Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup Recipe

This is the soup recipe for us right now. The perfect transition from winter to spring, this lemon chicken soup with orzo is warm, hearty, and bright. It makes for a really simple and filling dinner!

Our lemon orzo chicken soup recipe is packed with whole ingredients and feel-good, comforting flavors. We hope you love this warm and comforting lemon chicken orzo soup. It’s the best way to say goodbye to those lingering cool winter nights and hello to the brighter flavors of spring. It makes for a lovely weeknight meal to share with others—and it’s absolutely delicious. Enjoy!

How to make lemon chicken orzo soup

Chicken breast

We opted for boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this chicken orzo soup. Now, we know what you’re thinking—isn’t that dry? By itself, absolutely. We take an extra step of cooking this, covered, in the oven in a pan with broth to infuse moisture into the chicken before it gets added back into the soup. If you are in a pinch, you could use shredded rotisserie chicken. We haven’t tried with chicken thighs, but that would probably be tasty, too.

Broth

You can use vegetable or chicken broth here. We like to use low-sodium chicken broth and season ourselves. If you don’t have broth on hand, you could also opt for water and add some extra seasoning for added flavor. Of course, if you have homemade chicken stock, that’s even better—but we usually don’t!

Lemon juice

This is what sets this soup apart from regular chicken noodle soup. We use lemon juice from two whole lemons at the end of the cooking time, which adds a fresh, spring-like brightness to this dish. We highly recommend using fresh lemon juice to create this lemony broth, but bottled lemon juice could work if absolutely necessary!

Aromatics

We love the classic soup trifecta of onion, carrot, and celery. It’s simple and delicious. Some people add baby spinach, chopped fresh kale, or chopped fresh parsley to their chicken soup recipes, but we kept it simple.

Orzo pasta

If you’ve never had orzo, it’s pasta shaped like a long grain of rice. It’s excellent in soup because it fits easily on a spoon and blends in nicely with the other finely chopped veggies. The more you can get into one bite, the better, right?

Flour

We used a couple of tablespoons of whole wheat flour (you could also use all-purpose flour) as our thickening agent for this lemon chicken orzo soup. You can skip this step, but you will have a more liquid, brothy base rather than a creamy one. If you want to make this more in the style of a Greek lemon chicken orzo soup, you could add a whisked egg at the end for extra creaminess.

What to serve with lemon chicken orzo soup

We think this lemon chicken orzo soup recipe stands really well on its own. It has vegetables, lean protein, and carbs—it’s filling all by itself! However, if you’re looking for an easy side, we recommend a side salad with dark leafy greens like kale, arugula, or spinach. Keep it simple with a light vinaigrette and toasted nuts or Parmesan cheese on top. This will bring some color and added nutrients to your table.  

Although soup is often served with a side of bread, we suggest choosing something a little more nutrient-dense and colorful to keep your eyes and belly satisfied.

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

The perfect transition from winter to spring, this lemon chicken soup with orzo is warm, hearty, and bright. It makes for a really simple and filling dinner!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Servings 4 servings

Calories 203 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2-3 medium carrots, diced
• 2-3 celery stalks, diced
• Fresh lemon juice from 2 lemons
• 1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth (3 for the soup and 1 for the cooking liquid for the chicken breasts)
• 2 tbsp of whole wheat or all-purpose flour
• 1-2 tbsp of neutral cooking oil (avocado oil or olive oil is fine)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 350F
• Pour 1 cup of broth into the bottom of an oven-safe dish. Add in chicken breasts and sprinkle salt and pepper, to taste. Cover with lid or foil and place in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (165F internal temperature if using a meat thermometer).
• While the chicken is cooking, dice your onion, celery, and carrots and set aside
• Once your chicken is cooked, take it out of the oven to cool.
• In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat olive oil or avocado oil and add diced vegetables.
• Once veggies are cooked down for about 5 minutes, add in flour and mix well.
• Pour broth into pot and stir well, ensuring all the flour has dissolved into the broth.
• Once the cooked chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it either by hand or using a stand mixer.
• Add your shredded chicken to the soup.
• Add in uncooked orzo and mix well. The orzo takes about 10 minutes to cook through.
• Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the soup pot and combine well. Serve immediately.

Optional

• If you want, add chopped parsley and lemon zest on top before serving. You can save leftover soup for about three days or freeze it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 203kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 16gFat: 7gSugar: 4g

Keyword Chicken, lemon, orzo

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