Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
The best kind of comfort food you can make right in your crockpot! Even the uncooked orzo cooks in the slow cooker!
So it’s 33 degrees here in Chicago today. With a snow storm, of course.
I really started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The coffee shops and restaurants started setting up all their patio furniture for outdoor dining. Now they’re all gone.
Butters and I did brave the snow once today but he quickly scurried back into the house. He was not a fan. So I turned on my crockpot to make the most cozy snow storm soup ever: lemon chicken soup.
It’s really the most comforting soup ever, especially with the hint of tang from the freshly squeezed lemon juice and all the hearty veggies. The spinach is not really needed here but hey – any excuse to have extra “hidden” greens, right?
I also love how the orzo cooks right in the slow cooker so you don’t have to dirty that second pot.
Serve with crusty bread and reload a piping hot bowl of this soup as needed as the snow storm (hopefully) comes to an end. I hear it’s going to be 70 on Wednesday!
Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 celery ribs, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup orzo pasta, uncooked
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the skillet and cook until golden, about 4-5 minutes.
- Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken stock, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 5-6 hours. Uncover and stir in pasta; cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until tender.
- Stir in spinach until wilted. Stir in lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This was SO good! Just curious, did you remove the herbs and chop, or add as a whole sprig and remove later? I added whole and planned to remove, but everything fell off anyways. Wish I would have chopped the rosemary.
Excellent dish/meal. I used my Power Quik Pot and sautéed chicken and a portion of then switched to slow cook per recipe instructions. I also added a quartered jalapeño. This is a SUPER easy dis, especially for the EXCELLENT meal it produces. Cook onward….! TC
Wow My grandfather WAS FROM GREECE AND THE LEMON Orzo soup his favorite. I am fixing this recipe for my son visiting from Charleston
You reviled are amazing.
Was easy to make and tasty. Even my 7 yr old liked it! Added a can of garbanzo beans to give it a bit more substance.
Made this soup tonight and it was so delicious! I did double the orzo but still perfect!
I think this type of soup is very delicious,healthy and tasty.
This was delicious! I think I might add a bit more orzo next time.
I have made this multiple times. Today I doubled the recipe and cooked it a bit longer. This is one of the best chicken soups ever!!
Looks so healthy & testy!! wow!
Good flavor but it seemed more broth than Orzo. I think next time I will increase. Do you have nutritional information for this recipe?
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”). Hope that helps!
Great soup! I completely forgot the lemon, and it was still delicious. My husband asked me to cut up the spinach next time; otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing.
I’m planning to make this tonight and was wondering if I half the recipe, would I need to change the cooking time? also, if I half it can I use a 6 quart crock pot still?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Excellent dish/meal. I used my Power Quik Pot and sautéed chicken and a portion of then switched to slow cook per recipe instructions. I also added a quartered jalapeño. This is a SUPER easy dis, especially for the EXCELLENT meal it produces. Cook onward….! TC
Thanks so much for sharing with us, Todd!
This soup is lovely and delicious, an easier alternative to chicken noodle. I did use the instant pot, sauteing the chicken, adding the ingredients as directed. I then set the instant pot on pressure cook for 15 minutes, letting it naturally release for a few, then manually releasing due to impatience! Then I set it slow cook medium for an hour, added the orzo, set to slow cook again for a half hour, and continued as directed. It was especially nice when we got our third helping ;-), it blended together well.
Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, Liza! Glad you enjoyed this one!
Can I use boneless chicken breast or chicken quarters (bone in)? We keep kosher and can only get these locally.
Judy, you can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Do you have to alter the cooking instructions if you use boneless skinless chicken breast?
Looks like a lovely sitting twist on chicken soup! Any thoughts on whether this can be frozen? I work a lot of night shifts and like to have dinners in the freezer that I can grab and take along. Thanks!
Yes, you can freeze in plastic freezer bags (I like to lay them flat in the freezer to save on space), thaw in the fridge overnight, and reheat over low heat.
Can you make this a day in advance or would the orzo absorb too much of the liquid?
Welcome to Chicago where if you just wait a little bit the weather gets better (or worse!). Three days later the snow is all gone and it’s 70 degrees today
I was looking for a soup recipe for the whole family and I stumbled on this article. I read and followed the instructions carefully and I made it deliciously! Every member of my family is so happy! Thanks for this
You’re so welcome, Kate!
How would you adapt this for the instant pot? I have a slow cooker but since the instant pot has the saute function, it would be nice to make this in there so I don’t have to wash two pots. Thoughts?
What a great idea, Kristy! You can saute everything in the Instant Pot and then use the slow cooker function on the IP. 🙂
Would you be able to use the pressure cooker function on the instant pot? This recipe sounds delicious but I won’t have the time for the slow cooker option. Would I be able to put the chicken and the pasta under the pressure cooker?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I made a slightly modified version of this in the Instant Pot last night!
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, sauteed with the vegetables on the saute setting. White rice instead of orzo (didn’t see orzo at the grocery store but had rice at home already). Used the soup setting on the Instant Pot, to pressure cook for 10 minutes.
Came out delicious!
Poor Butters, I’ll bet he’ll come to love the snow once he gets used to it! I’m in Cleveland, and my dog loves to play in the snow and eat it. Lol
Thanks for sharing your version with us! And hopefully Butters will soon love snow as much as your dog! 🙂
My favorite soup ever! And I love how easily this comes together in the slower cooker!
Can’t wait to make this soup. Can you use frozen mixed vegetables or chop smaller minced vegetables. Husband not a fan of chunky vegetables. Would minced vegetables get too soft or mushy?