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.
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How big is a serving size. It is really great soup thanks
It should range anywhere from 1-2 cups per serving.
what can I do to prevent the noodles from absorbing the liquids?
This is best served immediately because there is really no way around this. You can also keep the orzo separate and simply add before serving.
This looks awesome for today. My better half is not feeling well (too much fun last night). This would be perfect for him. It is supposed to be “spring” however, we just got 4 inches of snow yesterday. Yuk!
Thanks so much for sharing.
I’ve never commented on a blog before, but I really just needed to say that yours is AMAZING!! Every single recipe on here that I’ve tried, from the kale & meyer lemon salad to this soup, has turned out delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing your delicious recipes!!
– A (former) incompetent cook 🙂
Delish! Added some baby spinach for some more greens, and it was awesome. That squeeze of lemon at the end gives it the perfect lightness and brightness 🙂 Thanks for always posting amazing recipes!
Sounds and looks amazing. Glad I stumbled upon your blog.
Delicious!! I am on my second bowl. Btw it is still breakfast time
Made this last week, hubs and I both totally enjoyed it on a chilly afternoon. Leftovers from the fridge reheated just fine for several days (it’s just the 2 of us and this makes a large pot, at least 6-8 bowls, but that’s no problem, you’ll be happy to take your time to eat up the leftovers). Found I had to add more chicken broth to get soup (rather than stew) consistency that I wanted, but otherwise made as written. We added a squeeze of fresh lemon to each bowl at the table, just cause we’re lemon fans. Only thing I’d do differently next time is cut back a little on the orzo so the pot isn’t quite to stew-like. Chunga, I have loved everything I’ve made of yours, especially this soup and your Swedish Meatballs. You’re my new favorite chef!
Oh my god. This was to die for. I am very very wary to try soup recipes, as I usually don’t like anything other than my grandmas. But boy oh boy, this was so incredibly delicious. I will be making this again and again and again. I wouldn’t change a thing. So so so good.
sounds delicious! can I use dried rosemary and parsley instead of fresh?
Yes, absolutely. The ratio for dry to fresh herbs is typically 1:3.
Made this tonight. Absolutely delicious!
I was just able to throw this together this morning, in the middle of getting the kids to school, with some leftover baked chicken breast and frozen homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer. It is soooo good, and I can’t wait to have a huge bowl at work today, and send some to school with the kids!
I made this tonight after work. I am so happy! (Happy sigh…)
No one asked if this recipe could be doubled and do you double everything in it including the lemon and the water?Thanks-need this for a family get together….
Yes, it is best to double all ingredients.
I made this tonight and it was deeeelicious! I added lemon zest and fresh, chopped spinach. It was a hit! I’ll definitely be making it again and again. Thank you for the great recipe!
Man this was really damn delicious. I have to admit I was nervous about adding the juice from a whole lemon but I trusted your recipe and added it anyways. What a game changer. It’s bright but still savory. I love it! Thank you for sharing!
Just made this today added 1 cup orzo & extra 1/2 c broth & added 1/4 c half & half
Does anyone know why the cholesterol is so high in the nutritional info for this soup? That can’t be correct? I have high cholesterol but want to try it. My instinct is telling me this is a typo?
Hi Deb.
I’m the Dietitian who put together the Nutrition Information for this recipe. The estimated amount of cholesterol is correct. Nearly all of the dietary cholesterol in this recipe is from the chicken.
For someone with high blood cholesterol, the recommendation is to limit cholesterol intake to 200 mg/day. At 68.5 mg/serving, if you plan your other food for the day accordingly, this dish could fit into your diet.
Also, please remember that dietary cholesterol has less of an effect on blood cholesterol than was once thought. The biggest dietary impact on blood cholesterol is actually synthetic trans fat!
Making this tonight! Hope it makes my daughter and hubby feel better soon.. its snowy here tonight in Chicago and this soup is warming up the house with all the yummy smell goods. Thanks for sharing the recipe and those that shared their comments
I just made this today — it’s freezing in the East Bay — and it was perfect! So flavorful yet simple. I definitely added too much rosemary (I put in one “sprig” as directed, but it was large), but it’s still deeeelish.
Thanks for warming us up on a chilly day. 🙂