Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Need to warm up with a nice bowl of comforting soup?
Try this easy and delicious Lemon Chicken Orzo soup recipe! The lemony broth really adds some zesty flavor and the veggies, chicken, and orzo make it a perfect meal. This is a great way to change up traditional chicken noodle soup, and the leftovers are yummy, too!
To make this soup even easier, I used part of a leftover rotisserie chicken! You could also use chopped chicken breast meat as well.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
yield: 12 SERVINGS
cook time: 35 MINUTES
total time: 35 MINUTES
Warm up with a cup of this comforting Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup that comes together quickly with fresh and satisfying flavors.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Orzo, cooked
- 2 Tbs Olive oil or Butter
- 3 Carrots, Chopped
- 3 Ribs Celery, chopped
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
- 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 springs fresh rosemary *optional
- salt & pepper to taste
- 8 cups Chicken Broth
- Juice & Zest from 1 lemon (or to taste)
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast, cooked, chopped (I used rotisserie chicken)
- 8oz. package baby spinach * optional
- handful chopped fresh parsley * optional
Directions
1
Cook about half a box of orzo pasta al dente and set aside.
2
In a large pot, heat olive oil and cook onion, carrots, garlic and celery until softened and translucent.
3
Season with thyme, oregano, salt & pepper.
4
Pour in broth, add rosemary, bring to a boil.
5
Reduce heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until veggies are tender.
6
Add in lemon juice, zest, chicken, spinach, parsley, orzo and cook until heated through, about 10 minutes.
7
Ladle soup into bowls or serve in jars like I did.
Additional Notes
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
Hip tips for making Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup:
- The orzo does tend to absorb the broth, so you may prefer to include some additional broth.
- For the spinach, I used a packaged mix of spinach, chard, & kale that I had on hand.
We actually really loved this soup! I enjoy making a big pot of soup and having leftovers for lunch the next day, and this one tastes super fresh and crisp.
I’m going to try this! Looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Looks delicious Lina; I can’t wait to try it! I make homemade soup twice a week in the winter and eventually tire of the same recipes. This reminds me of a soup from Panera that I enjoy.
Awesome! And the original recipe (linked above) is a copycat Panera. So I bet this will taste similar! Enjoy 😀
Looks yummy! Although I might recommend adding the spinach/leafy greens at the very end immediately before serving so they don’t overcook and turn brown. The residual heat from the hot soup will be more than enough to wilt them even if the burner is already off 🙂 just my personal preference
Great idea! Thanks Jen
Looks and sounds delicious. I definitely going to try this soup. Thanks!
Sure- enjoy Rios!
This is so crazy because I just ordered this soup at The Corner Bakery Cafe for the first time yesterday!! It was tasty so now I’m happy I can try to make my own at home. Thanks, Lina!
I have a dwarf meyer lemon with a few ripe lemons right now and have been looking for a good way to use them! (Once you try a meyer lemon, you’ll never go back!) Thanks for a tasty looking recipe!!
Sure! Enjoy 😀