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Simple, tasty recipes with a healthy twist

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Home » Food » Recipes » soups and stews » Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup (Instant Pot or stovetop)

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup (Instant Pot or stovetop)

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Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

This lemon chicken orzo soup is a delicious and easy recipe that comes together quickly. Perfect for a week night dinner!

Two bowls lemon chicken orzo soup from overhead with bread

Lemon chicken orzo soup is a meal that happens to be pretty healthy, which I love. It has tons of immunity boosting ingredients. 👊🏻 So it is great to make when you or somebody you love isn’t feeling well.

This recipe reminds me of my chicken noodle soup from scratch…but with an Italian twist.

ladle dipping out chicken orzo soup from an Instant Pot

Lemon chicken orzo soup has a few different herbs like rosemary and thyme, plus a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end for a little pop of flavor. It is so, SO good! Warm, comforting, filling and delicious, y’all.

Ingredients

For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to.

diced onion carrot and celery with knife on wood cutting board

This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.

To make this lemon chicken orzo soup recipe, you will need the following:

  • onion
  • carrots
  • celery
  • garlic
  • chicken stock
  • cooked chicken shredded
  • thyme
  • rosemary
  • bay leaves
  • orzo pasta
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional toppings: fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley & parmesan cheese

How to make lemon chicken orzo soup

Heat cooking spray or oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables, and stir occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes.
Stir in garlic, thyme and bay leaves until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Pour in the chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Stir in orzo, rosemary and cooked chicken.

After re-boil, reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in lemon juice, and add salt and pepper, to taste. Remove bay leaves and rosemary sprig. Optional: Top with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Serve immediately.

lemon chicken orzo soup in a white bowl with a spoon

Recipe Notes

  • If you are in a more homemade and made-from-scratch mood, feel free to use homemade chicken bone broth or homemade whole chicken.
  • It is not any quicker to make this in the Instant Pot than it is on the stovetop. However, it does infuse flavor. So I know a lot of you will prefer to make it that way.
  • Feel free to use every shortcut available to you: pre cut carrots, pre diced onion, minced garlic, store-bought rotisserie chicken. Anything to make cooking more attainable and easy!
  • My Instant pot shredded chicken or slow cooker shredded chicken both work well in this recipes.

Tools Used to Make This Recipe

Note: These are Amazon affiliate links.

  • Knife and cutting board
  • I am using an enameled cast iron dutch oven. I have also used this pot to make it.
  • Ladle for serving
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Lemon Juicer (optional, but it sure helps!)

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lemon chicken orzo soup in a white bowl with a spoon
5 from 2 votes
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Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

This lemon chicken orzo soup is a delicious and easy recipe that comes together quickly. Perfect for a week night dinner!
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword lemon chicken orzo soup
Prep Time 8 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Calories 153 kcal
Author Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy

Ingredients

  • cooking spray or 1 Tablespoon oil of choice: olive or avocado would be my top picks
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 3 cups carrots peeled and diced (I used 2 of pre-sliced carrot chips)
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 1 pound cooked chicken shredded or cut into bite-sized chunks (I used store bought rotisserie chicken)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or half teaspoon of dried
  • 1 sprig rosemary or half teaspoon dried
  • 2 leaves bay
  • 1 cup uncooked whole wheat orzo pasta
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional toppings: fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley & parmesan cheese

Instructions

Stovetop Instructions

  1. Heat cooking spray or oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.

  2. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables, and stir occasionally until tender, about 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in garlic, thyme and bay leaves until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Pour in the chicken stock, and bring to a boil.
  5. Stir in orzo, rosemary and cooked chicken.
  6. After re-boil, reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, about 10 minutes.
  7. Stir in lemon juice, and add salt and pepper, to taste.
  8. Remove bay leaves and rosemary sprig.
  9. Top with parsley and parmesan cheese.
  10. Serve immediately.

Instant Pot Instructions

  1. Spray the inner pot with cooking spray (or add oil), and set to sauté, allowinbg the pot to heat up for a minute or two.

  2. Add onion, celery and carrots, and cook about 3 to 4 minutes.

  3. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

  4. Add chicken stock, chicken, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and pasta.

  5. Place the lid on, and lock it to sealing.

  6. Cook on low pressure for 4 minutes. (Note: mine took about 20 minutes to come up to pressure.)

  7. Allow the pot to release naturally for 5 minutes, and then use the quick release lever to release the remaining pressure.

  8. Stir in lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.

Nutrition Facts
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Amount Per Serving
Calories 153 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Cholesterol 5mg2%
Sodium 300mg13%
Potassium 420mg12%
Carbohydrates 22g7%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 7g14%
Vitamin A 8090IU162%
Vitamin C 5.4mg7%
Calcium 38mg4%
Iron 1.2mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Note: This recipe originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy January 29, 2016. The recipe is the same, but I refreshed the photos.

(Visited 25,035 times, 1 visits today)

Related posts:

  1. BEST Chili Recipe Ever! (classic beef chili)
  2. Pasta e Fagioli Soup (Instant Pot OR Stovetop)
  3. Taco Soup (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Stovetop)
1486 shares
  • Share287
  • Yummly

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liz says

    January 8, 2022 at 9:31 am

    5 stars
    It was absolutely delicious!!!! The only thing I did different was I cooked the chicken in the broth and then shredded it, and only used 2 tsps of oil to saute the vegetables! My whole family liked it so much they insisted I make it again this week and asked I double the recipe!!
    Thank you!!!!

    Reply
    • Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says

      January 10, 2022 at 9:36 am

      That makes me so happy to hear, Liz!❤️🙌🏻

      Reply
  2. JOhn Arrnol says

    August 14, 2019 at 3:59 am

    5 stars
    Love your recipes thanks for sharing.

    Thank you so much

    Reply
    • Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says

      August 14, 2019 at 9:33 am

      Thanks, John!🙌🏻

      Reply
  3. JOhn Arrnol says

    August 14, 2019 at 3:58 am

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made it by myself and i loved the taste.

    Reply

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I am a home cook, recipe developer, coffee drinker, wife and mom of two. My recipes are simple and tasty. I enjoy lots of fresh, healthy food, plus full treats without guilt. Thanks so much for stopping by! Read more here.

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