Chicken
$2.29per plate
Prep
10 min
Chicken · Chicken Soup
Marry Me Chicken Soup
Marry Me Chicken Soup takes the famous creamy sun-dried tomato and Parmesan flavor and turns it into a spoonable, broth-forward soup that feeds six for about a dollar sixty a bowl. Bite-size chicken, a modest handful of small pasta, and wilted spinach simmer in a garlicky Parmesan cream broth that tastes far fancier than it costs. It is a complete dinner in one pot, no sides required. Prefer it as a skillet dinner, a creamy one-pan grain, or a pasta night instead? Try the original Marry Me Chicken, the Marry Me Chicken Orzo, or Marry Me Chicken Pasta. For more like it, browse our cheap soup recipes.
$1.60per plate
Estimated recipe total
$9.60 · serves 6
Cook
30 min
Total
40 min
Serves
6
Recipe from Budget Plates · https://www.budgetplates.com/marry-me-chicken-soup
Equipment
- Large soup pot
Variations
- Stir in 2 to 3 cups of rotisserie or leftover shredded chicken instead of browning raw chicken.
- Use half-and-half, or whole milk with a little cornstarch, for a lighter broth.
- Swap in gnocchi or orzo for the ditalini; adjust the simmer so either stays tender.
- Use a cup of thawed, squeezed frozen spinach or chopped kale instead of fresh spinach.
1 How to make it
1
Brown the chicken
Pat the bite-size chicken dry, season with salt and pepper, and brown it in the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high for about 5 minutes, until golden but not quite cooked through. Move it to a plate; it finishes in the broth later so it stays juicy instead of drying out.
2
Soften the onion and garlic
Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion in the same pot for 3 to 4 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and Italian seasoning and cook one minute more, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken.
3
Simmer the broth and cook the pasta
Pour in the chicken broth and bring it to a gentle boil. Add the ditalini and simmer, stirring now and then, for about 8 minutes, until just shy of tender. The pasta keeps softening in the hot soup, so pulling it slightly early is what keeps it tender instead of mushy.
4
Return the chicken
Add the chicken and any juices back to the pot and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until it is cooked through to 165 F. It finishes gently in the broth, which keeps the small pieces from turning dry and rubbery.
5
Add the cream and Parmesan off a hard boil
Turn the heat to low, then stir in the cream and Parmesan until melted and smooth. Keep the soup below a boil from here on; hard boiling is what makes a cream-and-Parmesan broth curdle or break. If it ever looks grainy, pull it off the heat and stir in a splash of cold broth.
6
Wilt the spinach and serve
Stir in the spinach and let it wilt for about a minute, then add the red pepper flakes and taste for salt. The soup should be creamy but clearly spoonable; if it tightens up, loosen it with a splash of broth. Ladle into bowls and serve.
2 Cheaper ingredient swaps
- Rotisserie or leftover shredded chicken. Stir 2 to 3 cups of cooked shredded chicken in with the cream instead of browning raw chicken. It is a great way to use up a rotisserie bird.
- Half-and-half or milk for the heavy cream. Half-and-half, or whole milk with a teaspoon of cornstarch, makes a lighter broth. Add it over low heat and keep it below a boil so it does not curdle.
- Gnocchi or orzo for the small pasta. A swap, not the main version: shelf-stable gnocchi simmers in 3 to 4 minutes, and orzo cooks in about the same time as ditalini. Adjust simmering so either stays tender.
- Frozen spinach or kale. A cup of thawed, squeezed frozen spinach, or chopped kale added a few minutes earlier, stands in for fresh spinach.
3 Budget tips
- One pound of chicken stretches across six bowls because the pasta, spinach, and creamy broth do the filling.
- Sun-dried tomatoes are the priciest item; one jar covers this soup and the other Marry Me dinners on the site.
- Half a box of ditalini bulks up the pot for about sixty cents, far cheaper than adding more meat.
- A cup of cream and a handful of Parmesan turn plain broth into a restaurant-style soup for less than a jar of soup base.
- See more recipes priced per serving in the Budget Plates Index.
4 Storage, freezing & reheating
Fridge
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The pasta keeps drinking up broth as it sits, so the soup thickens; stir in a splash of broth or milk when reheating to bring it back to spoonable.
Freezer
Honest note: this soup freezes with compromises. The cream can separate, the pasta softens, and the spinach goes limp. If you plan to freeze, freeze the soup before adding cream, pasta, and spinach, then add them fresh when reheating. Fully finished soup keeps up to 2 months but is best fresh.
Reheating
Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave at half power, stirring in broth or milk to loosen it, and keep it below a boil so the creamy broth does not curdle or turn grainy.
5 Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
395
Protein
26g
Fat
20g
Carbs
28g
Estimates per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not a substitute for medical advice.
6 Frequently asked questions
What is marry me chicken soup?
It is the soup version of the viral marry me chicken: bite-size chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and Parmesan in a creamy but spoonable broth, with small pasta and spinach. Same famous flavor, ladled from a soup pot instead of a skillet.
How do I keep the creamy broth from curdling?
Add the cream and Parmesan over low heat after the pasta is cooked, and keep the soup below a hard boil from then on. Boiling dairy in a thin broth is what makes it curdle or look broken.
How do I keep the pasta from going mushy?
Simmer the ditalini until just shy of tender and serve the soup soon after. The pasta keeps absorbing broth as it sits, so leftovers thicken; loosen them with a splash of broth when you reheat.
How is $1.60 a plate figured?
About $9.60 for the whole pot, six bowls, so roughly $1.60 each. The chicken, cream, Parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes are the main costs, and it is a complete dinner with no sides required.
Helpful Tools for This Recipe
As an Amazon Associate, Budget Plates may earn from qualifying purchases.
- 12-inch nonstick skillet. A wide nonstick skillet browns ground meat, fries rice, and builds a one-pan sauce with less oil and easier cleanup. Best for everyday stovetop dinners like skillet meals, fried rice, pasta sauces, and patties.
- Cast iron skillet. Cast iron holds heat for a deep sear and moves from stovetop to oven, and it lasts for decades with basic care. Best for searing chops and chicken, and recipes that start on the stove and finish in the oven.
- Chef's knife. One sharp chef's knife handles almost all the chopping, from onions to chicken, and replaces a drawer of gadgets. Best for all-purpose prep in essentially every recipe on the site.
- Cutting board. A large, stable cutting board makes prep faster and safer, which matters when you cook most nights. Best for everyday chopping of onion, garlic, and vegetables across nearly every recipe.
Feeding a crowd tonight? This one is also part of our Easy Family Dinner Recipes collection.
Cook next
All recipes Related recipes
From other tables
All recipes 
