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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This is simply a perfect soup! And yes I sometimes add spinach. It’s great with or without 🙂
This soup was a big hit with my family. The lemon juice adds such a nice flavor. I added in a bunch of spinach at the end as well.
can I use a crock pot instead?
Currently making this for about the 1,000th time. It is my go-to Meal Train delivery for new families, new babies, illness, or post-surgeries. Everyone always loves it and it tastes made from the heart. ❤️
This is one of our favorite soups! Heavy rain today just begged for this for supper! I always have everything to fix this on hand because it is always a hit! Thank you so much!
This is my favorite go to soup. Have made it often and even my grandkids love it. Sometimes I’ll add spinach to it if I have it in the fridge.
Yummy! I left out the bay leaves, as I don’t care for them. It was delicious!
I made this for my adult daughter who was under the weather and needed some ‘momming’. It was delicious! She had a cold so I upped the garlic and lemon just a bit, used homemade stock, and added ginger as recommended by another reviewer. Fantastic! Thank you for this recipe, I will definitely be making it again!
This is delicious! Have made several times just as is and love it!!! My favorite chicken soup!!!
I added some chopped and massaged kale for some extra vitamins (and because we love kale) and I also added ginger because we are so sick with the flu right now.
I chose this recipe because I’ve used other damn delicious recipes and this one is no lie. It is damn delicious also. Thank you for making me look brilliant again.
Excellent on a rainy night in So Cal! The addition of lemon is genius!
Prep is not 10 minutes. More like an hour. Still this is incredibly tasty.
My go to recipe.. the family LOVES it!!
Have made this a few times and shared it with friends. Everyone loves it! Thank you for all your great recipes.
Can you freeze left over lemon Chicken Orzo Soup?
They freeze well. I freeze it in sandwich ziplock bags since I alway double the recipe. We pull out as many as we need. They fit nicely in a sauce pot.
Just a question before I make this; every time I make chicken orzo soup the broth gets absorbed by the orzo and it turns into mush. Would it be better to cook the orzo outside the soup and then add it so I don’t end up with gluey mush soup? Thanks! It looks terrific!
Unless you’re going to make a “bed” of orzo in each bowl before serving I don’t believe cooking separately would make a difference. If do you I would probably add less liquid as well.
This soup is a winner!! Made it after work and my husband and i had it the same night and it was delicious and comforting as the recipe says! I can imagine after a night or 2 it will be even tastier, if that’s possible. I like to add a couple tablespoons of fresh chopped dill and some cut up some fresh shitake mushrooms while after the veggies were cooked. This soup is perfect!!!
I just made this soup last night with my boyfriend and we couldn’t stop raving about how delicious it is. It’s perfect for a cozy day or night in.
Love this soup. I added white wine instead of water. Super tasty.
Made this tonight for the grandkids and us. Fully expected both children to refuse to eat it. Much to my surprise, they both slurped up all the broth. One even ate half of his helping of the soup ingredients, too. That’s a win in my book! My husband & I thought the soup was delicious! Will definitely be adding it to the regular soup season rotation.
Side note: I didn’t have any orzo, but I did have some potatoes and fresh spinach that I added to the soup. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. Don’t think you can go wrong with this easy, flavorful base!
I love this soup. I usually make it without any orzo, it’s still delicious.