Million Dollar Soup
Creamy stovetop chicken soup with bacon, potato gnocchi, fennel, spinach, cheddar and heavy cream. The gnocchi go in near the end, then the cheddar on low heat a handful at a time, then warmed cream tempered with hot soup.
Want This Recipe Later?
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1/2 cup fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste at the end
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast shredded or chopped; rotisserie or leftover chicken works
- 8 ounces potato gnocchi shelf-stable package
- 3 cups fresh spinach chopped; or 3 cups chopped kale
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled, divided
- 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese shredded from a block
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream warmed
- green onions sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and fennel and cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until mostly gone. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir for 1 minute.
- Pour in 1 cup of the stock, whisking until smooth, then whisk in the rest a little at a time. Add the soy sauce, salt, thyme, black pepper and cayenne. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken and gnocchi. Simmer uncovered 3 to 4 minutes, just until the gnocchi float. Stir in the spinach and half the bacon and cook until the spinach wilts.
- Turn the heat to low. Add the cheddar a handful at a time, stirring until each handful melts before adding the next.
- Whisk a ladle of the hot soup into the warmed cream in a bowl. Pour the cream slowly into the pot, stirring the whole time. Keep the heat on low and stir gently until hot.
- Taste and add salt if needed. Serve right away, topped with the rest of the bacon and the green onions.
Notes
Storage: USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 F) in shallow covered containers. Eat within 3 days; the gnocchi keep softening. Freeze: stop before the gnocchi, spinach, cheese and cream, cool the broth base and freeze up to 3 months, then reheat and finish with fresh gnocchi, cheese and cream. Reheat: USDA FSIS says to reheat leftovers to 165 F and bring soups to a rolling boil; stir often and add a splash of stock if it has thickened. Do not reheat in a slow cooker. Use chicken that was cooked to 165 F.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 484kcalCarbohydrates: 20.2gProtein: 26.2gFat: 32.5gSodium: 1316mgFiber: 1.7gSugar: 3.1g