Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
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This cozy lemon chicken orzo soup is packed with feel-good veggies and tender chicken in a soothing lemony broth. Made in 30 min or less!
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Why you’ll love lemon chicken orzo soup
- Comforting and light. Say hello to the best kind of vibrant, light, lemony broth, warming you from the inside out. It’s a fun, cozy cross between traditional chicken noodle soup and chicken and rice soup.
- One pot convenience. Believe it or not, this is incredibly easy to whip up and comes together very quickly in one single pot, even the dried orzo, making cleanup an absolute breeze.
- Freezes beautifully. This soup freezes and reheats like a dream, perfect for those busy weeknights and lazy weekends, especially when you’re feeling under the weather.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (or you can substitute shredded rotisserie chicken, adding towards the end of cooking time until warmed through)
- Aromatics: garlic, onion, carrots, celery, thyme, and bay leaves
- Liquid: low-sodium chicken stock or chicken broth and water
- Pasta: uncooked orzo pasta
- Citrus: freshly squeezed lemon juice
how to make Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Cook the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then cook the chicken in a Dutch oven coated with olive oil over medium heat until golden brown; set aside.
- Sauté the aromatics. Add additional oil, then stir in the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery until tender. Stir in the thyme until fragrant.
- Add the liquids. Stir in the chicken stock, water, and bay leaves.
- Simmer. Stir in the orzo, rosemary, and seared chicken, simmering until the orzo is tender and cooked through.
- Finish. Stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Serve. Ladle into bowls and serve warm with crusty bread.
what to serve with lemon chicken orzo soup
Tools For This Recipe
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
You can use either chicken broth or chicken stock but always season, to taste, as store-bought broth is often saltier than store-bought stock. Broth is made from meat and vegetables while stock is often lower sodium and thicker than broth, and is made from bones and vegetables.
Orzo is a short-cut type pasta, similar in shape to a long grain of rice. Orzo also cooks much faster than traditional rice, making this soup a simple one-pot dinner ready in about 30 minutes.
The orzo is cooked directly in the soup, absorbing all the flavorful broth. But if you are planning for leftovers or freezing, the orzo should be cooked and stored separately.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, adding a splash of water or stock as needed.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the orzo pasta (or else they will get mushy) in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight and reheat on the stovetop, adding freshly cooked orzo pasta when serving.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 5 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cup orzo pasta
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in chicken stock, water and bay leaves; bring to a boil.
- Stir in orzo, rosemary and chicken; reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your soup. Since many brands love to pack in the salt, always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice. Lemon juice will elevate your chicken soup, adding a fresh, bright flavor and balancing out all the saltiness and richness of the soup.
- Make it vegetarian. Skip the chicken, use vegetable stock, and add 1 can cannellini beans.
- Make it gluten-free. Use gluten-free orzo or swap out the orzo for rice.
- Repurpose leftovers. Save time and add shredded rotisserie chicken towards the end of cooking time.
- Add leafy greens. This is a great soup recipe to sneak in more veggies such as spinach or kale, stirring in just before serving until wilted.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with homemade crusty bread or garlic parmesan knots for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Store the orzo separately. Cook and store the orzo separately if making this ahead of time as the orzo will continue to soak up the broth.
Did you make this recipe?
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I make this all the time! Excellent recipe. Everyone enjoys it.
Delicious. A twist I like is to add feta cheese to the broth. But perfect without as well.
Made this for dinner tonight, and it turned out great! As some others have suggested, I doubled the orzo and I also used about 2 pounds of chicken. I also added about a half teaspoon of fresh minced ginger as well.
As a pregnant lady dealing with nausea, this is a great easy meal to get down.
What is the serving size?
Recipe says it serves 6
Made this for a grieving friend and her family, snuck myself a little bowl first and was so pleased with how it turned out! I don’t love chicken thighs so I used a rotisserie chicken and shredded up the breast meat and added that in instead and it worked perfectly! I used a lemon olive oil instead of plain and it added a great extra lemony flavor. Will definitely be making this again!
Absolutely wonderful soup! First time trying and making it, and I’ll be making it again.
I made mine with a couple big pinches of dried dill, extra carrots and orzo, lemon zest, plus a couple of eggs.
Has anyone tried freezing leftover portions?
I have been making this soup for a few years and my family – toddler included are obsessed. I hyperfixated on this soup and ate it for months (among other things, but this was a very frequent meal) and I lost weight lol I RECOMMEND. OBSESSED. I add a bit more lemon, more ozo, more stock and a little lemon pepper seasoning. DELISH.
I love this soup. I make this all fall and winter. Yummy leftovers are even better.
Has anyone made with leftover turkey? Thinking of making after thanksgiving
Absolutely delicious. I did as reviewed suggested below and doubled the orzo and added a little more broth. I buy the large lemons and used a whole one trying a few squeezes at a time. I ended up using the entire thing and it was not over powering at all. My husband and I really loved this and will be making it often!
Made the soup today and I really liked the density and flavor. It was easy to do following the recipe and will definitely will make it again. Liked the dark chicken as it is juicier. Thank you for a new soup that is tasty and healthy too. Elaine
So easy and delicious! I did cook the orzo separately because I knew we’d have leftovers. Ingredients exactly as written, but I did the searing and simmering in my pressure cooker (10 minutes oh high). Added the lemon and parsley, and just a bit of Better than Boullion to our taste. Then as I do with all my soups, I put 1-2 cups of the mixed soup into a strong mini blender until liquified and add it back into the pot. It makes for a slightly creamier soup, which we love.
Our opinion: excellent, excellent, excellent!! Better than a restaurant, which says a lot!!
I’ve been making this for years and I love it!!! I use the breast meat from a rotisserie chicken and load up the veggies…delicious every time!
Love this soup! I will cut my chicken into smaller pieces next time and probably add a full cup of orzo! I got to use a ton of herbs from my garden! Love that!
Amazing!!!
Happy tummy! Happy husband!
Love, love this soup! We make it at least three times a month. We add a lot more lemon than it calls for, though. I squeeze a whole lemon in while simmering and then the zest of it. We add lemon juice when serving.
I have made this soup at least 300 times since you posted it. So so so delicious!!! I add one more squeeze of lemon in each individual bowl. I don’t make it as much as I used to because as a single lady, I zoom through one pot in a weekend!
Will rice work instead of orzo? I do not have orzo.
One time, I made it with some leftover cooked rice. I just added it at the end with about 5-7 minutes left to cook. Came out like a rice and chicken soup.
This soup is fantastic. I did use chicken thighs and cooked them in a stovetop smoker to give the soup another depth of flavor. I did use 6 cups of chicken broth as other reviewers commented. I may go to 8 cups next time. I used spinach instead of kale since that is what I had.
My family loved this soup! I added some additional seasoning like garlic powder and onion powder and it was great. Definitely recommend