Turn Chicken Alfredo Into A Whole New Meal With A Cozy Soup Twist

The velvety texture of a garlicky chicken Alfredo makes it a wonderfully comforting meal. However, all those fettuccine noodles can push even the sprightliest of foodies into a carby coma. On days when you want all those cozy flavors (without the risk of slipping into immediate slumber), consider giving your meal a twist and turning it into a lighter soup. All you need is a jar of canned Alfredo sauce and some chicken broth to make a restorative bisque in under ten minutes.

To begin, pour a measure of your favorite jar of store-bought Alfredo sauce into a pan and thin it out with a hefty splash of chicken broth. Once heated, add in some fettuccine noodles and cook until al dente before scattering in some cooked, shredded chicken and seasoning it up with extra salt and pepper. 

This technique is super quick but also leaves plenty of room for culinary experimentation. For instance, you could scatter in some Parmesan at the very end to give your soup a salty and nutty twang, toss in some vibrant greens for a touch of color, or serve it with crispy fried garlic for texture and aroma. Just be mindful to break your fettuccini into smaller shards to make them suitable for slurping with a spoon (or use smaller pasta shapes to begin with). As the noodles cook, they'll absorb all the flavor of the jarred sauce and broth, helping to thicken the soup to the perfect consistency.

If you have extra time, a savory upgrade that transforms jarred Alfredo sauce is to pour it into the pan you've seared your chicken in. This deglazes the savory, caramelized fond stuck on the bottom of the skillet and infuses the sauce with a richness that doubles down on the umami flavors of the chicken broth. However, feel free to skip this step and use shredded rotisserie chicken if preferred (the full-bodied quality of the stock alone will lend the soup a substantial meaty taste). Alternatively, make your own Alfredo sauce by incorporating cream, chicken broth, and Parmesan into a classic flour-based roux.

Infused oils are the key to upgrading store-bought Alfredo sauce and elevating your comforting soup even further. Simply drizzle a dash of garlic or herb oil over your finished soup to lend it an inviting aroma and sheen before serving with croutons or a side of garlic bread. Other canned soup hacks for pasta include using condensed tomato soup to make an ultra-quick meat sauce or cream of chicken soup to prepare a speedy carbonara. There is an abundance of cream-based canned soups, such as clam chowder or cream of mushroom soup, that can be incorporated into pasta sauces, but broth-based varieties, like vegetable soup, make flavorful lighter options.