This lemon chicken orzo soup recipe is light, healthy, and cozy. It uses wholesome everyday ingredients and is sure to become a family favorite!
Orzo is that tiny rice-shaped pasta. It looks like rice but cooks really fast, so you get that rice effect in less time. I don’t cook with it too often, but I always enjoy it. I mean you can’t really go wrong with pasta. Except for bowtie pasta, but that’s a story for another day. 😉
Love lemon chicken? Try my Lemon Chicken Stuffed Shells Recipe or Easy Creamy Lemon Chicken.
This lemon chicken soup with orzo is simple to make. You just sauté the onions, carrots, and celery, stir in the garlic and flour, add the broth, seasoning, and chicken, and cook it for 15 minutes. By that point the chicken is getting cooked, and you can add in the orzo and cook it for another 10 minutes or so until the pasta is done. You take the chicken out and shred/cut it up, add it back to the soup, and then it’s time to add the lemon juice, parsley, and salt & pepper.
Recipe notes & tips:
- You can substitute the chicken breasts for chicken thighs if you prefer.
- If you want to make this with already cooked/rotisserie chicken, I suggest adding the chicken in at the same time as the orzo so you don’t overcook it.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth if you have concerns with salt.
- You may need to add more chicken broth to leftovers as the orzo soaks it up. This soup can be frozen, but the orzo does get a bit puffy. If you want to freeze the whole batch, I recommend adding the orzo in after you thaw it.
- If you really want a more intense pop of lemon in here, I suggest grating in some lemon zest. I love my Microplane zester/grater for that purpose.
Other delicious chicken soup recipes
- Easy Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Crockpot Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Easy Chicken and Rice Soup
- Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
Questions about this soup? Leave me a comment below, and tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram if you’ve made it.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
This lemon chicken orzo soup recipe is light, healthy, and cozy. It uses wholesome everyday ingredients and is sure to become a family favorite!
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 & pepper to taste
Instructions
Sauté the celery, carrots, and onions in a large soup pot with the butter and oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.
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. Bring the soup to a boil.
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.
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.
Recipe Notes
- You can sub the chicken breasts for chicken thighs if you prefer.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth if you're sensitive to salt.
- You may need to add more chicken broth to leftovers as the orzo soaks it up.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Dottie says
Good Morning, I was wondering if I could do this in the crock pot?
Natasha says
Hi! I think that should be fine. I’d add the pasta towards the end of cooking time. I linked a similar crockpot recipe within the blog post, so you may want to reference that one for timing. 🥰
Allyson says
This soup was fantastic! Nice & bright but also so satisfying. Definitely going into the rotation.
Thank you!
Natasha says
Wonderful! You’re very welcome. 😀
Art says
Like a lot of other folks out there and stuck at home. I don’t cook but I’m bored and figured I’d give it a try and was pleased with the results.
The recipe was easy to follow, it was very tasty and my wife got a well deserved break tonight. Thank you Natasha!
Natasha says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it 😉 We need to do coffee sometime… maybe not soon though 😀
Jessica says
Made this today….oh so yummy!! The lemon adds a wonderful level of freshness. I had to improvise with pasta since the grocery store was sold out of orzo. Used ditalini instead and it worked great! Thanks for a great, easy to follow recipe! Will definitely make again.
Natasha says
So happy you enjoyed it, Jessica! Thanks for letting me know, and I am glad the ditalini worked!
Lisa says
I made this yesterday – so delicious !
Natasha says
Wonderful! 🥰
Cheralyn says
Made this today and added fresh spinach! Thanks so much for a delicious & easy to follow recipe 🙂
Natasha says
You are very welcome!! ♥️♥️♥️
Jill says
I don’t want to sound dumb but do you cool the chicken before you put it in?
Natasha says
Hi Jill! Do you mean cook the chicken (just wondering if it autocorrected). The chicken goes in raw. Unless a recipe specifically instructs you to do something (like use cooked chicken or explains how to cook the chicken in some pre-step), you can just assume the ingredient goes in as-is. I also explain within the blog post that you can use cooked chicken if you want and when to add it in. Chicken does not take long to cook, so double cooking it would just make it dry and rubbery.
Jeni says
What can be subbed for the flour to make it gluten free?
Natasha says
Hi! Maybe cornstarch? Or leave it out. It’s just used to thicken the broth a bit. You’d have to get a gluten-free orzo as well (just making sure you know it’s pasta… not rice).
Anna says
Can I substitute with a different kind of rice? Or can I do it without rice?
Natasha says
Hi Anna! Orzo isn’t rice – it’s pasta. I talk about this within the blog post. It cooks a lot faster than rice. If you use rice, you will likely need to adjust cooking time since rice takes a lot longer to cook. Perhaps try a different pasta? Or if you’re planning on using white rice, try this recipe instead: https://www.saltandlavender.com/easy-chicken-and-rice-soup/ Brown rice is a different story – it takes a lot longer to cook.
Nancy says
If you prefer rice you could cook it separately on the side and then add it to the soup.
Natasha says
Yes! That works too.
Tracey says
What step do you potty chicken in? Not mentioned in directions
Natasha says
It’s in there. Step 3. ☺️