Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
This lemon chicken orzo soup is hearty, delicious and so simple to make! Tender veggies, chicken, and orzo pasta in a lemony broth. Yum!
Simple and so satisfying, this soup is going to be your new best friend this fall and winter.
With everyday ingredients and a quick cooking time, it’s just one of those feel-good meals that everyone will look forward to.
Let’s Start with Veggies
This soup comes together really fast, even with a bit of veggie chopping to start.
Other than a few key changes, it’s not so very different than a classic chicken noodle soup.
The first step is to saute the carrots, celery, onions and garlic until they start to soften.
Orzo and Lemon Juice
After the vegetables cook for a minute, the broth and simple pantry seasonings are added along with:
- Orzo pasta
- Fresh lemon juice
Both of these add a unique element to this soup that sets it apart from it’s brothy noodly competitors.
The small orzo pasta adds the heartiness of noodles without being all in-your-face about it.
And the lemon juice brightens up the whole pot of soup. It’s the perfect boost of flavor!
To Thicken or Not
Once the orzo cooks and is mostly tender, it’s time to decide whether you want to thicken the soup a bit.
There’s no wrong choice here. You can proceed without thickening and end up with a really delicious soup similar in consistency to chicken noodle soup.
However, adding a simple roux to the soup and simmering for a few minutes transforms the broth into a velvety pot of nourishing goodness.
Comfort Food in a Bowl
Top this lemon chicken and orzo soup with a sprinkle of parmesan and some chopped, fresh parsley and prepare to fall in love.
This soup is refreshing and comforting. Wholesome and crazy delicious.
If you want to further amp up the nutrients (and color), you can also stir chopped, fresh spinach in at the end.
This soup has found permanent residence in our dinner lineup, winter or not. It’s quick to make…and it proves that sometimes simple recipes are the absolute best thing in the history of ever.
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Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 œ cups diced carrots, about 3-4 medium carrots
- œ cup diced celery, about 3 ribs
- œ cup finely diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 cups chicken broth (I use low-sodium)
- Ÿ cup (138 g) orzo pasta
- 1 bay leaf
- œ teaspoon salt
- Πteaspoon dried oregano
- Πteaspoon dried basil
- Πteaspoon dried thyme
- 2 to 3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
- Œ to œ cup fresh lemon juice (see note)
Optional Roux:
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons flour
For Garnish:
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Chopped, fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic, and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring often, until the onions have softened and started to turn translucent.
- Add the broth, orzo, bay leaf, salt, oregano, basil, and thyme. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-12 minutes until the orzo is tender.
- Optional for slightly thicker soup: stir together the melted butter and flour until smooth. Whisk into soup and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in the chicken and lemon juice and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Serve servings of soup with chopped fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese (optional but tasty).
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from this recipe on allrecipes
So good! I subbed the orzo with cooked cauliflower rice because I didnât have any on hand unfortunately then added a little bit of coconut milk at the end.. It was a hit!Â
This one is a keeper! I doubled the recipe and added chicken to half & kept the other half vegetarian. Both were a hit at my house.
This recipe is literally so good. I have been craving it for a couple of days now and I’m finally making it again! It’s so fresh, zingy, and just absolutely delicious. Thank you so much, Mel!
Wow! Iâm not usually a huge fan of soups, but this one was amazing! I didnât measure any ingredients, so I only loosely followed the recipe, but it still turned out great. I subbed cavatappi for the orzo and also added in the zest of the lemon, along with a bit of turmeric. The lemon zest really pushed it over the edge. Thanks for the great recipe!
Loved this so refreshing. Stuck to recipie and will make again!!
Everyone in my family loves this soup, Even the picky eaters ask for a second bowl. I have frozen the leftovers and frozen the soup without the orzo and found that it freezes beautifully either way. Thank you for the great recipe!
Absolutely love this soup! Thank you for having such yummy recipes.
This recipe is wonderful – we’ve made it twice just recently to use up leftover roast chicken.
The combo of chicken broth, lemon and parm is a winner – it ticks all the taste boxes – rich and yummy, but also light and refreshing!
Even my mom, who grew up on German ‘Bruehe’, says this is the best chicken soup.
Thank you, Mel!
Easy and delicious. My whole family loved it. Might cook pasta separately next time and add as needed. It got soggy.
Amazing! Â I used broth from our Thanksgiving turkey. Â I did not have orzo, so I used some Arborio rice. Â I cooked and served it separately so it would not soak up all the broth. Â Served this with your peasant bread and a roasted beet, goat cheese and pistachio salad. Â It truly was better than a meal I could have ordered at a restaurant. Â Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious! Â Made it on this cold snowy day.Â
Yes I made this recipe, but I have a couple of suggestions, the herbs that you have to put in don’t give the soup enough depth of flavor so I added some poultry seasoning this along with the lemon juice gave it more flavor. and a little bit more garlic. It is a great little hearty winter soup. I also used chicken breast tenders that I shredded before adding to the soup.. Bona petite.
This has become our favorite! The lemon is such a surprising delicious flavor! Sometimes we change up the pasta but always the lemon!
So good! Â My family loved it!Â
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! I love anything lemon and my kids (who do not) still enjoyed it. I used a rotisserie chicken which made it even easier! Such a fantastic soup and will be putting it my recipe book. Thanks for sharing such great recipes!
I have to echo what the last reviewer said-you are truly my go-to for dinners and I think I probably average a Mel recipe at least 3-4 timers per week! My family and I love so many of your dishes and this soup is a new favorite that will be added to the rotation. Thank you for such yummy, easy, versatile and consistently delicious and impressive recipes! This working mama of hungry teenagers and a husband could not survive without them!!
Thank you so much, Shannon!
My family LOVED this soup! The lemon and orzo transform this chicken soup recipe to another level. It was the perfect meal on a chilly fall night. We followed the recipe exactly as written and chose to not thicken.Â
Mel, I’ve been using your recipes for almost a year now, and I’ve never been disappointed. For some reason, you’re my style of taste, and I haven’t found that with any other site I’ve tried, cookbook that I’ve purchased, or magazine that I’ve picked up in the grocery line. Thank you for endlessly providing delicious recipes for our family. You truly are a lifesaver for this Montana teacher mom. Thank you.Â
Thank you so much, Katie! So happy you loved this soup, but also thanks for such a kind, heartfelt comment. It made my day!
This soup plus your peasant bread made the perfect sick day meal today! So comforting and delicious!
Oh my gosh! This is the best soup ever!!!! I even used canned chicken and it was still amazing!!!Â
Just curious – you seem to prefer flour/butter roux to cornstarch in many of your recipes. Is there a reason for this?
I love this soup BTW – I make a version similar to Corner Bakery CafĂ©. Sometimes I wonder if my kids get tired of their mom’s addiction to lemon?
No preference, really! I think a cornstarch slurry works great, too, but I’ll usually use a flour/butter thickener for a slightly richer taste.
Simple and flavorful!! This one is a keeper:)
This was very delicious. My only thing is I am a big broth fan–like I order my pho with half noodles and double broth–so next time I will definitely make the orzo separately. By the time it cooled enough to put in the fridge for leftovers, almost all of the broth had been absorbed into the orzo. Still delicious leftovers, just would have liked it more soupy.
My family loved this. I did 3/4 a cup of orzo and if you are planning to have leftovers Iâd probably do a little less because the broth was gone on day two. Still super yummy but we wanted to dip bread in the broth. But the thickness of the soup was great for my baby and toddler to eat. Just different enough from traditional chicken noodle soup to feel like a different meal but very comforting.Â
Delicious! This was perfect for the chilly wet weather weâre having in Atlanta this weekend. My husband asked if we could put this in our regular dinner rotation and my teenage boys had two bowls. Thank you, Mel!Â
This soup is delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and added the optional roux to thicken the broth. I added a little more that 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. This will be on our regular dinner rotation for the fall/winter months. Thanks!
Amazing twist on chicken noodle soup! Â Added the chopped spinach at the end with Parmesan cheese on top. Â Thanks for a new favorite! Â
Didnât love this, it was ok. The biggest problem is wayyyy too much lemon juice. We started with the 1/4 cup squeezed fresh  as suggested in the note and it was too much. The whole thing was super sour and overpowering, hard to taste much else. I would recommend adding a tablespoon at a time and tasting it.Â
Delicious. Making it for my mother-in-law over and over!
Made this for dinner last night and questioned why I’d never used orzo in chicken noodle soup before! I loved the small bites. Great simple weeknight meal, especially since I already had some homemade frozen broth and diced chicken from the freezer. I served your honey lime fruit salad alongside and it was a beautiful meal.
So good. I love chicken soup but this one is really good. The Orzo is a fun take on the usual noodles, just loved it!
This is summing on stove! I took a few test bites and it is SO DELICIOUSÂ
I did sub a wild rice mix for the orzo and d sliced mushroomsÂ
I made this for supper last night and then whipped up another pot for lunch today. It is so fast! I wasn’t sure how the kids would like the lemon so I only used about 2 tbsp juice. Everyone loved it. Also I skipped the roux and it was perfect.
This soup is FANTASTIC!! I had something similar years ago at a restaurant but never made it myself until now. It was easy to put together and absolutely delicious. I used a rotisserie chicken from Costco for the meat (always my fave) and about 1/3 cup lemon juice and it was perfect. Thanks for this keeper, Mel!
This soup was all that you said it was! So delicious! I had leftover turkey in the freezer so it was so easy to put together. Thank you for another great soup recipe just in time for the cold weather!!
This soup is the best!! So flavorful and delicious!.. Definitely use the fresh lemon juice, it makes a huge difference!
Mel, this was delicious. I added double the pasta amount because we like pasta. The lemon juice was subtle but a nice addition. Â Thanks for a great recipe.
Ann in aIndy
Easy dinner after work! I used the lemon zest and the juice. I used the roux. I wish I had used a full cup of orzo. Delicious!Â
This soup is amazing! Â It came together so fast and it was delicious. Â I used 1/2 cup of lemon juice because I love the tang it adds and it was just right. Â I did not add the butter and flour to thicken it and the flavor was still fantastic. Â Thanks for another go-to recipe, Mel!
Just made this for lunch today and my family said it’s their new favorite! I made the chicken in the instant pot with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, lemon zest, garlic, onions and chicken broth and then chopped it up and it was a delicious delight! Thank you for another wholesome, delicious recipe.
Thanks so much for the review, Leesa! The chicken in the instant pot sounds amazingly flavorful!
I don’t have a favorite food, I like a lot of things. Of the last dishes I cooked, the whole family, for example, appreciated the baked zucchini with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, and also liked the turkey meatloaf. By the way, I take all these recipes from the Cooking Guide https://how-to-boil.com/ .
Soo Yummmy! The lemon is what makes it! We just squeezed it individually in our bowls. Thanks for the 100th time for “making dinner”!
I’m glad you liked it and I think the idea of adding lemon juice individually is a great one. Thanks, Stacy!
Hello Mel, this soup is wonderful! Â Easy to put together and so flavorful. Â I used the lesser amount of lemon juice as you suggested and perfect for us. Â I intended to add spinach (as you also suggested) but my spinach had other plans đ Â Â So I added peas instead. Â Thank you for sharing yet another wonderful recipe.
Best, Jakalyn
Good morning Mel,
Can your recipe be adapted to an instant pot?
Many thanks for your advice and all your delicious recipes!
Susan
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried making this in the instant pot, so I’m not sure! You could definitely try! The orzo would only need a few minutes of cooking time.
Many thanks, Mel, for your advice! Â I will try it and get back to you.
Susan
Made this tonight and it was so easy and good! Very similar to chicken noodle soup I thought, but even better!
I’m glad you liked it, Ashlee! Thank you!
Made this tonight and it was simple & delicious. Paired it with the super yummy Sourdough Pumpkin Muffins. Thank you, Mel!!
Oooh, fantastic meal. Yum! Thanks, Janine!
Delicious! Came together fast. Used 1/3 cup of lemon juice, a little too lemony for the children. Would do the 1/4 cup next time. Boiled the noodles in a separate pot to allow for more broth in the soup. Thank you!
Thanks for the review, Maggie!
I loved the lemon chicken orzo soup! Thank you it was delicious! So were the other two you made!
Thank you, Carol!
I was looking at lemons on my counter this morning when this recipe popped up in my e-mail. Yeah for a new soup on this cold fall day!
This popped up just in time, as I was searching for a lighter meal to round out this week’s meal plan. I don’t have Orzo, so I might sub with wild rice. I think the flavors would go. Probably adding a crusty roll and there’s a rumble over the leftovers. lol
Sounds like a great idea all around, Andrea!
Do you prefer it creamy or brothy?! I need your validation!
Why not go by the type of soup you prefer? You can always taste first and then add the thickener if you want. Be brave!
Hey Bri! I like to thicken it a bit. That’s my preference, although it is delicious either way!
Hi Mel: Â Might one simmer uncooked boneless chicken in broth before adding orzo or cook chicken in the broth beforehand then saute veggies etc. and add to same broth?
If so, how long would you recommend?
Thanks, Wendy
Yes, you could definitely do that! The exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken, but if the chicken is about 1/2-inch thick, it will need about 10-12 minutes of simmering.