Cold Buster Chicken and Pasta Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Cold Buster Chicken and Pasta Soup – packed with chicken, pasta, veggies, and a satisfying savory broth! It has both the flavor and the nutrients you need to recover quickly.
Where has this chicken soup been all my life? Most of us get a yearly cold so this is a recipe we all need in our arsenal to help kick that cold! It’s deliciously flavorful, and so comforting on a chilly day.
A Healthy Chicken Soup Recipe
Of course, I can’t make any guarantees that it will kill that cold but this Italian chicken soup does contain plenty of ingredients known to be effective in fighting a cold.
- Chicken noodle soup in general is good for a cold with its warm broth which can calm congestion and build up (do we want to use the word “mucous” on a food blog – ew) and lean chicken which contains cysteine – an amino acid which can calm a cough and stuffed up nose.
- It’s said that ginger can ease cold symptoms, and fresh garlic contains allicin which destroys bacteria and makes it hard for viruses to stay alive.
- Then lemongrass is said to be a cough reliever and turmeric is high in antioxidants and it’s said that it can boost the immune system.
- And lemon juice is said to help unclog a stuffed-up respiratory system. So there’s a whole lot of goodness going on here. Plus it’s packed with veggies and a fresh herb and aren’t those always good for us?
Whether the amounts of the cold-fighting ingredients in this soup are high enough to make a difference I can’t say for sure, but what I can say is that this soup is unbelievably delicious and the fact alone that it’s a warm bowl of soup will be so comforting when you’ve got a bad cold. So it’s worth a try.
Plus, we loved this soup so much it will be a regular for us and just maybe it will help not only combat a cold but reduce the risk of getting one in the first place.
My younger brother loved this so much he said it was the best soup he’s ever had – now that’s saying something!
Just be warned it is very yellow as you can see, thanks to the turmeric. Basically, you will have mustard yellow chicken.
It took me a second to get used to it but it tasted so good I could have cared less after a few bites.
Cold Buster Chicken and Pasta Soup
As mentioned above, this recipe is designed around ingredients that will help your body fight off a cold or the flu. But everyone will enjoy the flavors of this Italian chicken noodle soup. You can also adjust the recipe for your needs:
- Go gluten-free by making this a rice soup
- Swap your acini de pepe for ditalini pasta or another small pastina
- Get hearty by adding a stuffed noodle for a chicken tortellini soup (just follow package directions)
- Stir in some cream while simmering to make this a creamy chicken noodle soup
- Top with parmesan cheese and serve with garlic bread
- Use fresh herbs for the best flavor and nutrients, like fresh basil, rosemary, or an Italian seasoning blend
More Soup Recipes to Try
- Vegetable Soup
- Creamy Potato Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- 5 Ingredient Tomato Soup
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Minestrone
Follow Cooking Classy
Chicken and Pasta Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced carrots (3 medium. Dice small)
- 1 1/2 cups diced celery (3 stalks. Dice small)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
- 2 Tbsp peeled and minced ginger
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemongrass paste (found in the produce by the herbs)
- 4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded evenly to 1/2-inch thickness with flat side of a meat mallet
- 2/3 cup dry acini de pepe or orzo pasta
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
- Add carrots, celery and onions and saute 5 minutes then add ginger, garlic and lemon grass paste and saute 1 minute longer.
- Pour in chicken broth, turmeric and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add chicken breasts, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot and simmer until chicken has cooked through, about 10 - 15 minutes (it should reach 165 degrees in center on an instant read thermometer).
- Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes (note that chicken will be very yellow, it's just the turmeric).
- Meanwhile add pasta to soup, cover and boil 10 minutes or as directed on package, stirring occasionally.
- Dice chicken into small pieces, return chicken to soup. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Serve warm.