Lean ground chicken, Italian seasoning, garlic, and Calabrian peppers join forces with your favorite pasta, green peas, and a low fat lemon ricotta cheese sauce to make this high protein creamy ground chicken soup. It’s perfect for busy weeknight dinners or even Sunday meal prep, with its giant 13-ounce serving sizes packed with 41 grams of protein each.
Serve this creamy Italian soup with a slice of garlic bread and a Caesar salad to round out a meal that’s guaranteed to leave you absolutely stuffed without any thoughts of dessert.
I’ve included a recipe video tutorial and printable recipe card below with notes for ingredient substitutions, nutrition facts modifications, and more. If you have a question about this creamy Italian soup with ground chicken, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments at the bottom of this post.
And as always, I seriously appreciate recipe reviews if you make this recipe and enjoy it! And if you’re looking for more one pot soup recipes, be sure to bookmark my Tex Mex ground beef and potato soup or Mexican cauliflower rice soup recipes for later.
Creamy Italian Ground Chicken Soup
Italian seasoned ground chicken with garlic and Calabrian chiles, pasta, and peas in a creamy lemon ricotta cheese sauce.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 pound Ground Chicken
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 3 cloves Garlic, crushed or minced
- 1 Tablespoon Chopped Calabrian Peppers* (optional)
- 4 cups Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
- 8 oz Farfalle or Bowtie Pasta
- 1 cup (170g) Frozen Peas
- 2 oz Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan, freshly grated
For the Ricotta Sauce
- 15 oz (1 3/4 cup) Low Fat Ricotta
- 1/2 cup Milk
- Juice of 2 Lemons + Zest of 1 Lemon
- Black Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven or large soup pot over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Once hot, add the ground chicken and leave untouched for 3-4 minutes to brown one side before breaking apart and fully cooking.
- To the fully cooked chicken, add the Italian seasoning, garlic, and Calabrian chiles. Stir everything together and cook for 30-60 seconds until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add a few tablespoons of the chicken broth to deglaze the pot, if necessary, before adding the pasta and remaining broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes.
- While the pasta cooks, add the ricotta sauce ingredients to a food processor or large cup to blend with an immersion blender. Blend together until smooth and set aside.
- Once the pasta has cooked for 10 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the cover from the pot. Add the frozen peas and stir into the soup, bringing the peas up to temperature and slightly cooling the soup. Once the peas are incorporated, add the ricotta sauce and stir everything together. Finally, stir in the grated cheese.
- Serve immediately while warm. Garnish with additional grated parmesan, Calabrian chiles, black pepper, fresh basil, and a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired. (If you're not serving right away, place the soup over a low heat to keep warm.)
Notes
*You can find Calabrian chiles in most grocery stores, but you can use sun dried tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes with a bit of vinegar and oil, or a combination of alternatives to zhuzh up your soup.
Is blending the ricotta cheese necessary?
I found the slightly gritty texture of ricotta, regardless of whole milk or low fat, was too noticeable in the soup without blending. It's not all that noticeable when eating, but the blended sauce is far more visually appealing.
For a thicker sauce, omit the milk like in my lemon ricotta ground turkey pasta.
Ground Chicken Alternatives
You can make this soup with ground turkey (or Italian ground turkey), Italian ground turkey sausage, classic Italian pork sausage, or your choice of ground protein.
Nutrition Facts Notes
The nutrition facts were calculated with Banza bowties, which is a high protein, high fiber chickpea pasta. Any type of pasta or pasta shape will work for this chicken soup, however. With traditional wheat farfalle, each serving has 375 calories, 37 grams of protein, 40 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of fat. Like I mentioned in my pumpkin bolognese, cauliflower gnocchi is a great lower carb pasta alternative that works well with creamy soups and sauces.
Whole milk ricotta makes an even creamier chicken soup without adding that many calories. Swapping whole milk for low fat ricotta takes each serving to 395 calories, 39 grams of protein, 36 grams of carbs, and 16 grams of fat.
The six servings are on the larger end. If you'd prefer smaller serving sizes, you can get the nutrition facts per serving by dividing the total numbers by your desired number of servings. The entire batch of soup has 2,216 calories, 245 grams of protein, 198 grams of carbs, 31 grams of fiber, and 62 grams of fat.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 2/3 cup (about 13 oz)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 370Total Fat: 10gCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 5gProtein: 41g
Andrea
Tuesday 9th of May 2023
Are you cooking the pasta before or adding it to the pot uncooked?
Mason Woodruff
Tuesday 9th of May 2023
Straight in the pot uncooked.