Make Ahead

Slow-Cooker Chicken Parmesan Soup

Name: Slow-Cooker Chicken Parmesan Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 4 h
Yield: Makes 6 cups
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 garlic cloves, minced; 1 green bell pepper, chopped; 14 1/2 ounces crushed tomatoes; 1/2 pound raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 3 cups chicken broth; 1/2 cup chopped white onion; 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil; 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano; 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!); 4 ounces uncooked dry gemelli or penne pasta; Chopped fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

by: foxeslovelemons

February 6, 2014

3.6

60 Ratings

Photo by James Ransom

Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 4 hours
Makes 6 cups

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

This soup has all of the flavors of decadent Chicken Parmesan, but in a more waist-friendly vehicle. Chicken broth and crushed tomatoes are simmered with garlic, onion, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes for an aromatic base. Shredded lean chicken breast, green bell pepper, and gemelli pasta fill you up. And everything is topped with a little cheese, of course. —foxeslovelemons

Test Kitchen Notes

I'd say a good chicken Parmesan sandwich is one of life's greatest pleasures. What's not to like about chicken that's breaded and cheesed within an inch of its life and then tucked into a crusty loaf of Italian bread? A sandwich like that should be reserved for special occasions–for the mornings when getting out of bed requires the incentive of an overindulgent, borderline irresponsible lunch; or perhaps for after you've run a marathon, given birth, or engaged in some other feat of extraordinary strength and endurance.

Like my beloved sandwich, this soup finds its origins in the Italian-American classic, chicken Parmesan. Unlike the sandwich, the more refined soup easily translates into a wholesome weeknight meal. In some ways it even ups the ante–after all, it's made in a slow cooker, can be eaten with a spoon, and won't leave you with a lump in your stomach the way its other forms might. This is the chicken Parmesan that will love you back. —Julie Myers

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
14 ¹/₂ ounces crushed tomatoes
¹/₂ pound raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups chicken broth
¹/₂ cup chopped white onion
¹/₃ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
¹/₈ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!)
4 ounces uncooked dry gemelli or penne pasta
Chopped fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

Directions

In the slow cooker, stir together the garlic, bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, chicken, broth, onion, the cheese, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours, or on low for 7 hours.
Transfer chicken breasts to a cutting board and coarsely shred them; return them to the slow cooker; stir in the pasta. Cook on high for 30 minutes longer or until pasta is cooked al dente.
Serve garnished with more Parmesan cheese and chopped basil or parsley.

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76 Reviews

kjacc January 23, 2023

I have a question...the recipe calls for 14.5 oz crushed tomatoes. I have found it only comes in 28 oz cans! Can you use the full can? or will that ruin the consistancy?

GreenGoddess January 25, 2023

I think I made it with 28 ounce last time, it basically just gave me more soup, I would add more parmesan, also I added more vegetables to it and added cooked pasta at the end.

ProfessorElle April 29, 2022

I created an account so that I could review this recipe! I’ve been making it for several years and it is now part of the regular rotation at our house. It’s quick and easy to make, with ingredients I usually have on hand. I do substitute dry herbs at about 1/3 the quantity, and I’ve made it with fresh or frozen chicken and vegetables. It comes out great every time.

Leila December 21, 2021

I made this base level and it was great for something that needed to be quickly thrown together. We ate it all + more, but I was thinking a scoop of ricotta would have been great / thyme. Yum AF

JESSICA September 21, 2021

Original recipe was a base, but not especially to my liking as is. Amendments to original: sautéed onion first, substituted fennel for green pepper, added red wine and tomato paste, at end of cooking added cannellini beans (no pasta)/cheese/ chopped kale.

pattyposy February 21, 2021

I added a parmesan rind (at the end of cook time) tomato paste, onion powder, fennel seed, basil, oregano and wine. I sauteed the veggies first

GreenGoddess January 18, 2021

For me this soup needs more added to it. I added carrots, celery, thyme, and a very small piece of rosemary. At the end I also added kale and green beans. Also I cooked the pasta separately and added it at the end. Wish I would have listened to the other reviewers and sauteed the onions before turning on the slow cook option. I will make this again, me and family like it.

Deborah October 13, 2020

Soup was tasty, but I absolutely second others’ recommendations to sauté the onions first and add a can of tomato paste. The crunchy onions really detract from the flavor, and without the paste the soup is really quite thin. I will make it again with these changes, though.

pattyposy September 17, 2020

I want to incorporate some suggested changes into the body of this recipe for future reference. How can I do this or can I?

Barbara A. March 31, 2020

This sounded like a great idea. It turned out to be blah. Somethings wrong. It turned out to be chicken stew and not much else. No sir, don’t like it!

Elizabeth D. October 26, 2019

I signed up for your website in order to print the slow cooker chicken parm recipe and hit print (5 times) only to discover that it will not permit me to print. Why?

Barbara A. September 19, 2020

Don’t bother. Find a recipe elsewhere. This sounds magnifique but it’s blah, blah, blah.

Marcelline Y. October 16, 2019

I added tomato paste to give it a more Italian taste. I liked it but my husband said it needed more flavor. It will be his lunch so hopefully sitting overnight will increase the flavor.

OnionRoom December 18, 2018

Good, easy, and not too expensive. Pros, very easy prep, steaming hot, and tasty. Stretches two chicken breasts to feed 6. Agree with the member who said there is a slow cooker taste to this soup. Made the recipe tonight and made some quick adjustments to avoid the default slow cooker taste. I used whole wheat pasta which I watched like a hawk as I don't like soggy pasta and this may have helped avoid the gumminess that other members mentioned with the pasta. I added a quarter cup of white wine as the recipe as is looked a little bland. I used two tablespoons of granulated onion powder instead of garlic. I increased the dry pasta to 2 cups. I increased the chicken stock to about 4 cups instead of 3 to use the entire 1- quart tetra pack. I doubled the number of fresh herbs. I will definitely make it again and next time saute the vegetables first and maybe add a squirt of condensed tomato paste to give it some more depth. Good comments about using a parm rind which I don't have and also adding cooked al dente pasta at the end especially if it is white flour pasta. I could see myself adding cooked baby potatoes to this instead of pasta in the future.

Susan December 16, 2018

I don’t know what to make of this. This recipe shows as first of best for slow cooking. Reviewers think chicken over cooked in a couple hours, veggies need separate treatment, cheese and pasta added later or cooked on side. I have been reading recipes long enough to expect a baseline and I’m not sure half these reviewers even considered it a crock pot soup. Ingredients could be tasty but sound directions on this lacking.

Russ December 16, 2018

Doubled recipe. Had to add cup extra chicken broth at end because noodles just about soaked up all the original broth. My kids actually liked it more like stew than soup. Served with garlic bread to soak up liquid at bottom of bowls. Liked it!

Faith R. December 13, 2018

This was awful. Don't waste your ingedients or day on this thing I just throw it all away. I'm actually shamed I put this on the table. If you like bad, this is for you!!!

Linda D. December 9, 2018

Thank you for a wonderful crock pot soup! I read all of the comments and sauteed the onion first, I used a whole onion, then added the pepper and crushed garlic. I used a whole, bone in chicken breast, that's what I had in my freezer, and boiled the pasta on the side. Delicious! Will definitely make this again. Thank you!

Rachel A. August 27, 2018

This was pretty good! Cooked the pasta separately. Added a bit of fennel seed and a splash of white wine to the slow cooker. And it was a super easy dinner that even my kids enjoyed.

ECMotherwell April 16, 2018

This was lovely! I reduced the sauce at the end, in order for it to be more of a pasta than a soup (just my family's preference). Was a big, big hit -- everyone enjoyed it. Also, it was a whiz to throw together, definitely going into my weeknight routine!

christinalm March 19, 2018

This was a great recipe. I followed advice of other comments and par cooked the veggies, added the cheese at the end, and cooked the pasta separately. I also used my hand blender when I took the chicken out to insure my minis did not notice the veggies.

Kaela B. February 5, 2018

Throw a parmesan rind in there and avoid the cheese problem.

Peggy M. December 12, 2017

Hi, any tips if using an Instapot. I have one but am slow figuring it out.😳
Thanks!

Karl R. March 5, 2017

I've made this twice now, and the second time zipped it up by adding a half stick of butter at the beginning along with 2 tsp of hot sauce, and then some dino kale at the end. The butter goes a long way towards making for a more satisfying meal / one bowl dinner.

yarnmule February 28, 2017

I made this as written, except I cooked the pasta separately based on comments. My chicken was also done after a little over 2 hours. Maybe because of this, the vegetables were still a little crunchy. In my opinion it would have been vastly better if the veggies were sauteed first, especially the onion.

Marcia February 23, 2017

Great soup. Made stove top instead of slow cooker and reduced cooking time to about 90 mins. Despite my better judgement, I added the cheese during the cooking time which caused it to stick to the bottom of the pan. I recommend adding it at the end. I added pecorino cheese for a little more flavor and skipped the green pepper.

Michelle November 23, 2016

This is my new favorite winter soup, delicious and leftovers are perfect for lunch (an easy to double recipe). Like others below, I made it on the stove top and it's really not that much more work. I omitted the green pepper as I didn't have one, and it was so good I'll continue making it that way.

Nicole L. October 14, 2016

I made this recipe and followed it perfectly however once I added the uncooked pasta and followed the directions after that but the pasta turned gummy and ruined the entire dish was wasted. disappointed, I should have just cooked the pasta separately because before that the dish smelled great, tasted great. good luck to those who haven't tried this recipe

StephW September 29, 2016

Looks great! Would love to see more slow cooker recipes on Food52. I use mine at least twice a week.

Kathcooks March 31, 2016

Making this today, as I write my comment. I love my slow cooker but do agree there is a "slow-cooker" taste for some recipes. For that reason, I just purchased a Cuisinart slow cooker that also sautes and steams. I sautéed my chicken breasts in a small amount of olive oil, removed them, added onion and green pepper to slow cooker, sautéed for 5 minutes or so, added garlic, basil, and oregano, sautéed for another minute, returned chicken and all other ingredients except for pasta. It smell fabulous and I may have solved the "slow cooker taste" issue. We'll see!

Kathcooks February 8, 2018

Final answer.....this was a hit. Pasta turned out perfect without mushiness. Chicken was moist and flavorful. Definitely a keeper.

Dale M. March 23, 2016

Why not cook everything but chicken,
for 2 1/2 hrs and use a store bought rotisserie chicken? Will leave enough left over chicken for sandwiches or a chicken salad etc.

Marsha G. February 28, 2016

Delicious! Not a lot of prep, thus fast to get in the cooker so you can fix it and forget it. Wonderfully aromatic while cooking. I used three boneless, skinless thighs, which gave me masses of shredded chicken. I kept checking to see if the meat was done because of other reviewers' remarks about their meat drying out, and a little over 2 hours on High left me with moist, juicy chicken to shred. I didn't have fresh spices, so I used half of the recipe amounts in dried spices. Contrary to the recipe, I added S&P to my liking at the very end because it was very undersalted. My only quibble was that in the next day's leftovers, the ww penne had fallen to pieces, but I could totes live with that.

http://www.what-marsha-eats.tumblr.com

Jolene F. February 15, 2016

Used bone in chicken for more flavor and sautéed the onion with the garlic and red pepper. deliciousness!!

Tracy October 28, 2015

Could use more flavour - and pasta gets very soft so not great for leftovers.

Valerie W. October 7, 2015

if I want to make 12 cups, I double everything in the recipe?

Susan D. February 14, 2015

Cooked on high for 3 1/2 hours. Chicken was overcooked. Next time I will pull chicken out at 2 1/2 hours. Let soup continue cooking for an hour, add pasta for 30 minutes. When soup is done I will add the chicken and serve.

glammie July 10, 2015

Were the vegetables cooked at 2.5 hours? If so, why not just pick up the recipe from there?

Julie M. February 8, 2015

This was delicious! I too made it in a pot on the stove: I sautéed the onions, then added chopped red pepper (what I had) and garlic and cooked until softened. I added the chopped tomatoes, chicken stock, a few whole basil leaves, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes, and cooked for about an hour. Then I cut chicken breasts into large pieces and let them poach in the soup. I shredded the chicken once it was cooked through, and added it, along with the grated parmesan cheese, chopped fresh basil, and pasta that I had a cooked separately. It was more hands on work than with the slow cooker, but it was still easy, and it was wonderful! Thanks so much such a creative and delicious recipe.

Anne October 6, 2018

I never add pasta to my soups I make in large batches. I always cook pasta separate, and add pasta to the serving dish and pour soup/pasta sauce over. Fresh everytime. You can heat your cooled pasta in the microwave (in a dish with a little sprinkling of water and cover loosely with wax paper). Each dish is like it was just made.

SueB February 8, 2015

Wow! I made this recipe for our evening dinner tonight. It is great! I used dried herbs, as I did not have fresh basil, oregano & parsley on hand. I was a little heavy handed on the red pepper flakes, which works well for my family. I also (accidentally) added about 6oz+ of pasta, which made the end result more like a substantial pasta dish rather than a soup or stew. That said, this recipe offers nice flavors and is so, super easy. It has earned a spot in our winter meal rotation for sure.

Kathy D. September 23, 2020

I took a cooking course at the Culinary Academy in San Francisco. The chef had a saying “cook with dried, eat fresh”. He thought the dried herbs’ flavor held up better and if you don’t have an herb garden, they are much less expensive. He would have suggested some chopped fresh basil for the top at serving time.

Kathy D. September 23, 2020

Forgot to mention - use less dried herbs than fresh. About half as much, but always adjust to taste.

Jackie S. February 8, 2015

Yes, you can definitely do this without a slow cooker. I was worried that chicken breasts would dry out slow cooking for 7 hours so I came up with my own solution. I did the soup base in 1 pot, and simultaneously poached the chicken in chicken broth in a pan. Once the chicken was done, shredded it with forks, and added to the main soup, with the broth. Came out great!

kissy28c February 8, 2015

oh great! thanks for the expert tip. will try this!

kissy28c February 8, 2015

I also don't have a slow cooker. Can we use a pot - a la soup styles?

Brian L. October 21, 2015

Why don't you have a slow cooker?

njsusan February 8, 2015

Loved this! I have made it twice, great dinner and we love it in a thermos for lunch. I did find that my pasta needed a little less time to cook, it was a little overcooked first time around.

analog213 February 8, 2015

Assuming if one is lazy (not me, I'm just asking for a friend ;) could you forgo most of the ingredients and just use a bottle of store bought marinara, chicken broth, and the parm and herbs?

Thanks

Al K. February 8, 2015

have any nutritional facts.. particularly carbs?

Fluffy C. February 5, 2015

hello. can i use a pot over the stove instead of a slow cooker? I don't have a slow cooker.

marmar February 5, 2015

Do you think this would work with bone-in chicken pieces too?

foxeslovelemons February 5, 2015

Hi Maren - sure! Just make sure the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees F, and remove and discard the bones before shredding the chicken. Enjoy!

marmar February 5, 2015

Do you think this would work with bone-in chicken pieces too?

sexyLAMBCHOPx February 5, 2015

What size slow cooker did you use? May make this tomorrow. Looks great!

foxeslovelemons February 5, 2015

I used a fairly large slow cooker because it's what I have available, but since this recipe makes just 6 cups of soup, anything 2 quarts or larger should be fine :)

Elizabeth January 18, 2015

have you ever doubled the recipe? what adjustments would you make?

foxeslovelemons January 19, 2015

Hi Elizabeth! Actually, the first time I ever made this, it was doubled. It made a huge amount, which I'm guessing is what you're going for. But since it was just way, way too much soup for my husband and I, I cut the recipe in half, which is what you see here. Anyway, I didn't make any adjustments. The double batch cooked exactly the same way as the half batch. Just make sure it'll all fit in your slow cooker ;)

Elizabeth January 19, 2015

Hi! Thank you so much for this information. I'm excited to try it!

Anneliese R. January 14, 2015

If added rice instead of pasta, do you cook for same amount of time? Or is it better to cook to cook the rice separately?

foxeslovelemons January 19, 2015

Hi Anneliese - Rice COULD work in this, but I honestly just have no idea. I would recommend cooking the rice separately and adding it at the end just to be safe.

Jackie S. January 13, 2015

Hi Jessica - I did this the other night and it came out great. Poached chicken in chicken broth while all the other ingredients (-pasta) simmered in another pot. Shredded chicken and threw it into the soup with the brot and pasta. Was perfect!

Christina D. January 12, 2015

Do you provide nutritional analysis of any of your recipes.

Jessica M. January 12, 2015

Any thoughts on doing this stove top? I want to make it tonight!!

foxeslovelemons January 12, 2015

I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work, Jessica. Cook the first set of ingredients until the chicken is cooked through, then add the pasta and cook until that is done. You may need less/more broth, but I'm not sure.

Heather W. January 12, 2015

It's not clear in this recipe -- breasts are cooked before they go into the broth, right?

Heather W. January 12, 2015

Duh -- reading without coffee. Never mind.

foxeslovelemons January 12, 2015

:) They go in raw. Don't worry, I get that question a lot. I should edit the recipe to specify. Enjoy, Heather!

Jackie S. January 5, 2015

Curious if anyone cooked on low for a longer period of time - closer to 10 hours and if that still came out ok? Thanks!

Chevelle December 28, 2014

Very tasty and easy! I made the pasta separate because I wanted to make sure it would be good for leftover lunches this week. Very yummy and pretty!

foxeslovelemons December 29, 2014

So glad you liked it, Chevelle!

mj.landry February 6, 2014

I am def. making this. I love soup. I love chicken parm. What could go wrong here? Nothing.

foxeslovelemons February 6, 2014

Yay, mj.landry! I hope NOTHING goes wrong, and you love it :)

erinbdm February 8, 2015

Hi all--I have been searching for slow cooker recipes that I can do completely in the slow cooker that I think are tasty for a year now. Last week I tried the poached chicken recipe from food52 and loved it. It was the first slow cooker recipe I tried that didn't have a funny slow cooker taste to me. I was very excited to try this one, because I see how popular it is, but feel that again it has a funny flavor, which I assume is due to not browning anything. Did those who made this in the slow cooker do any browning of the onion, garlic, and peppers before hand? Does this slow cooker flavor bother anyone else? Any advice on this would be most welcome! Thanks!

Kate's K. February 9, 2015

To erinbdm - yes, I have always gotten that funny slow cooker flavor too so I haven't pulled mine out to use in a few years. Your suggestion about browning before adding could be the answer. I am usually mentally converting slow cooker recipes to make in my Le Creuset. The recipe sounds delicious and it's great to have so many positive testimonials.

Gwen T. February 10, 2015

Crock pots are great but I never skip the step of properly sauteeing my mirepoix before they go in. Without that step, the sugars in the vegetables don't carmelize. And if a recipe calls for tomato paste, brown that too!