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Enjoy a delicious bowl of Chicken Orzo Soup on a chilly day, or when you’re feeling under the weather. It’s packed with tender chicken in a creamy lemon broth that feels like a warm hug.
Not only is this lemon orzo soup light and bright, but it’s also full of nutritious vegetables and protein-packed chicken. It’s the best healthy soup for any time of year, but it will definitely warm you up in the winter. It takes less than 30 minutes to make, and everything cooks in one pot, so cleanup is a breeze. This is sure to become your family’s new favorite soup!
If you like lemony dinner recipes, you will love my Healthy Lemon Garlic Chicken and Lemon Herb Salmon!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A One-Pot Meal: The last thing anyone wants to do after cooking a delicious dinner is spend a long time cleaning up. This lemon orzo chicken soup cooks in one pot like, so doing the dishes isn’t such a chore.
- Ready in Less Than 30 Minutes: Many soups need hours on the stove, but this light lemony soup is ready in less than half an hour. It’s perfect for a busy night when you’re in the mood for soup, but don’t have time for an elaborate recipe.
- Perfect Comfort Meal: It doesn’t get more comforting than a bowl of warm soup. The bold lemon flavor and creamy broth make this orzo soup stand out from other comfort foods and will be your new go-to cozy meal.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1” pieces is the best chicken for this chicken orzo soup recipe. However, you could also use leftover shredded chicken or a rotisserie chicken if you wanted dinner in even less time.
- Onion, Carrots, Celery: A mirepoix is the base of any good soup. You can dice fresh veggies or use a frozen blend.
- Chicken Broth and Chicken Bouillon Paste: Use low-sodium chicken broth as the main liquid for the soup. Adding chicken bouillon is the key to amplifying the flavor of the soup.
- Orzo Pasta: This pasta looks like little grains of rice, but it’s made with wheat. It’s the perfect tiny pasta for soups and stews.
- Greek Yogurt: Stir a non-fat Greek yogurt into your soup to give it a creamy texture and to add a little more protein.
- Heavy Cream: The cream is the key to creating the perfect creamy broth in this delicious soup.
- Lemon Juice: Brighten up the flavor of the soup by using lemon juice in your broth. You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Make It Vegetarian: Instead of chicken, try adding a can or two of chickpeas to the soup. These beans are full of protein and fiber, which will keep the soup filling and nutritious.
- Add More Veggies: This bold, lemony soup pairs well with so many vegetables! Try adding kale, peas, zucchini, mushrooms, or spinach to the soup as well.
- Use Dairy-Free Substitutes: If you don’t eat dairy, you can use a dairy-free Greek yogurt and full-fat coconut milk in place of the heavy cream.
- Make It Gluten-Free: Make this soup gluten-free by leaving out the orzo or replacing it with cauliflower rice, like in my Greek lemon chicken soup.
How to Make Chicken Orzo Soup
This lemon chicken and orzo soup is so bright and flavorful that your whole family will beg you to make it over and over again. And you won’t mind since it’s such a healthy, easy, one-pot meal!
- Step 1: Soften Veggies. Start by heating a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a large pot. Add your onions, carrots, and celery to the pot and saute them until the vegetables soften. Then stir in the garlic.
- Step 2: Add Chicken, Seasonings, and Broth. Add your chicken, Italian seasoning, thyme, rosemary, chicken bouillon paste, and chicken broth to the pot. Place the cover on your pot and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer covered for 8-10 minutes.
- Step 3: Stir in the Orzo. Stir your dry orzo pasta into the soup and cook it for another 8-10 minutes, or until the orzo is tender.
- Step 4: Add Yogurt and Cream. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the Greek yogurt, heavy cream, lemon juice, and fresh parsley. Add any additional salt, pepper, or lemon juice to taste before serving.
Expert Tips
- Serve With Lemon Slices: Let everyone control the lemon flavor in their soup and serve fresh lemon slices on the side. Each person can squeeze in additional lemon juice if they desire, without making the soup too lemony for some people.
- Sear the Chicken for More Flavor: Before adding your vegetables to the pot, you can add your chicken and quickly brown the outside for a few minutes. This helps seal in the moisture and intensify the flavor of the chicken in the soup.
- Use Room Temperature Yogurt: Be sure to use room-temperature yogurt and cream to help avoid the dairy curdling when you add it to the soup.
- Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The pasta will continue to absorb the liquid in the soup, so it may be thicker after sitting in the refrigerator. If you want to freeze this soup, cook the orzo separately and don’t add it to the soup. Freeze the pasta-free soup for up to 2 months.
Serving Suggestions
Some days nothing beats a bowl of soup, and after you make this orzo chicken soup, you won’t want any other kind. It’s creamy, light, and tastes delicious, plus it’s full of delicious veggies and moist chicken. Soups are a great meal on their own, but you can add a salad or a side of bread if you want a little something more.
- This orzo chicken soup has Mediterranean flavors, so it pastes amazing paired with dishes with a similar flavor profile. I love this soup with a tabbouleh quinoa salad.
- Soup and bread is always a great idea! This flavorful soup tastes great with high-protein cauliflower bread.
- If you can’t get enough lemon for dinner, enjoy some more for dessert! These Greek yogurt lemon bars are a great way to use leftover yogurt and lemon.
Recipe FAQs
The orzo will absorb a lot of moisture as it cooks, which thickens the soup. If it becomes too thick, you can add more broth, a ¼ cup at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.
It’s very easy to overcook the chicken when making this soup. Monitor how cooked the chicken is and reduce the simmering time before adding the pasta if it cooks in less than 8 minutes.
Soup is a very subjective dish when it comes to taste. Before serving it give it a taste test, then add more salt, pepper, lemon, or other seasonings to adjust it to your liking before serving.
For the best results, heat leftovers over medium-low heat in a pan on the stove. If the leftover soup is too thick, add a bit of broth to the pan as it heats to thin it out. Be sure to thaw frozen leftovers for 24 hours in the refrigerator before reheating them. You can also reheat an individual bowl in the microwave in 60-second intervals until it is heated through.
More Delicious Chicken Soup Recipes
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Chicken Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- ¾ cup White Onion, diced
- 1 cup Carrots, diced
- 1 cup Celery, diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 8 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 1 ½ lbs. Chicken Breast, boneless and skinless, cut into ½-3/4 inch pieces
- 2 tsp Chicken Bouillon Paste
- ½ tsp Italian Seasoning
- ¼ tsp Dried Thyme
- ¼ tsp Dried Rosemary
- 1 cup Orzo Pasta, dry
- ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt – room temperature
- 2 tbsp Heavy Cream
- Juice of 1 Lemon
- Salt + Pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil, onions, carrots, celery, salt and pepper then sauté until the vegetables are softened.
- Add the garlic and stir in.
- Add the chicken, Italian seasoning, thyme, rosemary and chicken broth to the pot.
- Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a medium-low simmer for 8-10 minutes and cover.
- Stir the dry orzo into the pot and cook another 8-10 minutes until the orzo is tender.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir in the yogurt, heavy cream, lemon juice, chopped parsley.
- Generously add more salt and pepper to taste then serve with sliced lemons and more fresh parsley!
Notes
- Temper your yogurt and cream by letting them reach room temperature before adding them to the soup. This will help prevent curdling.
- Searing the chicken for just a few minutes before softening the vegetables and adding the liquid to the soup helps lock in flavor and moisture.
- Serve lemon slices with your soup so each person can control how much lemon flavor they want their bowl of soup to have.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you for this much healthier and flavor punch chicken soup recipe! This was a major hit.
Great recipe! Very filling and satisfying on a cold day. I love that it’s packed with protein too.