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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what do you do with the sprig of rosemary? Is it chopped? Doesn’t say
Add the sprig with the chicken and orzo. When the soup is done, pull out the sprig.
Sounds great. I’ll have to swap out the orzo for rice as I need gluten free. I think it should work. Do you think I should just add uncooked rice?
No I wouldn’t add uncooked I would cook the rice first. My opinion.
Happy New Year
Love this soup. Orzo and carrots needed more time to cook.
Delicious!!
Fantastic Delicious Sumptuous Meal
This recipe was easy, fast, and very flavorful. I did make a few adjustments, however. I already had a rotisserie chicken that I wanted to use up so I just skipped the raw chicken part and went right to sauteeing the aromatics and added the cooked chicken later. Also, my daughter and I are gluten free so I used GF ditalini pasta. My half lemon was VERY juicy and it definitely provided enough lemony flavor. If I had done the juice from a whole lemon it would have been too much. I make a decent amount of soups and my husband always says they lack in flavor (WRONG!) but this on, he said was delicious! I will make this again for sure. Could also do it with rice instead of a pasta.
This was so good. I love lemon so I used 2 but I think I may even use 3 next time! I can’t wait to make it again.
Do you chop the rosemary or remove the sprig after cooking like bay leaves?
Does this freeze well ? Also how long can you keep it for leftovers?
I want to try but would love to know if this could be cooked in the slow cooker. Did anyone try that? I’m mostly just wondering when to put in the orzo so it’s not overcooked. Thank you!
This recipe is fantastic as is, or with any changes. Every time I make it I change something, and it’s always delicious. I’m actually eating a bowl now! SO GOOD
Hi, can this soup be made in the slow cooker. I use it all the time. Thanks. Sandy
Yummy, fresh tasting chicken soup! My hubby and I have been suffering with the flu. Finally felt good enough to cook today. I used rotisserie chicken (legs and thighs as I saved the breasts for another meal). I also added finely chopped green onion and some Parmesan cheese at the end. Very satisfying!
Great suggestion on the rotisserie chicken.
I like your lemon chicken soup recipe but can I tell you I’ve made this soup in the summer to change up its flavor
In winter when I make it quite often but with Italian spices not lemon .
Making this for the last 50 yrs. It proved a good recipe stays forever if it’s passed down or to others.
Delicious lemony chicken soup.
Can’t wait to try this soup looks and
sounds very yummie
Been making this recipe for YEARS. My go to when someone is sick at home or for care packages for family or friends. So full of goodness and flavour when you can’t or don’t don’t feel like eating. The lemon juice is the hero of a ‘damn delicious’ recipe. Today my son’s Japanese lovely partner asked if I could show her how to make it. Easy peasy.
Thankyou.
Fantastic!
soooo yummy and easy to make!!
One of our favorites. I don’t add much of the lemon to my kids soup. And I usually just use leftover chicken to make it simpler.
I’m 68 and I’ve never used lemon juice, or Orzo in chicken, soup. It was, amazing!
good