simmer about five minutes.
Bring to a boil and add pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in chicken and chickpeas and continue to cook until pasta is tender and chicken and chickpeas are warm, about 2 minutes more.
Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Garnish with parsley. Pass additional lemon and Parmesan if using,
Notes
The stock in pasta soups like this can vary a lot depending on how long the soup sits, how well cooked the pasta is and personal taste. I recommend starting with six cups of broth and adding more if you wish after the soup is done, and if you’re storing the soup, save a little of the stock for reheating.
Keywords: Carrots, Chicken, Chicken Stock, Chickpeas, Orecchiette, Pasta, Soup
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I’ll be sharing Chicken, Chickpea & Orecchiette Pasta Soup at Fiesta Friday #219, hosted this week by Jhuls at the Not So Creative Cook. Do stop by their sites when you have a minute – Fiesta Friday is a fun link-up from some of the best bloggers and you’re going to fall in love with Juhl’s site!
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