Description
This Spring Chicken Soup Lemon Orzo is a bright and fresh meal perfect for an easy dinner or weeknight dinner. It features tender chicken, lemon flavor, and hearty orzo pasta for a cozy family dinner option. Enjoy a delicious lemon chicken soup orzo soup in just 45 minutes.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 carrots peeled and diced
- half of an onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 8–10 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup whole wheat orzo
- 3-ish cups cooked chicken I use shredded rotisserie chicken
- 3 eggs
- juice of 3–4 lemons about 1/2 cup
- a handful of fresh spinach
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- lots of freshly ground pepper
- as much fresh dill as you can handle
Instructions
- Warm your soup pot over medium heat and pour in the olive oil. Add the diced carrots, onion, and minced garlic and cook them gently until they become tender and aromatic, about 10 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the orzo pasta and let it cook until it softens. Then add the shredded chicken and remove the pot from the heat.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and lemon juice. To avoid cooking the eggs too quickly, slowly mix a small amount of the hot soup into the egg mixture. Gradually pour the warmed egg and lemon blend back into the soup while stirring continually until it becomes creamy.
- Finally, mix in the fresh spinach, salt, pepper, and dill, then adjust the seasonings to taste before serving.
Notes
- Broth: If you like a chunkier soup, go for 8 cups of broth
- If you like a more brothy soup, go for 10 cups
- Leftovers: This works great as leftovers
- The orzo likes to soak up that moisture, so you might just have to thin it out a bit as you reheat
- Eggs: If you add your egg mixture to the soup when it’s too hot, the eggs will scramble! It’s gross
- Don’t do that
- To help your soup cool down more quickly in preparation for the egg mixture, you can stir in a few ice cubes
- Vegetarian: You could easily make this vegetarian by using white beans or another vegetarian protein in place of the chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 2 cups
- Calories: 300 kcal
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 700mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 25g
- Cholesterol: 120mg