Chicken Pot Pie Soup

As the weather begins to get colder and the rain starts falling, it's time to start pulling out the soup recipes. In fact, the hubby and I have made Sunday "soup Sunday". It's a pretty good winter tradition if you ask me. We've been trying lots of new soups and reinventing some of the ones we love. While browsing through one of my favorite blogs, Handle the Heat, I came across a fabulous Turkey Pot Pie soup. It jumped out at me 1. because it was soup Sunday and 2. my husband has been craving pot pie for weeks. As much as I love a good crust, I wanted to see if this soup would give me all the flavors of pot pie, but without having (or without missing) that flaky and buttery crust. Ooh, that buttery crust. Yum. But I digress.

The best part about this soup is that it takes only 30 minutes to make. No joke. This is super fast soup. Or maybe it's souper fast soup. Now that's funny. Okay, back to the soup. This soup starts off with garlic, onion, celery and carrots in a big pot with a little bit of butter. Once all of the veggies are softened, you add in diced potatoes, fresh sage (mmm!) and then salt and pepper. Give it a good stir and then add in chicken broth and a bit of water. Let all of those flavors do their thing for about 10 minutes while the potatoes get nice and soft. Once the potatoes are cooked, add in the shredded chicken (or turkey if you have it) and half and half.  Just a bit to give it some creaminess, but not too much. Of course you can add more, if you want it extra creamy and rich. Give the soup a few more minutes to warm through and you are pretty much ready to go. If you are feeling extra fancy, now is the time to add a few handfuls of frozen peas. If you add them too soon, you'll get pea mush. Yuck. They just need a minute or two to heat up and your soup is ready to enjoy. Pot pie perfection!

This chicken pot pie soup is so flavorful, creamy and souper satisfying. It's literally pot pie in a bowl! The only thing that would make this soup better (if that is possible) would be a cheesy garlic biscuit to dunk in it. Don't worry, I made those too and the recipe is coming soon too! And they are so cheesy delicious and perfect for this soup.

soup + biscuits = love

Chicken Pot Pie Soup (slightly adapted from Handle the Heat)

1 tablespoon butter

1 small yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup half-and-half
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 cups shredded leftover chicken or turkey meat (rotisserie chickens are great for this soup!)

1 1/2 cups frozen peas (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Heat the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until softened. About 5-7 minutes. Add in the  flour and cook for about one minute. Then add the potatoes, sage, and pepper. Pour in 2 cups water and the chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes.  Add the shredded chicken and half and half and cook until warmed through, about  five minutes. If adding in frozen peas, add them in now and let heat through for 1-2 minutes.

Add in the parsley and season with the salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary before serving.

This soup is souper good!