with White Beans and Acini di Peppe
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Instant Pot Chicken and Herb Soup with White Beans and Acini di Peppe. Pressure cooked chicken and herb soup, Italian style, with broth and meat from a rotisserie chicken.
This recipe was inspired by Milk Street Magazine and their Sardinian Herb Soup. Chicken soup with herbs, beans, and little pasta bits grabbed me, but I had to make do with the ingredients I could find in my local grocery store.
The chicken came from a store-bought rotisserie chicken; this is my kitchen shortcut when I need both broth and shredded meat for a soup. The herbs became parsley and arugula. The picked-over-pasta aisle still had Acini di Peppe (Italian for “peppercorns”). And I had some frozen leftover cannellini beans, so they went in the pot.
Now, as you can probably tell, this was a “throw what you’ve got in the pot” recipe that turned into a fan favorite, one that I was buying for at the tail end of spring. Don’t be afraid to substitute. Leftover chicken broth? Don’t buy the chicken, go straight on to making the soup. Have a different white bean on hand, or maybe a brown bean like a pinto or cranberry? Sure, throw it in there. No pancetta? Switch to bacon. (Or skip it if you’re vegetarian.) Want to use ditalini, orzo, or fregola pasta? Any small shape will work. How about spinach or baby kale instead of the arugula? Go for it. Have some summer herbs, like thyme or a little bit of rosemary? Great, add them in. (But don’t go crazy with rosemary - it can overpower other flavors. And stay away from mint for the same reason.)
No matter how you get there, this Italian-inspired chicken and herb soup is a winner. Just remember - the secret to this recipe, if there is one, is making your own chicken broth.
Recipe: Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken and Herb Soup with White Beans and Acini di Peppe
Inspired by: Sardinian Herb Soup With Fregola and White Beans (S’Erbuzzu), Milk Street Magazine, Feb. 2020
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Instant Pot Chicken and Herb Soup with White Beans and Acini di Peppe
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups of soup 1x
Description
Instant Pot Chicken and Herb Soup with White Beans and Acini di Peppe. Pressure cooked chicken and herb soup, Italian style, with broth and meat from a rotisserie chicken.
Ingredients
Rotisserie Chicken Broth
- 1 (2- to 4-pound) rotisserie chicken, breast meat removed and saved for later
- Juices from the rotisserie chicken container
- 1 onion, peeled and halved
- 1 carrot, scrubbed and cut in half (or 4oz baby carrots)
- 1 stalk celery, cut in half
- Stems from a bunch of parsley, tied together (or 2 bay leaves)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 8 cups water
Rotisserie Chicken and Herb Soup with White Beans and Acini di Peppe
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces diced pancetta (or diced thick-cut bacon)
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- ½ cup dry white wine (Pinot Grigio)
- 8 cups of Rotisserie Chicken Broth (from above)
- ¾ cup Acini di Pepe pasta (or ditalini, or other small pasta shape)
- Breast meat from the rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained (or 2 cups homemade white beans)
- 4 ounces baby arugula, roughly chopped
- 1 cup parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- Shredded parmesan for garnish
Instructions
- Pressure cook the broth for 60 minutes with a Natural Release: Cut the chicken breast meat off of the rotisserie chicken and set aside for later. Add the rotisserie chicken carcass, onion, carrot, celery, and salt to an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker, then pour in 8 cups of water. (It should just cover the rotisserie chicken – it’s OK if the knobs of the drumsticks are poking up.) Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC (Manual or Pressure Cook mode in an Instant Pot), or for 50 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally – about 30 minutes. (It takes a long time for all that water to cool off.) If you’re in a hurry, let the pressure come down naturally for 20 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure. Scoop the chicken carcass and vegetables out of the pot with a slotted spoon and discard; they’ve given their all to the broth. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer and set aside for later, and wipe out the pot with paper towels before the next step. (For more details, see my standalone Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Broth recipe.)
- Sauté the pancetta, aromatics, and spices: Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and stir in the olive oil and diced pancetta. (Use medium heat for a stovetop PC). Cook, stirring often, until the pancetta starts to crisp up, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pot, and let it cook until it turns fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the white wine, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits of pancetta and garlic.
- Simmer the soup to reheat the chicken and cook the pasta: Pour in the 8 cups of broth, then adjust the Instant Pot’s sauté mode to high (or turn the stovetop to medium-high.) Stir in the acini di peppe, shredded chicken, cannellini beans, baby arugula, parsley leaves, and the 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt. Cover the pot (use the non-pressure lid if you have it), bring to a simmer, and simmer for the recommended time on the Acini di Peppe box. (Mine said 9 minutes).
- Serve: Stir in the ground black pepper and serve, adding a sprinkle of shredded parmesan to each bowl. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make-ahead broth turns this into a weeknight recipe. Make the broth (and shred the chicken breast) on day 1, refrigerate overnight, then use them within a few days for a quick weeknight soup. (Or freeze them if you need them to keep for up to 6 months.)
- As I said in the opening, the ingredients on this recipe are easy to switch up. Don’t be afraid to substitute; as long as you have good, homemade broth, everything else can be swapped around.
- Don’t have homemade broth? Well, if you have to, you can use store-bought. But…please be careful with the salt (store-bought stock is very salty), and please, at least once, make your own chicken broth in the pressure cooker.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot 6-Quart Pressure Cooker)
- Fine Mesh Strainer
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
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Aaron Friedman says
I made this a while back with ditalini. It was really good. Everyone liked it. I bought some acini de pepe, and was wondering how much to use by weight. The amount of acini would be way more pasta than 3/4 ditalini (maybe the one I got is more fine), and the soup didn't seem to be hurting for more. Any thoughts?
Mike Vrobel says
It worked for me with ¾ cup acini de pepe, so it should be fine. But, use your own judgement; if you want to cut back to ½ cup, that would work too.
Aaron Friedman says
I'm going to try this one.
The idea of buying a rotisserie chicken for the meat and the stock is brilliant though. I used the idea to make chicken noodle soup last weekend since the place I buy my frozen chicken scraps was closed.