Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup | Cookies and Cups

This simple lemon rooster orzo soup is made in a single pot with healthful components like tender shredded rooster, savory herbs, egg yolks, and lemon. The broth is silky and the orzo pasta makes it additional satisfying! 

I like a fast stovetop soup recipe like this Mediterranean-inspired rooster orzo soup with lemon. For an additional cozy soup stuffed with recent components, give this Greek tomato feta soup a strive.

What Makes This Lemon Rooster Orzo Soup So Good

This lemon rooster orzo soup recipe places a vibrant and zesty twist on traditional rooster noodle soup. It combines brined rooster, savory herbs, veggies, and orzo pasta within the creamiest broth thickened with egg and lemon. You’re going to like the flavors! Right here’s why it’s the most effective:

• Lemon and egg yolks. This rooster orzo soup mixes egg yolks and lemon juice into the broth, much like the way you’d make Greek avgolemono soup. The egg yolks enrich the broth whereas actual lemon zest and juice add tanginess. Collectively, they make a flavorful, creamy soup with out including any cream.
• Brined rooster. Soaking the rooster in salted water is an non-compulsory first step, but it surely seasons the rooster and offers the flavors within the soup a serious enhance.
• One pot. I cook dinner the rooster, sauté the veggies, and put together the soup in the identical pot. It’s handy and creates layers of taste in a brief simmer time. As a bonus, clean-up is simple.

Soup Elements

I’ve included some notes on the components you’ll want for the soup. Scroll all the way down to the printable recipe card for a full record with quantities.

• Rooster – I take advantage of boneless, skinless rooster breasts as a result of they’re simple to shred, however any rooster works. Use rooster thighs, or you can also make this orzo soup with leftover cooked rooster (extra on this later).
• Aromatics – Diced carrots, celery, and yellow onion kind the flavour base of the soup. I additionally embody freshly minced garlic to bulk up the aromatics.
• Rooster Broth – This may be store-bought low-sodium rooster broth, or I’ll usually use do-it-yourself rooster inventory.
• Recent Dill – I like how savory recent dill performs off the lemony flavors. 
• Seasonings – Salt, pepper, and dried oregano.
• Orzo – Orzo is a short-cut pasta that appears like massive grains of rice. You can also make this recipe with any pasta you favor, it simply received’t technically be orzo soup on this case. You can even use do-it-yourself egg noodles.
• Egg Yolks – Identical to making avgolemono soup, you’ll mood egg yolks and add them again into the soup to assist it thicken.
• Lemons – Juiced and zested. You’ll need to use recent lemon on this recipe! 

Why Add Lemon Juice to Rooster Soup?

Including lemon juice is an easy strategy to elevate rooster soup, whether or not it’s on this recipe or in any other case. The acidity brightens the flavors the identical means lime juice does in my spicy Mexican chipotle lime rooster soup.

To brine the rooster, add your rooster breasts to a big pot of salt water and go away them to soak for quarter-hour. It’s wonderful to go away the rooster within the resolution for longer, although in that case, you’ll want to transfer it to the fridge. Afterward, pat the rooster dry earlier than you sear it.

Let’s Make Rooster Orzo Soup With Lemon!

For those who’ve by no means made rooster soup with lemon earlier than, you’ll be blown away by how wonderful the broth seems. The lemon freshens up the flavors whereas the egg makes the broth silky (much like how egg yolks emulsify to create a creamy, flavorful sauce in carbonara recipes).

Listed below are the steps. Scroll to the recipe card after the publish for printable directions.

• Cook dinner the components. Begin by browning the rooster breasts in a big Dutch oven, then set them apart. In the identical pot, sauté the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.

• Make the soup. Now, you’ll add the rooster breasts again to the pot together with the broth. Sprinkle over the dill and oregano, and season the soup to style whereas it involves a simmer. After 10 minutes, add the orzo and let that cook dinner by.
• Shred the rooster. Take out the rooster breasts and shred or cube them earlier than returning the items to the soup.

• End the soup. In a separate bowl, mood the egg yolks with a little bit of scorching broth earlier than stirring them into the soup. Lastly, the lemon juice and zest get stirred in earlier than you’re able to serve. 

Can I Use a Rotisserie Rooster As a substitute?

Positive! Whereas brining the rooster and cooking it within the broth makes for an particularly flavorful rooster orzo soup, if I’m pressed for time, I’ll add 3-4 cups of shredded rotisserie rooster as a substitute. On this case, add the rooster on the very finish, concurrently the lemon juice, and let it warmth by.

Serving Strategies

This zesty rooster orzo soup with lemon makes a tasty gentle meal or lunch. I’ll usually serve it with fluffy garlic parmesan biscuit rolls or crusty do-it-yourself French bread and dig in! As a facet, strive air fryer asparagus or a leafy inexperienced salad. This hearty Mediterranean couscous salad is one other good choice, or you may spherical out the meal with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Storing and Reheating Leftovers

• Refrigerate. Retailer any leftover lemon rooster orzo soup in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. 
• Reheat. Heat the soup within the microwave or on the stovetop. For those who discover that the soup has thickened up, add slightly extra rooster broth when reheating.
• Freeze. It’s also possible to freeze this orzo soup hermetic for as much as 2 months. Defrost the soup within the fridge in a single day after which reheat.

Extra Rooster Soup Recipes

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