I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe for Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup from Salt & Lavender. Like. THOROUGHLY. ENJOYED. THIS. RECIPE. Like. Gaspedforairbetweencavemanbites enjoyed it. I recommend making it for a crowd, though, as (in my humble opinion) I didn’t love it reheated.
Here’s the recipe, then I’ll chat more about it.
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks celery chopped finely
- 2 medium carrots peeled & chopped finely
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1.5 pounds uncooked chicken breasts
- 1 cup uncooked orzo
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley or to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions: (my notes are italicized)
- Sauté the celery, carrots, and onions in a large soup pot with the butter and oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes. I start with the carrots, give those 2-4 minutes on their own, then add the celery and onions. You should be adding salt and pepper throughout the cooking experience; starting here.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then add the flour and cook for another minute or so.
- Pour in chicken broth and stir until the flour has dissolved, then add the Italian seasoning and chicken salt and pepper both sides of chicken before adding. Bring the soup to a boil. Here’s where I almost didn’t even try this recipe. More on that story below.
- Cover the soup (lid slightly ajar), and reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the orzo and cook for another 10 minutes or until the orzo is cooked through. I keep the lid off and stir it fairly often because it tends to stick to the bottom of the pot. Fairly often is an understatement: I stirred almost constantly and still had some sticking. Season like a chef: add more salt and pepper.
- Take the chicken out of the pot and cut it up, then add it back in. Add the lemon juice (you may want to add more than I suggest – I didn’t want to make the soup too lemony for some people), parsley, and season the soup with salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately. I am a lemon FAN. I added the whole damn thing. Gave the soup so much spunk. I omitted the parsley cuz yuck. Also, when cooking with lemon use it as a finish otherwise it can give the dish an acrid note.
- Enjoy!
This is how she turned out. My mouth is watering at the memory ?
I *almost* scrolled right by this recipe on Pinterest because I had never cooked a whole raw chicken breast inside a soup before. I’m so glad I gave it a go. Next time I cook for my girlfriends (please God let that be soon! Friends, I miss you so ?) this soup is on the menu. With the smooth acidity of this soup it’ll pair perfectly with my favorite wine: a nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Ladies I won’t make this soup on a night when there’s blackout written on the agenda: I don’t think it’ll come back up well.
I used my Dutch oven for this recipe. I love making soups in my favorite Dutch gal. If you’re interested you can find a similar one here.
This recipe is toddler approved. Three clean plate clubs, aside from two pieces of chicken that were too big for Colby, and then he didn’t trust them when I tried to cut them smaller.
Potential mix-ins: spinach, riced veggies, cheese, broccoli, your favorite fresh herb. I added fresh thyme when I had it on hand and it was delicious! The twins love helping me cook, so recently I got them this toddler knife set. I’ve been giving them spinach to practice cutting, and have been adding it to everything. It was a delightful little mix in. The kids felt accomplished that they helped, and they ate it all in the soup. Win, win!
Please do yourself a favor and make this soup. Then let me know below how delicious it turned out!
