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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My daughter and I just made this soup for some sick friends. It’s delicious!! I will be making it regularly. Thanx for another great recipe 😉
Made this for lunch today for myself and my sick family. It was really good! I suggest using more water and less fresh lemon juice. 1 cup of water to 5 cups of chicken stock simply is not enough and juice from an entire lemon is too citrus-y. But! The citrus definitely is a nice addition to the taste. Looking forward to making this soup again! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this tonight but instead of the 1 cup of water I swapped it for white cooking wine and it was delicious! One of the best homemade chicken soup recipes I’ve tried!
this is such a fantastic and easy soup to make! i use rotisserie chicken and an italian herb medley, i rarely have fresh herbs in the house.
thank you, it’s a family favorite.
I have made this soup twice and I love it. Second time, I used rotisserie chicken because I didn’t feel like cooking the chicken and it still came out great! I do add extra lemon but I follow the recipe as stated.
Loving this soup. It’s become a regular on my rotation this fall and into the winter. I’ve been adding in a bit of heavy whipping cream at the end to make it creamy and rich. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I have a cold/sore throat/headache developing and loved that I could make this easily without sacrificing flavour! I also added some fresh ginger root to help with my sore throat and it was delish. I used dried parsley and celery since I didn’t have fresh on hand – still seemed great!!
thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! It turned out amazing!!!
The soup looks great, but most times Orzo is not Gluten Free. Did you find some that was?
Just made this for dinner and it’s absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
I made this last night for dinner. It tasted so amazing, I never want to eat canned soup again. (I have a horrible cold, and this is the only thing I ate this week that didn’t taste like the bottom of a pond).
I have made nearly half of your recipes… You are my go to guru every time I need a meal, snack, soup…I have N.E.V.E R. been disappointed. I’m sure you won’t let me down tomorrow when I make this…infact I know it!!!
This sounds delicious. My husband loves chicken noodle soup–mostly campbell’s!–and this would be such a great way to make it healthier and class it up! Maybe I can teach him a thing or two!
One question: does the dried thyme rehydrate? I often don’t use it just because I don’t like the way it’s “hard” when I bite on it and it gets stuck in my teeth. Does it soften in the soup?
I haven’t found the thyme to “harden” in the soup but if you’d like, you can substitute other herbs such as basil, parsley, oregano, etc.
Does this soup freeze well?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! I recommend using your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I’ve been making chicken soup for 30 years and this is the freshest, most delicious recipe I’ve ever made! Picky husband loved it. I’ll be making your copycat pasta fagoli this weekend as it’s one of my favorite soups. Thanks!
I’m making this soon for a weeks worth of soup for my work-lunches. Should I leave the bay leaf in for a while? Discard as I divvy up amongst my Tupperware? Do I also remove the sprig of rosemary- or does it break up and become part of the soup? (I’m used to cooking with dried rosemary). Thanks!
Yes, it is best to discard the bay leaf before dividing up among servings. I also recommend adding the sprig of fresh rosemary right before serving.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! So easy to out together and such a short cooking time, yet so flavorful! The addition of the lemon juice is genius and really makes the dish in my opinion. Thank you!
Sorry i meant lime for lemon! Oops
Can’t wait to make this! Can I sub lemon for lime?? Thx!
Of course!
Sure do wish it’d finally get cold so I can make this!!! *raises fists and curses the weather*