Chicken & spinach are a match made in Heaven. Add to them a little bit of broth, and you’ve got this savory chicken Florentine soup on your hands. This chicken florentine soup is a creamy chicken soup with carrots and a bit of spinach thrown into each bowl.
The hubs and I happened to be out to lunch a while back. Kid-less. Don’t sound so shocked!
We were both over-due for an hour where we could feel and eat like adults, without wiping other peoples’ faces, and listening to lip-smacking in between chews.
I happened to be idly perusing the menu, listening to some story the hubs was telling, when my eyes caught on something.
Chicken Florentine…in a soup? Say whaaaat?? I mean I love Chicken Florentine.
What Is Chicken Florentine Exactly?
As I’m typing this, I realize there’s probably a lot of people who aren’t as familiar with the classic combination as I am. I’ll keep the explanation brief.
Chicken florentine is actually a culinary term, and applies to a style of chicken dish that is prepared in (or is at least attributed to) Florence, Italy.
History has is that in medievil times, mid 16th century or so- Catherine De Medici (of Italy) was ruling the French court alongside her husband King Henri II. She brought many things from her native country to the French court, including Spinach.
She began serving lots of spinach in various dishes, which she proclaimed to her court was a culinary delicacy/invention of her native Florence. She dubbed it ‘Florentine’.
So basically, just remember that anything with Florentine in the title means it heavily features spinach. Often there’s some kind of cream sauce involved, but not always.
We make a version of the classic combo all the time, but with pasta which we call chicken florentine & farfalle. Well, not all the time, that would be like the calorie equivalent of an atomic bomb, but you get my drift.
And, soup. That in itself, in any form, is a staple for my soul. So it was only natural that at some point in my kitchen- the two recipe ideas would meet & marry.
Once the idea had taken root I had to have it. Had to. It was a beautiful thing. It was glorious. And I just knew I had to find a way to make it asap because there were bound to be some intense cravings, and possible withdraws.
And those don’t make for a fun Mom, and you know, when Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Naturally, I got right on that.
That my friends is how this devilishly delicious chicken florentine soup was born! Boy, is it good too. Like soup for my husband’s Italian soul kinda good.
This here is my precious, but I don’t wanna do the whole Smeagol devolving into Gollum thing so, in the interest of self preservation. I decided I had to share it with you ASAP.
Feel free to round out this romantically, rustic one-dish meal with warm crusty bread.
You’ll definitely use it (especially that last piece) to soak up the every last drop of it’s richly flavored broth. Another Italian tradition, fondly known as scarpetti.
Feeding a crowd? Trying to stretch this meal into more than one meal? You can always add some cooked pasta to the pot. Whatever shape or size you prefer. Just make sure it’s been cooked first and drained so it won’t absorb all your savory broth.
If you haven’t added pasta to this soup, it will store and freeze beautifully.
Other Simple Soup Ideas You Might Also Enjoy:
If you’ve tried CHICKEN FLORENTINE SOUP, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Chicken Florentine Soup
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2-3 large carrots peeled and diced
- 3 tsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 cup half and half
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces and season with salt & pepper. Heat olive oil in a 2-3 qt saucepan. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the same pan and add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook for 5 min or until onions are translucent. Add garlic, thyme & cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes.
- Add flour to the vegetables, stirring to coat them all, and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the chicken stock slowly to mixture. Cook for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender and soup thickens.
- Add the Half & Half & cook and stir until thickened. Add Chicken and Spinach, cooking for another 5-10 min. Check the seasonings and add more salt, pepper, or cayenne to taste.
- Serve with a slice of that warm, crusty bread and enjoy!
Nutrition
Really yummy soup, love it creamy! This is one of those soups that is a real meal, salad on the side and you are set.
You’re so right about that! I can’t believe we’d never seen it before, and that it hadn’t occurred to me on my own to try it in a soup form. It was a total taste-bud pleaser.
I love to put spinach in soups! This one looks delicious. I’m such a soup addict, I must try this creamy chicken soup soon.
I’m a notorious soup lover and sometimes advocate. I fight for soup’s right to be enjoyed all year long, not just when the weather turns cold. I also really enjoy sneaking spinach into any and every meal I can. Luckily, the sons are pretty good about eating it 🙂
Linked at : http://www.minivandreams.com/whole-wheat-blueberry-muffins/
This looks SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!!!!!! I LOVE soup and I’ve never tried Chicken Florentine, delicious- I will have to try it soon 🙂 Thanks for sharing, I found it at What’s Cookin’ Wednesday. Love your site too!
Can you freeze this?
Can you substitute oat or soy milk for the half and half ?
I am sure you can, but I don’t regularly cook with either of those so I can’t say for certain. I would worry it wouldn’t be as thick/creamy, since half and half is a blend of milk and heavy cream.
It doesn’t tell the number of servings.
Technically, it serves 6- but for us four hearty portions tends to be the magic number.