Say hello to comfort food season with this Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup with Bacon!! Everything you love in a soup: cozy, delicious, so simple to make, healthy, veggie packed, and loved by all! Make this on the stovetop or Instant Pot for ultimate ease. Recipe is Paleo, Whole30 and Keto friendly.
My favorite season? Oh that’s an easy one: soup season!! While I enjoy summer, I always look forward to making a huge pot of soup to enjoy. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, BRING IT ON!!
This delicious Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup with Bacon came to fruition while I was busy preparing for a speaking engagement to my local MOPS group. As a nutritionist and busy mom, I do love sharing my tips for getting healthy dinners on the table for the family. So when I was asked to speak to a group of moms about meal prep, the family dinner table, and raising healthy eaters, I was so excited!
A little off topic, but stay with me. One of the strategies in meal planning that I like to tell people to try, is taking an inventory of everything in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. And creating as many meals as you can with foods you already have and need to use up!!!
So this soup was born!
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup with Bacon
Last weekend I purchased a HUGE bag of spinach that I use for smoothies, but still had plenty left. I also had some mushrooms that desperately needed to be used within a 24 hour period, and some bacon I had purchased when my favorite brand (Pederson’s Farms) was on sale at the beginning of September. That was the start of the ingredients I needed to use up, and so I created a meal centered around it. And I knew I wanted it to be soup!
Things I usually always keep on hand: chicken breast, canned diced tomatoes, canned coconut milk, and chicken broth.
So I set to work with my ingredients, and even added in some other things: onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and fresh basil. The final product?
SOUP PERFECTION!!
As I mentioned above, you can make this soup in the Instant Pot or the stovetop. Its obviously a little more hands off by completing in the Instant Pot, but the cook time is probably going to be about the same regardless of which option you choose.
Ingredient swaps and adaptations:
Other ways to vary this soup:
- Use sausage or tuscan beans in place of chicken
- Use half and half or cream cheese in place of the coconut milk if you can tolerate dairy. The coconut milk does not have a flavor in this soup!
- You can also top with parmesan cheese (my kids loved this)
- Use potatoes or gnocchi in place of mushrooms if not following a lower carb diet, or just because they both taste yummy 🙂
So many yummy ways to enjoy!
Serving:
Here are a few side dishes that will work so well with this soup:
- Easy House Salad
- Apple Slaw with Toasted Pecan Vinaigrette
- Roasted Garlic Lemon Broccoli
- Skillet Creamy Lemon Brussels Sprouts
Enjoy!
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Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup with Bacon
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup with Bacon is everything you love in a soup: cozy, delicious, so simple to make, healthy, veggie packed, and loved by all! Make this on the stovetop or Instant Pot for ultimate ease.
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon
- 1.5 lbs chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 small yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup coconut cream*
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt + more to taste
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- fresh basil to serve (optional)
Instructions
For the stovetop:
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Begin by heating a large stockpot to medium high heat. Once hot, spray with cooking oil, then cook bacon for 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the bacon from the pan, reserve 1 tbsp bacon grease in the pot. Return the pot back to the stove, set to medium heat.
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Toss in raw chicken breast, and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and set aside with the bacon. Return the pot to the stove and keep hot. Add in 1-2 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil.
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Now saute the onion, garlic, and mushrooms for about 6-7 minutes. Once fragrant and lightly golden, toss in the diced tomatoes, and chicken broth. Return the chicken to the soup, stir in coconut cream, Italian seasoning, and salt. Toss in the spinach leaves. Reduce heat to a simmer for another 5-10 minutes before serving.
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Top with bacon and fresh basil to serve.
For the Instant Pot:
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Select the saute function on the Instant Pot. Once hot, coat the pot with cooking spray, then add the bacon. Cook until desired crispiness (about 4-5 minutes per side). Remove the bacon and reserve 1 tbsp of the bacon grease in the pot. Keep the saute function on, add the onion, garlic, and mushrooms to the pot. Saute for about 3-4 minutes. Then select cancel.
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Place the raw chicken breast, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian sesoning, and salt into the pot. Secure the lid, and select manual. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes, then use a quick release.
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Once steam is completely released, remove the lid and stir in the coconut milk and spinach. Serve hot, top with bacon and fresh basil.
Recipe Notes
*If not following a dairy-free diet, you can also use half and half or cream cheese.
Is this supposed to use coconut milk or coconut cream? The recipe refers to both. I used coconut cream (as stated on the ingredient list), and it does not look quite right.
Either one, but I normally use coconut cream.
This was fantastic and quick todo . I used cream cheese as it’s what I had on hand. It hit the spot on the snowy day! It’s a keeper. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes! Thanks for sharing!
This was so good! I just made it in the instant pot and added kale cuz I had some. Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome!! Glad you loved it!
Do you have the nutritional info for your soup? I’d love to add it to my carb manager for keto!
Hi, yes! I just updated the recipe and the nutrition values are at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
Perfect football Sunday treat! Easy to make, super tender meat, and excellent flavor. We let this sit on “keep warm” in the foodie for over two hours and it was delicious!!
When does the spinach go in and how much?
hi Tina, add it in the end when you stir in the coconut milk! It’s 3 cups of fresh spinach.
When do i put in the cream cheese
Add it in place of the coconut cream at the end of cooking.
Delicious and easy my favorite
My family loves this recipe! My kids aren’t fans of chunky veggies in their soup so I just blend the veggies in the recipe and cook accordingly. The flavor is delicious and I feel good about what I’m serving my family.
Can cnnned coconut milk replace the coconut cream?
Yes!
Any suggestions for a good mushroom substitute? I love them but the rest of my family not so much.
YOu can omit altogether, or add in cauliflower.
If one doesn’t like mushrooms, do you have something you’d swap for?
You can omit altogether, or add something more like cauliflower.